Not enough monitoring being done to stop illegal logging

Not enough monitoring being done to stop illegal logging

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin
Soeryohadikoesoemo said yesterday that his ministry will keep a
closer watch on the timber industry to prevent illegal cutting.

Speaking at a four-day ministry workshop, he said his office
will conduct unscheduled inspections at the nation's ports to
ensure that all logs were taken legally.

He said the partnership between the ministry's provincial
offices and the Coordinating Team for the Wood Product Industry
would also be strengthened.

Djamaloedin also stressed the need to improve forest
conservation.

According to the minister, more on site monitoring of logging
in natural forest concessions and industrial plantations is also
needed.

He said wood smuggling into Java is suspected to have
increased due to the high demand mainly for industrial and
construction uses. Java needs about 10 million cubic meters of
timber a year, most of which are shipped from Kalimantan.

The Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature
Conservation (PHPA), through an operation earlier this year,
seized several illegal suppliers of wood at several ports in
Java.

More than 95 tons of rattan, cinnamon and charcoal, and 19,837
cubic meters of logs and processed wood, were confiscated during
the operation.(10)