Stop forest concessionaires

Stop forest concessionaires

From Neraca

The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has estimated that forest fires in Indonesia will reoccur toward the third millennium and that these will be worse than the major fires of two years ago. The possibility of fresh outbreaks may be reduced if the government stops forest conversion efforts undertaken by forest concessionaires.

From information obtained by NOOA satellite imaging on Aug. 1 Walhi has found 341 hot spots in Sumatra, most found in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, and some in Bengkulu and Lampung. It is also reported that over 100 hot spots have been detected in Kalimantan, mostly in West and Central Kalimantan.

In our opinion, forest fires reflect the government's poor forest management policy. For the past two decades, Indonesia's forestry policies have been dominated by practices of forest conversion, climaxing with the establishment of large-scale oil palm plantations.

This condition has worsened with the introduction of government policies sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Political conditions have been established requiring the government to open up opportunities to investment in the agroindustrial area, particularly large-scale oil palm plantations. Another factor contributing to the deterioration of the condition of our forests is that in land clearing forest concessionaires use burning rather than any other method.

In our opinion, the government has not made a serious effort to anticipate and manage forest fires. Therefore, apart from urging that the government should stop unconditional forest conversion by no longer issuing new permits for large-scale estates, including timber estates, we have also asked the Ministry of Forestry and Estates to prioritize the sustainability of Indonesia's natural forests over short-term economic interests.

LONGGENA GINTING

Coordinator

Walhi Forest Advocacy Program