State-controlled concessionaires to save the forests

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo yesterday assured that the acquisition of shares at private forest concessionaires by state-owned companies is aimed mainly to save the country's forests from further destruction.

Speaking at a forestry seminar yesterday, he said what really concerns him is that private timber companies might only try to make profits without giving any attention to forest preservation.

"Private companies usually look for quick yielding sectors, and thus the timber growing business is not attractive to them because it needs at least 35 years for one cycle of cutting," Djamaludin said.

He noted that the current 20-year concession rights based on the 1967 Forestry Law just encourages forest destruction because in such a time span, forest concessionaires are not able to think of preserving forests.

Bill

To solve the problem, he said, the Ministry of Forestry is drafting a new forestry bill to replace the existing one. In the bill, the term of a concession will be extended to 70 years to make the timber growing business attractive for private investment as well as to enforce the cutting cycle of 35 years to allow for reforestation.

He added that state companies are encouraged to work in the timber growing sector so that the sustainability of forest concessions will be secured.

Private timber companies often violate the government's regulations on selective cutting in order to meet the high capacity of their timber manufacturing units. In addition, they also often buy logs stolen from protected forests or nearby forest concession areas.

Last September the government took over two private concessionaires, PT Aya Timber and PT Yayang Indonesia both in South Kalimantan, for the "poor management" of their forest concessions.

Meanwhile, economist Christianto Wibisono contended that the government's move to control private concessionaires will only discourage private investments on forestry and be counter- productive in the era of privatization.

He noted that it is not important who operate the concessions as long as they are professional and credible. But, if the government uses a political, subjective approach, it can lead to national inefficiency in the forestry sector.

Minister Djamaludin, however, said that his ministry has made forest preservation a top priority as "once a forest is destroyed, it needs dozens of years to regrow."

Indonesia has the third largest tropical forest reserves in the world. The official figure stands at around 140 million hectares which has remained unchanged for years.

According to a United Nations Development Program report released last May, however, Indonesia has only 111.4 million hectares of closed and virgin forests left. Indonesia has been cutting down its forests since logging started in this country in the late 1960s.

Djamaludin said yesterday that as many as three million hectares of natural forests have been converted into plantations, transmigration sites and industrial forests. (rid)