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)