NGOs urge halt to forest clearing

JAKARTA: A coalition of environmental organizations are demanding that timber firms on Sumatra island that are operating based on licenses from local chief executives stop clearing forests there, as the central government is reviewing these permits.

Eye on the Forest, a coalition of Sumatra-based NGOs, said some companies were using their licenses to clear large areas of natural forests in violation of regulations issued by the Ministry of Forestry.

"Eye on the Forest supports the legal review being undertaken as a very significant step toward the conservation of some of the country's remaining natural forests," said a press statement received from the coalition on Thursday.

It said the coalition, which includes leading environmental group Walhi and the World Wild Fund (WWF), found at least 34 companies had obtained licenses from district heads in Riau to clear 89,809 hectares of natural forest in the province.

They have been supplying timber to their customers in the province for years, it added. --JP