Soeharto says forests need to be regreened
Soeharto says forests need to be regreened
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto reminded forest concession
holders Saturday of the need for regreening and good control of
jungle exploitation.
Soeharto told participants of an international seminar on
botanical gardens at the State Palace that the government had
issued several regulations aimed at preserving the forests.
He said that the regulations were intended to control forest
exploitation and ensure that the natural resources could be used
for the benefit of all the people.
The seminar, held in Bogor, West Java from July 4 to 9,
was jointly organized by LIPI and the Indonesian Forestry
Community (MPI).
"Indonesia is committed to preserving its forests," he said.
He added that the government has divided forests into three
categories: timber estates, reserves and conversions.
One regulation, Soeharto said, requires that all trees
harvested be only those with trunk diameters of 50 centimeters or
more.
The President, who was accompanied by chairman of the
Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) Samaun Samadikun, also
explained that concession owners could only obtain one cubic
meter of wood from each hectare of their concession areas.
He said that if an owner had a 100,000-hectare concession
area, he was allowed only to obtain 100,000 cubic meters of wood
each year.
Soeharto said that the government also required reforestation
fees of US$15 for each cubic meter of wood taken by concession
holders.
"Reforestation is the obligation of each concession holder and
the fee is mandatory," he said.
To illustrate, he said that if a total of 30 million cubic
meters of wood were cut each year, the government would receive
$450 million. The money could then be used to reestablish 450,000
hectares of timber estate, he said.
The President said that he believed that timber estate
projects could provide alternative jobs for nomadic and semi-
nomadic farmers.
Government officials have laid some of the blame for the
deforestation that has taken place across the country on farmers
who practice slash-and-burn farming techniques. (par)