NGOs join forces in forest management
NGOs join forces in forest management
Hyginus Hardoyo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
British and Indonesian non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
dealing with forestry issues have underlined the importance of
promoting the sustainable and equitable management of Indonesia's
forests.
Liz Chidley of the London-based Down to Earth (DTE), an
international organization campaigning for ecological justice in
Indonesia, said on Friday that NGOs in the UK fully supported
their Indonesian counterparts in urging the Indonesian and UK
governments to take further action to promote the sustainable and
equitable management of forests in Indonesia.
Chidley made the remarks in response to the signing of a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) by Indonesia and the UK on the
protection of tropical rainforests.
The MOU was signed by Indonesian Minister of Forestry M.
Prakosa and the undersecretary of the UK Department for
International Development, Hilary Benn, in London on Friday.
The MOU sets out how the two countries will cooperate on
forest law enforcement and governance to combat illegal logging
and the international trade in illegally felled timber and wood
products.
Chidley said her organization welcomed the signing of the
agreement, but urged the Indonesian government to recognize the
rights of forest dwellers as part of the effort to help save the
country's disappearing forests.
The goal is sustainable forest management and better lives for
forest people, she said.
Forest dwellers are still being evicted from their land to
make way for logging, plantations and mines backed by foreign
capital, including British companies, she said in a statement
made available to The Jakarta Post.
DTE hopes the agreement will be a fist step toward more
fundamental reforms to stop forest destruction -- legal and
illegal -- and to prevent community rights violations, Chidley said.
"We feel strongly that the British companies should be held
accountable for their involvement in operations in Indonesia,
which lead to gross human rights violations against indigenous
peoples and other marginalized communities who depend on forest
resources for their livelihoods," she said.
Chidley said her organization signed a joint statement by UK NGOs
handed to Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa, which called for the
recognition of forest-dependent communities' rights, action on
corruption and corporate accountability.
Hapsoro of Telapak Indonesia, an Indonesian NGO, said non-
governmental organizations were seriously concerned about the
level of destruction and degradation of forest resources, caused
by misguided forest management policies over many years.
Such policies have resulted in massive forest destruction and
have negatively affected the livelihoods of millions of local
people and indigenous communities living in forest areas, he
said.
The failure to govern forests properly and the corrupt forest
management have led to high levels of demand for timber,
triggering uncontrolled logging and the large-scale conversion of
natural forests, according to a joint statement by Indonesian
NGOs, including Walhi and the Friends of the Earth Indonesia.
The destruction of the forests and the resulting ecological
imbalances are manifest in various natural disasters throughout
Indonesia, such as forest fires, floods and landslides.
Furthermore, forestry operations continue to use violence and
intimidation against forest dwellers.