Indonesia to cut log output to 37.67m cubic meters

JAKARTA (JP): Amid growing international concern over rain forest preservation, Indonesia plans to harvest 37.67 million cubic meters of logs a year during the next five years.

Director General of Inventory and Forest Land Use, Titus Sarijanto said in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday that Indonesia could actually produce 38.4 million cubic meters of logs per year.

"However, not all forested areas can be harvested. They are scattered in remote areas," Sarijanto said, adding that the government will persistently enforce the cutting cycle of 35 years to allow for natural regeneration.

Concessionaires are required to plant trees in harvested areas and are prohibited from cutting in already harvested areas before the 35-year cycle, he said.

The Ministry of Forestry said recently that out of the estimated 141 million hectares of forests, 64 million hectares are for production forests while the rest are allocated for preservation, tourism and conservation.

Reforestation

During the hearing, Director General for Reforestation and Rehabilitation Sumahadi told members of the House that during the last five-year development period which ended last March, his agency had reforested around 366,500 hectares of barren land, or 85.62 percent of its target.

He said that the reforestation program would be fully delegated to the local administrations starting in the current 1994/1995 fiscal year to improve efficiency and supervision.

The Minister of Forestry and the State Minister of Environment have recently set up a joint team to organize a number of activities, ranging from research on rainforests or biodiversity to monitoring the reforestation program.

Sarijanto said that during this fiscal year, his directorate general received a budget of Rp 48 billion, up 16 percent from the previous year. (09)