State-controlled concessionaires to save the forests

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)