Will CGI spoil picnic in vanishing forests?

Will CGI spoil picnic in vanishing forests?

David Curry, Director, Environmental Investigation Agency, London.
A. Ruwindrijarto, Director, Telapak Indonesia, Bogor, West Java

Corruption is firmly on the agenda of the Consultative Group
on Indonesia (CGI) meeting on Nov. 7-8, and the forestry sector
is well placed to offer opportunities for the Indonesian
government to act.

It came as a surprise to some observers that forests, and the
dependent life they sustain, should be discussed at these
financially based meetings. When discussing huge loans and grants
to bolster the struggling Indonesian economy, why should so much
fuss be made about saving forests, indigenous peoples' rights,
and wildlife? Why did the donors insist on seeing progress in the
forestry sector and why did the government agree to 12 action
points at the February 2000 CGI meeting?

The destruction of Indonesia's forests at a rate approaching 2
million hectares each year, is an economic, social and legal
disaster that effects the country's future. The timber mafia,
which includes members of the political, police and military
elite, are plundering one of Indonesia's greatest resources,
destroying the lives of forest dependent people, pushing wildlife
such as the orangutan towards extinction, and returning nothing
to the country.

The low-end estimate of financial loss in revenue from illegal
logging is US$ 600 million (the late former attorney general
Baharuddin Lopa put it at up to $4 billion), which according to
the country director of the World Bank is equivalent to four
times the combined spending of central and local government in
the forestry sector; and more than twice the amount spent by the
government on subsidized food programs for the poor this year.

At least as important to the donors is the reaction of the
government to this plunder. Handling this disaster is a litmus
test of whether the government is capable of good governance and
reform. As a focus of this test, Tanjung Puting National Park in
Central Kalimantan has been highlighted by Telapak Indonesia and
the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) because of its
international ecological importance and because information about
its commercial plunder is widely available from reports, videos,
TV news items and political debate.

Last January the Cabinet was called together to meet the
Central Kalimantan Governor to discuss this Park. But, as with
just about everything else, nothing happened.

Tanjung Puting remains a test case for this government and one
of the 12 action points promised to the CGI nearly two years ago
was to halt illegal logging, especially in national parks. In
Tanjung Puting the timber baron is known, the exact location of
the illegal logging infrastructure is mapped, the smaller timber
bosses have been identified, and the illegal sawmills are known.

If the government cannot stop the logging in Tanjung Puting
National Park, as has been the case so far, then what can they
possibly do in the larger and more complicated issues such as
downsizing an industry bloated from illegally sourced timber?

It is possible to view all the government's promises with
considerable skepticism.

At the October 2000 CGI meeting when progress should have been
made, a quick reshuffle temporarily put Bungaran Saragih in the
forestry minister hot-seat pleading that he was new, what could
he do? The donors gave him the benefit of the doubt and the money
kept flowing. Although respected, he was removed in November and
Nur Mahmudi Ismail returned to his still warm, but largely
inactive seat.

In April 2001 another new forestry minister was facing the
donors, and Marzuki Usman delivered a high profile ban on ramin
cutting and trading and sought international support by
unilaterally placing ramin on an appendix of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

This followed considerable evidence of widespread illegal
plunder of this rare swamp forest tree species, especially in
Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan. Dulled into
low expectations, the donors were mildly surprised, and the
minister was new after all, and the money flowed.

Now it's the next new minister's turn. Dr Ir Muhammad Prakosa
has already focused his government's 12 action points to five and
has so far proven approachable and has recently approved a log
export moratorium pleasing some non government organizations and
industry although the World Bank is more skeptical.

If 80 percent of log exports are already illegal, they ask,
how does penalizing a few honest operators really help the
forest?

Perhaps most disturbing for Minister Prakosa is that even the
small progress made by his predecessor with the ramin CITES
listing has been watered down.

His ministry has already extended the deadline for the ban and
is now considering exempting ramin "products" from the listing,
making support from importing countries virtually pointless since
most import are products.

Meanwhile the latest pictures from Tanjung Puting prove that
ramin is still cut in the Park and despite details of the illegal
logging infrastructure being given to his ministry, little has
been done.

When some small actions are carried out, such as the seizure
of four ships and two steel barges near the Park in the last few
weeks, the goodwill of some forest ministry staff is overturned
by money politics.

One of these ships and one barge have already been released
under orders from the local regent whose regency is under the
influence of local timber baron and member of the People's
Consultative Assembly Abdul Rasyid. Rasyid's company owns the
barge and has stood publicly accused of plundering the Park for
over two years.

If the CGI is serious about corruption, the government must
secure Tanjung Puting, stand by the CITES ramin listing and bring
Abdul Rasyid to justice.

Indonesia's forests are being plundered openly and without any
real hindrance from a government that complains of having its
hands tied. But President Megawati Soekarnoputri is popular and
has a relatively respected team around her.

Last week she stated "To atone for our past mistakes, we will
have to show our responsibility to the future generation by
greatly improving forest management."

It is unbelievable that the President's Office, in supporting
Minister Prakosa, could not stop illegal logging in a national
park and prosecute a timber baron. In a stroke, the President
would have sent the message that corruption will not be
tolerated, supported her forestry minister and provided a swift
rebuke to money politics, the scourge of Central Kalimantan and
many other parts of the country.

Without even a small success, it's difficult to see how the
CGI can carry on its deliberations on forestry with much
integrity if the money just keeps on flowing.