West Kalimantan to become desert in 2037: Research

West Kalimantan to become desert in 2037: Research

Bambang Bider, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak

West Kalimantan, once known as part of the world's lungs for its
tropical forests, will turn into a vast barren in 2037 due to
forest fires and rampant illegal logging, according to research
by the University of Tanjungpura in Pontianak.

Over the last two years, the university's research team
collected data that shows the province has lost an average of
165,631 hectares (ha) of forest annually and, under such a
condition, the province's remaining 6.3 million hectares of
forest will likely vanish within the next 35 years.

"The main problems are the rampant illegal logging, by both
locals and holders of forest concessions, and the forest fires
during the annual dry season," researcher Gusti Hardiansyah said
in a seminar to reveal their research results here recently.

According to data at the local forestry office, from 1977 to
1985, the province lost 22 percent of its forest area, from 8.7
million ha to 6.7 million ha.

Hardiansyah further said that his team, comprised of
environmental experts and activists, found that many forest
concession holders were supplying illegal logs to middlemen for
export to Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and Taiwan.

Eighty percent of illegal logs are exported while the
remaining 20 percent are supplied to the local market. The market
condition has contributed to the illegal logging.

"The rampant illegal logging has a lot to do with the high
unemployment rate in the province. Many jobless people and
workers who have been laid off won't to seek jobs in the formal
or informal sectors because they have found illegal logging to be
the easiest way to make money," said Hardiansyah.

He said that according to field investigations, the province
produces around 864,000 cubic meters of illegal logs and timber
annually, of which the majority are exported to Malaysia.

"The illegal logs are smuggled through Entikong in Sanggau
regency, Badau in Kapuas Hulu regency and Jagoi Babang in
Bengkayang regency.

"About half of the hotel occupants in Ketapang are usually
timber businessmen from Malaysia, who come here to purchase
illegal logs and timber," he said.

Yusti, a 22-year-old graduate of an agricultural institute in
the city, said he has gone to the forest, instead of to farms or
government offices, to make money because it has been very
difficult to find a job.

"Working at a rubber plantation is very easy, but the payment
is very low and with the current monthly minimum wage, I can't
meet my daily needs," he said.

Yusti acknowledged that the kinds of wood available in the
province were those with high economic value, for example, belian
(eusideroxylon zwageri), meranti (dipterocarpa) and bedaru
(cantleya corniculata)

He said the illegal logs were supplied through middlemen to
the sawmills operating illegally in forest areas in the province.

So far, there are 433,250 sawmills in the province and most of
them have operated without any official permission or
documentation from relevant authorities.

Sr. Comr. Wayan T. Budhijaja, chief of the special operation
center at the provincial police, said it was very difficult to
stop the illegal logging because of the government's lack of
political will to do so.

The illegal logging could be stopped only if relevant
authorities, including the police and the military, were not
involved in the scam and those supplying illegal logs and timber
were punished severely, he said.