Indonesia to cut log output to 37.67m cubic meters

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)