Indonesia: Flip flopping on Native forest protection again.
When political pressure builds on Indonesian leadership regarding
converting native forest to plantations they are usually quick to
offer the solution of no more permits for cutting native forest. But
then when pressure dies down and the timber industry puts the right
amount of money in front of the right political leaders, it’s again as
though there never really even was an effort to protect native forests
in the first place. –Editor, Forest Policy Research
Forestry Ministry will allow pulp and paper industries to use wood
from natural forests if supply from timber estates (HTI) is not
available due to their development problems in the past two years.
“It is not impossible for the policy for pulp and paper industries to
use wood from natural forests to be extended,” Forestry Minister MS
Kaban said here on Friday.
The forestry minister had earlier issued a
decree banning pulp and paper industries to use wood from natural
forests. Based on the decree HTI companies linked with pulp and paper
industry are required to finish planting their areas in 2009 by the
latest. However, Minister Ka’ban said in the past two years several
HTI companies had been suspected of conducting illegal logging and as
a result many companies had been afraid of being suspected of doing it
making them to delay their planting and industrial forest development
activity. “Plants that have to be harvested after six to seven years
were cut earlier and as a result stocks of tree stand in the HTI
companies are irregular,” he said. The minister did not mention time
limit for the use of wood from natural forests saying “it depends upon
their respective annual plan.” In addition to the facility the
minister urged the companies to immediately finish planting their
areas moreover the illegal logging case has now been dealt with by the
police. He reminded that the obligation to conduct timber estate
management had to be done six months after the license was given by
the latest. For those who are late, the government may revoke their
license, he said adding that timber estate planting also had to be
done with respect to principles of sustainable forest management. The
Forestry Ministry expects until 2009 a total of five million hectares
of timber estates could be created. Until the end of 2008 realization
of the forest development reached 4.3 millin hectares. At present a
total 222 units of timber estate companies have been recorded
operating on a 9.807 million hectares of land consisting of 164
companies with a definitive license operating on 7.1 million hectares,
26 units on 2.03 million hectares with a reserve license and the rest
32 units on 300,000 hectares for transmigration programs.
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2009/1/10/paper-industries-allowed-to-use-wood-from-natural-forests/
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