NGOs seeks court review against forestry ruling

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An alliance of non-governmental organizations says it will file a judicial review with the Supreme Court against a controversial government regulation allowing mining in protected forests.

"We'll file our judicial review request with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, demanding the regulation be revoked," People Forestry Communication Forum (FKKM) member Sulaiman N. Sembiring said at a meeting with senior officials from the Ministry of Forestry here on Thursday.

The planned judicial review request is the second major public action taken against the regulation, which was issued in June. Action by the All Indonesia Regencies Administration Association (Apkasi) is still ongoing.

Sulaiman, who is also the executive director of the Natural Resources Law Institute (IHSA), said Regulation No. 34/2002 incorporated a number of articles that recentralize authority to manage forests from the regional administration.

"It violates the spirit of Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and it contradicts government Regulation No. 25/2000 on the authority of central government and regional governments," he said.

Article 72 of Regulation No. 34/2002 allows mining activities in protected forests, thus giving a chance for firms to carry out open pit mining in the area, he said.

"This article violates Law No. 41/1999 on forestry which clearly bans open pit mining in protected forests," he said.

Under the regulation, forest utilization for mining activities is granted by the president, while under Law No. 41/1999 such a decision must be approved by the House of Representatives.

Sulaiman said the regulation also encouraged the exploitation of forests, hastening their already rapid decline.

The government should instead issue a policy to conserve the country's forests rather than exploit them, he said.

"We find a number of conflicting points here and expect the Supreme Court to rule in favor of us," he said.

FKKM groups NGOs concerned with forest conservation. They include Forest Watch Indonesia, the Alliance of Adat Societies of Indonesia (AMAN), and IHSA.

Ministry of Forestry secretary general Wahjudi Wardojo welcomed the planned action by NGOs, saying it was part of the democracy process.

"We want to show that we are still committed to regional autonomy, but we have no intention to allow open pit mining in protected forests," he said.

He said a move to review the controversial regulation would delay the government's plan to revoke the licenses of forest management companies found guilty of harming the environment.