Pristine forests story of the past
Pristine forests story of the past
Indonesia's rain forests, along with Brazil's, are known as
the lungs of the world. The condition of the country's forests
continues to deteriorate as a result of illegal logging that has
gone on for decades, consequently contributing to global warming.
EG Togu Manurung, in his article titled Radical measures
needed to stop illegal logging (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 26) did
touch on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's declaration of war
on illegal logging on Nov. 11, 2004, in the Central Kalimantan
city of Pangkalan Bun.
The President's declaration was made less than a month after
he was inaugurated on Oct. 20, and this should have been swiftly
used by his forestry minister to act in coordination with the
National Police chief and attorney general. The President's first
100 days in office have, in fact, gone by without significant
results in the President's war against illegal logging, other
than that of announcing several illegal loggers had been reported
to the attorney general.
Togu Manurung -- who did not mention it in his article -- may
be aware of the fact that as a result of unchecked illegal
logging on Sumatra island alone, the government is losing Rp 15
trillion a month (the Post, July 7) meaning the country is losing
about Rp 180 trillion a year, which is equivalent to
approximately US$20 billion!
What about on other islands like Kalimantan, Papua, etc.,
where the rate of destruction is far greater, meaning another
tens of billions of dollars are being lost?
Therefore, I propose President Susilo consider a proposal to
close down the Indonesian-Malaysian border for at least four
months to stop logs being sent to Malaysian wood factories
(Kompas, June 30). That proposal was made to teach the Malaysian
wood producers that without a supply of logs from Kalimantan,
their factories would go bankrupt.
This measure is intended to save our forests from absolute
destruction and return our forests, if possible, to a pristine
condition.
M. RUSDI, Jakarta