President asks for reform on forest management
President asks for reform on forest management
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri insisted on Thursday that
Indonesian forestry officials and management must reform the
entire industry to save the rapidly dwindling forests.
During her opening statements at a forestry congress in
Jakarta, Megawati lamented the fact that the old management
system had allowed corruption and collusion between dishonest
officials and timber companies.
"To atone for our past mistakes, we will have to show our
responsibility to the future generation by greatly improving
forest management," she said.
Unchecked illegal logging and a lack of reforestation programs
were blamed for the quickly deteriorating forests throughout the
archipelago. According to the World Bank, Indonesia lost about
1.5 million hectares of forests on average each year between 1985
and 1997. By the beginning of 2000, Indonesia's forests had been
reduced to a mere 20 million hectares, down from pre-1985 levels
of nearly 43 million hectares.
Government officials are being blamed for the decrease along
with farmers who employ slash-and-burn techniques in addition to
a large group of illegal loggers. Non-governmental organizations
point their finger primarily at companies engaged in illegal
logging and their collusion with government officials for the
problem.
Megawati stated that the era when forests were a major source
of state revenue and livelihood for many people is over.
The President said that mismanagement and the lack of proper
planning with reforestation programs had ended it all.
"The result of (mismanagement and corruption) is that we now
face immense losses to the state budget and a great number of
people have been deprived of their livelihood," she said.
"Whatever our excuse is, the over-exploitation of forests has
turned vast forested land into grassland and devastated the
ecosystem."
The President said that outside Java, problems such as illegal
logging, encroachment and land clearing for plantation projects
continue unabated. In densely-populated Java, it is difficult to
protect the remaining patches of forested land.
"We should keep in mind that the weaknesses in planning and
coordination among related agencies has contributed to the loss
of our forests," she said.
The congress, held by the Ministry of Forestry, was attended
by government officials, environmentalists, forestry experts and
other forestry stakeholders.