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)