Logging plans of 27 firms denied

Logging plans of 27 firms denied

JAKARTA (JP): Only 25 of the 112 forest concessionaires filing
logging plans with the government won unqualified approval from
the Ministry of Forestry to fell trees in their concession areas
during the fiscal year 1994-1995, an official says.

"The forestry ministry also decided to completely reject the
logging plans proposed by 27 concessionaires, while 66 others
were allowed to operate at a maximum of 60 percent of their
activities in the previous year," Waskito Suryodibroto, secretary
to the Directorate General of Forest Cultivation, was quoted by
Antara as saying yesterday.

In Indonesia, forest concessions are regarded as state
properties whose exploitation by the private sector is permitted
only for a limited period of time under strict regulations.
Conservationists frequently claim that these regulations are
ignored by concessionaires to the detriment of Indonesia's
forests.

Under the regulations, concessionaires are required to propose
annual logging plans to the government, which is supposed to
judge their proposals according to their performance in carrying
out sustainable forest management.

At present, there are around 500 concessionaires in Indonesia,
home to the second-largest area of tropical rain forest in the
world, after Brazil.

Waskito, who did not name the concessionaires concerned, said
that annual logging plans had been rejected or only partly
accepted because the concessionaires had violated various
forestry regulations.

Concessionaires whose proposals were completely rejected will
not be allowed to conduct any logging this year, he said. (hdj)