Ruling on forest utilization to be reviewed: Official

Ruling on forest utilization to be reviewed: Official

JAKARTA (JP): The government said on Tuesday it would review
the five-month-old regulation on forest utilization because the
maximum acreage set for timber companies does not encourage them
to adopt sustainable practices.

Director General of the Utilization of Production Forest
Waskito Suryodibroto said the maximum acreage for companies under
Government Regulation No. 6/1999 appeared infeasible for
supporting sustainable forest management.

"After a long study, we concluded that the regulation does not
encourage timber companies to manage their areas in a sustainable
manner, and therefore should be revised," he said in a forestry
discussion.

Under the regulation issued in February, a concessionaire can
manage a maximum of 100,000 hectares of forest in a province. A
concessionaire is allowed to hold concessions in different
provinces, but their combined size cannot exceed 400,000
hectares.

Plantation companies, except for sugarcane, are not allowed to
manage more than 100,000 hectares of land, with a maximum of
20,000 hectares in one province.

PT Alas Kusuma's director for forest management Nana Suparna
said the severe restrictions threatened the commercial viability
of timber companies.

Nana said the small acreage did not provide economies of scale
for sustainable forest management, which is a prerequisite to
obtain ecolabeling certification.

Ecolabeling certification will be required for producers of
tropical timber to gain access to international markets beginning
in 2000.

"Managing smaller concessions in a sustainable manner is much
costlier, given the big investment and technology needed to
manage the forest."

Nana added that the limits on the forest concession area would
also affect the wood-processing industry.

Wood-processing plants would face severe shortages of input if
the maximum acreage limits were imposed because wood mills were
designed to be supplied by larger forest areas, he added.

Nana suggested that the government set maximum limits on each
area's yield potential since they differed significantly among
forests.

An official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Suyono
Suwarno, admitted the maximum limit was formulated without
economic considerations.

"It seemed the limit of 400,000 hectares was set out of the
blue," he said. (gis)