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