Indonesian forest advertisements not accurate: Minister

Indonesian forest advertisements not accurate: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): The government, conceding that its reforestation
program has been slack, has ordered the Indonesian Forestry
Society (MPI) to change its television advertisements which have
been suspended in Britain and Japan.

"It is true that the MPI's ads have recently been suspended in
Japan because they conveyed incorrect information about
Indonesia's reforestation efforts," Minister of Forestry
Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said after meeting with President
Soeharto yesterday.

"We did not replant as many trees as the commercials claim,"
he said, while adding that Indonesia practices selective-cutting
and not clear-cutting.

The government, therefore, suggests that the MPI improve the
TV ads by extending their length and providing some written text,
Djamaludin said.

The ads were frequently shown last month on Dutch TV, CNN
International, CNN of the United States, the Hong Kong-based Star
TV as well as on all Indonesian private TV channels.

The MPI ads were suspended by the Independent Television
Commission (ITC) of Britain two months ago following complaints
from a number of viewers and environmental groups.

The minister also conceded yesterday that the government's
reforestation program "is still lax and has not achieved its
target."

"But don't doubt our determination. We will pursue this goal,"
he said.

The Ministry of Forestry has recently announced that it will
spend Rp 538.82 billion (US$244.54 million) out of the
reforestation funds and about Rp 98 billion ($44 million) out of
the interest of the funds for reforestation activities this
fiscal year.

It has been reported that for the last five years the
reforestation funds collected by the government have totaled Rp
3.04 trillion. All of the money has been placed in time deposits
in several state banks and in commercial papers issued by the
central bank, Bank Indonesia.

Lies

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Working Secretariat of Forest
Protection (Skephi) said in a statement made available to The
Jakarta Post on Monday that the Netherlands will soon follow both
Britain's and Japan's decision to suspend the ads because "the
MPI ads are unrealistic and, therefore, they are lies."

Tjipto Wignjoprajitno, the MPI's secretary general, told the
Post Tuesday night that he was not aware of Japan's decision to
cancel the ads.

"We have not received any reports on this," he said in a
telephone interview.

Tjipto conceded, however, that one can easily "misperceive"
the 60-second ads. "How can we explain a complex matter in such a
brief time?" he said.

Tjipto, nevertheless, insisted that the facts proclaimed in
the ads are "accurate" and based on data gained on location.

"We are prepared to counter any attacks forwarded by
environmental organizations," he said.

A number of environmental organizations, including Down to
Earth, Earth ARC, Environmental Investigation Agency and
Greenpeace, complained about the advertisements and produced
evidence querying the statements and inferences made by the
commercials.

In a recent report, the World Bank warned Indonesia that it
had logged its rain forests at a rate which threatens their
sustainability. (hdj)