Illegal logging destroys Indonesia's forests
Illegal logging destroys Indonesia's forests
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As in previous years, the government has failed to curb
rampant illegal logging practices.
There is little on-the-ground evidence, if any, that indicates
that deforestation, which had caused trillions of rupiah in
losses, has lessened this year.
With the destruction of forests by illegal logging reaching
close to 2 million hectares each year, few would deny that the
country's forestry sector is now on the brink of collapse.
Environmentalists say illegal logging has destroyed some 60
million cubic meters of forest each year. With an average price
of Rp 500 thousand per meter cubic, the state has been losing
some Rp 30 trillion (US$3 billion) in revenue each year.
"This is based on a minimum calculation. Many believe the
number is much higher than that," Adiwarsita Adinegoro, chairman
of the Indonesian Forest Industrialists Association (APHI), said
recently.
Latest government data indicates Indonesia has lost more than
75 percent of its natural forests over the past few decades,
leaving just 60 million hectares today.
Local environmentalists predict that forests in Sumatra will
vanish by 2005 with forests in Kalimantan following suit five
years later if the government fails to halt illegal logging
immediately.
The government's failures in applying and socializing the
sustainable forest management concept is seen to have contributed
to the mushrooming practices of illegal logging.
"If there is no immediate action taken by the government, our
forests that were once something that we were proud of, will no
longer exist," Ruslan Taha, an East Kalimantan-based non-
governmental organization activist, said.
Analysts pointed out the three main reasons behind the failure
to curb the illegal logging, including the high demand from the
forestry industry, some "damaging" regulations issued by regional
administrations and the lack of law enforcement.
Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade said the
Indonesian forestry industry used 100 million cubic meters of
timber each year, while the country's forests supply only around
22 million cubic meters of timber per year. Timber imports are
estimated to be equal to the local supply.
This has raised suspicion that the country's forestry industry
has received about half of its raw material from illegal loggers.
Adding to the problems are several regulations issued by
regional administrations that are believed to have accelerated
the rapid depletion of the country's forests.
East Kalimantan deputy governor Chaidir Hafied admitted that
several regional rulings had played a role in destroying the
forests' sustainability.
He took for an example the ruling implemented in many
regencies across Kalimantan, which allows locals to use up to 100
hectares of surrounding forest per village. The ruling was issued
two years ago with the aim of providing locals greater access to
benefits from nearby forests.
The ruling, according to Chaidir, had often been used by local
people and companies to justify their excessive logging
activities.
"Facts show that they logged much more than the allowed 100
hectare limit," he told a small number of reporters in the East
Kalimantan town of Samarinda last month.
Chaidir claimed to have ordered all regencies in his province
to revoke the ruling. "However, hiding behind the regional
autonomy law, most of them refused to obey my order."
The Autonomy Law No. 22/1999 gives rights for local
administrations to manage their respective economic affairs.
Forestry analyst Transtoto Handhadari said that the regency
rulings had created not only damage to the ecosystem but had also
downgraded the value of the woods as the forest's primary
product.
The lack of law enforcement by the government has also given
rise to the illegal logging.
As a matter of fact, the government has made some efforts to
protect the country's forests.
In February 2000, it committed itself to reform-oriented
action supporting sustainable management of forest resources,
which included, among other things, a statement urging action to
control illegal logging.
The government also set up the Interdepartmental Committee on
Forestry (IDCF) with one of its aims to develop the National
Forest Program.
But, the World Bank said the committee was far from effective
as all the activities to improve forest management had been
conducted solely by the Ministry of Forestry
In October 2001, the ministers of industry and trade and
forestry issued a joint decree putting in place a ban on export
of logs for wood chips. Export of logs had been partly blamed for
illegal logging.
Before that, in April 2001, the government issued a decree
banning the sale of ramin and identified it as a species
temporarily banned from being exported from Indonesia. However,
it was not being effectively enforced as ramin from Indonesia was
found being unloaded in Singapore.
"Generally, the results are still regarded as too little to
make any difference to Indonesia's forests, where conditions are
rapidly worsening," the World Bank said in its brief report
presented during the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) in
Jakarta early November.
And this has drawn critics from the international community.
During the CGI meeting, the European Union (EU), which is a
member of the group, furiously lambasted Indonesia for its
failure to enforce a sustainable forest management structure.
However, Belgium Ambassador Luk Darras acknowledged the
complexity of the problem, saying that it was something that the
Ministry of Forestry could not deal with alone.
"The existing illegal logging problems cannot be resolved by
the Forestry Ministry all by itself. An inter-departmental
approach should be applied here," Darras said during a visit to
the Berau Forest Management Project (BFMP) in East Kalimantan
last month.
He added the resolution of the problem should include the
Department of Justice, National Police, local authorities and all
forest stakeholders, working together in combating illegal
logging.
Belgium currently holds the EU presidency.