ITTO to provide $1m for Bulungan forest project

JAKARTA (JP): The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) will provide about US$1 million to partly finance a three- year research program in the Bulungan forest, East Kalimantan.

Under an agreement signed yesterday, ITTO will cooperate with the Ministry of Forestry and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) to develop the Bulungan forest, expected to be one of the largest model forests in the world.

The project will cost almost $1.5 million, with $360,000 being provided by the Indonesian government, $140,000 by CIFOR, and $1 million being contributed by ITTO donors comprising Japan, Switzerland, the United States, Australia and Korea.

The 321,000-hectare Bulungan forest will be developed as a model of basic forest management.

Bulungan is almost entirely covered by primary forests and therefore offers a rare opportunity to implement sustainable forest management practices.

Research in the forest will provide important information on the impact of forest activities, such as logging, mining and industrial plantations on both the ecosystem and people residing in the area.

ITTO was established under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to promote the conservation, management and sustainable development of tropical forests.

CIFOR, an international independent scientific research institute was established in 1993 in response to global concerns about the social, environment and economic consequences of forest loss and degradation. (08)