Govt to introduce new timber plantation policy

JAKARTA: The government is set to issue a new package of policies on industrial forest estates (HTI) in the next two weeks, aimed at developing more timber plantations, without endangering the forests.

Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa made the announcement during a meeting with a number of entrepreneurs who operate in forest estates on Thursday.

"The minister initiated the meeting because he wanted to explore and try to find ways to attract more investors to the industry," said the chairwoman of the Forestry Industry Revitalization Agency (BRIK), Soewarni, who attended the closed- door meeting.

BRIK is an agency established by the Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Industry and Trade, but managed by businesspeople, to find solutions to problems in the industry.

Soewarni refrained from providing details of the new policies.

"The move may alleviate the number of unemployed in the forestry sector," she said, while referring to a recent projection by the Indonesia Employers' Association (Apindo) that some 600,000 forestry workers might lose their jobs this year.

Industrial timber estate companies manage a total of 2.7 million hectares of the country's forests. Such companies have been blamed for contributing to the destruction of the environment due to their failure to rehabilitate and sustain their resources.