NGOs to call for aid boycott if forest law not enforced

JAKARTA (JP): Four local non-governmental organizations have threatened to call for a boycott by Indonesia's aid donors unless the government puts an immediate stop to illegal logging and the destruction of the country's forests.

"We will prompt our foreign NGO networks to pressure members of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) not to give loans to Indonesia unless the government firmly enforces the forestry laws," Binny Buchori, the executive secretary of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) and the spokeswoman for the four NGOs, said on Wednesday.

The government has one month to prove it is serious about handling the forestry problems, Binny said.

The other three NGOs in the coalition are Forest Watch Indonesia, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Community Based Forest Supporter Consortium (KPSHK).

CGI, which in October pledged US$4.8 billion in new aid for Indonesia, is due to meet in April in Jakarta to evaluate the progress of the loan program, including Indonesia's pledge to crack down on illegal logging.

CGI includes the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and 30 donor countries led by Japan, members of the European Union and the United States.

Binny said the coalition of NGOs was disappointed by the government's lack of progress in fighting illegal logging, and at the apparent lack of any sense of crisis in dealing with forestry problems.

Indonesia has promised the CGI it will put an end to illegal logging and impose a moratorium on the conversion of natural forest areas to industrial forest and plantation areas.

The government established an interdepartmental committee on forestry in June with the task of addressing these problems.

Binny said the coalition found the committee had not taken any effective steps to stop the rampant illegal logging.

Togu Manurung, the director of Forest Watch Indonesia, pointed out that more than eight million hectares of forests were converted into plantation areas in 2000. (03)