Govt steps up measures against illegal logging

Govt steps up measures against illegal logging

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government would attempt to step up measures to curb illegal
logging activities in the country by intensifying its domestic
and overseas campaigns and conducting a series of operations, a
senior government official said on Tuesday.

I Made Subadia, director general of forest protection and
natural conservation at the Ministry of Forestry said he was
optimistic that the measures would drastically reduce illegal
logging.

"These efforts are very important to curb illegal logging, a
chronic problem in the country," he told The Jakarta Post.

Made said more local campaigns were necessary to prevent
provincial governments from arbitrarily issuing licenses for
companies to carry out logging, which was against the law.

Several local governments started issuing forest concession
licenses since the implementation of regional autonomy last year
as part of efforts to boost their revenues. Some have revoked the
licenses.

Domestic campaigns were also important to encourage people
living around forests to fight illegal logging, which would only
hurt them in the long run, he added.

According to him, the local campaigns must be accompanied by
an overseas campaign to combat the trade of illegal logs.

"We will try to reach deals with more countries so that they
will not buy timber from illegal sources in Indonesia," he said.

Indonesia has secured important cooperation agreements with 12
countries, mostly European countries, and eight global
organizations to curb illegal logging and forest fires.

Citing an example, Made said a cooperation agreement with
China earlier this year succeeded in reducing China's import of
illegal logs from Indonesia.

China has decided to meet its demand for logs from Siberia, he
added.

Made said his ministry would also conduct more operations this
year, in cooperation with the National Police and the Navy, to
curb log smuggling.

"With more operations, we will provide a shock therapy for the
perpetrators of illegal logging to stop their activities,
otherwise they will be sent to jail," he suggested.

He also said his ministry had requested that President
Megawati Soekarnoputri set up a special agency to cope with
illegal logging, forest fires and endangered species.

The special agency would comprise several ministries, the
customs office, the police and the military, he said.

"This special agency will overcome bureaucratic procedures in
combating illegal logging and other forest-related problems," he
said.

This agency will be provided with an on-call budget that will
enable it to move quickly such as carrying out necessary
operations, he said.

Over 1,200 perpetrators of illegal logging were arrested last
year during a special operation with National Police, code named
Wanalaga.

In addition, 57 vessels were confiscated during operations by
the Navy, code named Wanabahari.

Made said his ministry also planned to lower the allocation of
concession areas to some 6.9 million cubic meters next year from
over 12 million cubic meters this year.

"Call it a soft moratorium. It's not possible to suddenly have
a total logging moratorium as wood-based firms can not just stop
investing like that," he said.

Made asked the companies, such as pulp and paper mills, to
start considering the import of logs from other countries
including Australia.

According to the office of the state minister of research and
technology, Indonesia is the second largest wood exporter in the
world after Brazil, but 70 percent of that timber comes from
illegal logging.