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)