Police action needed to save C. Java forests
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto
State-owned forest company PT Perhutani has called on authorities in Central Java to take action against widespread illegal logging practices, which had contributed to recent floods and landslides in the southern part of the province.
Haryono Kusumo, chief of the natural resources development department of Perhutani in the province, conceded that the annual flooding and landslides in the regencies of Kebumen, Cilacap and Banyumas were related to illegal logging and people cultivating the land for farming in mountainous areas throughout the region.
He said that illegal logging had been rampant since the fall of former president Soeharto in 1998, while 80,000 of a total 700,000 hectares of forest area in the region were cleared and converted into farmland over the last nine months.
"Our concern is that the illegal logging has happened in productive forest areas and those who loot the forests are local people living under the poverty line near the forest areas," Haryono said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.
Thousands of houses and tens of thousands of hectares of rice fields were damaged in the recent flood that hit the three regencies.
He added that illegal logging had caused a 40 percent decrease in the annual logging output, to 180,000 cubic meters of logs this year from 300,000 cubic meters in 2000.
According to him, both persuasive and repressive approaches are needed to minimize the illegal logging and farming.
"Local authorities in the regencies must be strict in enforcing the law. Sawmills and timber businessmen who have supported the illegal logging must be taken to court, while local people found guilty of clearing trees without permission must be punished.
"The illegal logging will continue unless the forest authorities and police do not take action against squatters and timber businessmen who are allegedly behind the tree theft," he said.
He said that it did not appear local authorities were serious during a recent operation to curb the illegal logging because only six squatters were apprehended.
Some 400 police personnel deployed were unable to do much because information about the operation had been leaked to timber businessmen before it was launched, he said.
Banyumas Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sukamto Handoko vowed to take stern action against looters and their sponsors because the looting and its negative impacts on local people had reached an alarming level.
"We will never compromise with those who have devastated the ecosystem. Measures must be taken to serve as a good lesson for local people involved in the illegal logging activities," he said.
He said Perhutani and the local administration should be proactive in conducting a campaign among local people to improve their awareness of the importance of the ecological system to avoid flooding and landslides.
Data at Perhutani's branch office in Banyumas shows that, from a total of 46,600 hectares of hardwood forests in the regency, almost 9,000 hectares was lost to illegal logging in 2000 and 8,600 hectares had disappeared over the last ten months, causing Rp 1.8 billion in material losses to the state.
Sudiman, an employee at Perhutani's local office, said Perhutani had problems halting the illegal logging and farming because it was being committed by local people with a low standard of living.
"The forest areas in the regency are surrounded by 421 of the least-developed villages and they have been used by timber businessmen to steal logs from the forest areas," he said.
Ongoing reforestation in the barren areas will stop completely if the illegal logging continues, he said, revealing that Perhutani has spent only Rp 2 million annually to support the regency's reforestation program.