Indonesia to make suggestions to UN on global forestry
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is compiling recommendations on sustainable forest management to submit to the United Nation Forum on Forest (UNFF), which will convene in New York in May for its fifth annual meeting.
"We have gathered an array of opinions from stakeholders in a one-day workshop that we just finished," Tonny Soehartono, the Ministry of Forestry's director of the Center of Forestry Planning, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The ministry-sanctioned workshop was attended by heads of forestry agencies in nine provinces, senior officials from the central government, academicians, domestic and international non- governmental organizations and forestry-related business associations.
Tonny explained that the results of the workshop would be recommended to Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban, who would consult the House of Representatives before presenting Indonesia's recommendations on sustainable forest management to the UNFF meeting.
The UNFF international forum was founded in 2000 to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term commitment to this end.
Members of the UNFF are considering two alternatives on sustainable forest management based on legally binding or non- legally binding agreements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General for Multilateral Economy, Monetary and Development Susanto Sutoyo explained that the legally binding agreements would have legal authority over member countries. They would require a comprehensive international forestry convention that would alternatively be based on technical, geographical or biological diversity frameworks.
"If we agree on legally binding agreements, we will create a role-based society based on existing laws and regulations," he told the workshop.
He said that apart from providing legal certainty, such agreements would also provide more financial access and a clearer focus on sustainable forest management.
However, it will require a long process of discussion and may discourage some key countries from participating, he added.
Susanto said the non-legally binding agreements offered several alternatives -- continuation or modification of UNFF mechanisms, termination of the UNFF while improving the role of the Committee on Forestry of the Food and Agriculture Organization or merging the committee with the International Tropical Timber Organization.
Indonesia, the third largest forestry country in the world, still faces several obstacles in its sustainable forest management. The most acute problem for Indonesia is illegal logging.
The country loses nearly two million hectares of forests annually, according to the World Resources Institute, Global Forest Watch and Forest Watch Indonesia. (003)