Logging causes losses of US$670m

Logging causes losses of US$670m

PALANGKA RAYA, Central Kalimantan: Years of unchecked illegal
logging, blamed for widespread forest destruction across the
country, caused around US$670 million in losses to the state
annually, a senior forestry official said on Monday.

Citing a report from the World Bank, head of the provincial
forestry office Tuah Pahoe said the amount was simply the value
of tax that should have been received by the government from
loggers.

"What is more worrying for us is the fate of some 30 million
people whose lives are directly and indirectly related to forest
assets," he said.

Pahoe said his office would host a workshop in cooperation
with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Wednesday to find a
way of reducing illegal logging in Central Kalimantan.

The workshop would feature the provincial governor as a
keynote speaker and senior officers from the National Police
Headquarters and Ministry of Forestry. Representatives from
plantation companies would also participate.

Pahoe said that illegal logging had worsened during the
current reform era and some 75 percent of wood circulated in
Indonesia was expected to stem from illegal logging.--Antara