Plan to extend forest concessions supported

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry supports a proposal to extend forest concessions from 20 years to 70 years by revising Law No. 5/1967 on forestry, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said over the weekend.

The minister's support was based on the government wanting concessionaires to manage their forests sustainably and the revision would offer concessionaires more legal certainty.

"It is necessary to extend the concessions' validity to give more legal certainty to concessionaires and to increase their interest in adopting sustainable management," Djamaludin said.

Many concessionaires have applied to the government to convert their forest areas to palm oil plantations if there was no legal certainty about the extension of their concession rights.

"The function of forests cannot be replaced by plantations," he said.

Forests were the source of germ plasma and the home of endangered animals whose survival would be in danger if forests were converted.

"Hitherto, there are still pros and cons on the plan to extend the validity of forest concession rights so the revision of Law No. 5/1967 may take a long time," he said.

Djamaludin said the ministry would try to finish formulating the revision by the end of the current cabinet's term in March 1998 but doubted the ministry would be able to do so.

He said in formulating the proposed revision the government should consider the views of forest concessions' stakeholders, forestry experts, non-government organizations and the young generation.

Indonesia has 490 forest concessionaires.

The minister said his department started formulating the revision early 1995 after President Soeharto approved it. (10)