Simple math on forests

Simple math on forests

The Jakarta Post (July 2, 2002) ran a letter reprinted from Koran
Tempo about the government's decision to shut down or reduce the
capacity of wood processing companies that lack sufficient legal
supply of timber. The author says this is unfair since the
government itself is to blame for the fact that companies cannot
get enough timber.

The letter misses the most important point. Wood processing
industries currently use around 60-70 million cubic meters of
wood each year, while Indonesia's forests can only sustainably
produce about one third of that. If that continues the country
will soon deplete its resources. This has already happened in
Thailand, Nigeria, and the Philippines, which went from being
major timber exporters to net importers in just a few decades.

Indonesia needs its forests to generate employment, foreign
exchange, and tax revenues. However, it must also make sure the
industry remains viable over the long-term. The only way to do
that is if the government stops companies from cutting more
timber than forests can sustainably produce.

GREG CLOUGH

Center for International

Forestry Research

Bogor, West Java