Indonesia: Policies that allow for them to destroy forests faster than any other nation

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has noted that in
2006-2007, 840 ecological disasters took place, in which 7,303 people
lost their lives and 1,140 others were declared missing. At least 3
million people were forced to become refugees and 750,000 houses were
damaged or submerged. Toward the end of 2008 we were again saddened by
the news of floods and landslides, tidal waves and forest fires.
Ecological destruction kills hundreds of people every year. The Health
Ministry, as quoted by Antara news agency, puts the number of lives
lost to environmental disasters in Indonesia at 8,638 from 2006 to
August 2008 – 7,770 in 2006, 675 in 2007 and 263 in January-August
2008.

This is a considerable death toll resulting from environmental
mismanagement. Legalized destruction of natural resources for economic
interests has been underway since 1967. It started with the
introduction of the Foreign Investment Law, the Forestry Law and the
Mining Law. Since then, Indonesia has systematically turned to selling
all its natural assets at low prices on a large scale. Consequently,
there has been large-scale conversion of forests into extensive
private estates and mining areas and for industrial needs. In
downstream regions, the mangrove ecosystem has also been reduced due
to conversion into luxury housing, fish ponds and industries. Today,
mangrove forests along Indonesian coastal areas cover less than 1.9
million hectares. The government has made some headway in eradicating
illegal logging, illegal mining and illegal fishing. But that is not
the case with legal logging, legal mining and legal fishing, which
evidently destroy the environment. The state gives the impression that
it is protecting companies that have allegedly committed crimes
against the environment for their own economic ends. These methods
prove that the state has for a long time been leading the destruction
of nature through its legislation and licensing. Attempts to make the
state fundamentally amend its natural resources and environmental
management policies have not yet succeeded. We even have laws that
potentially speed up environmental damage. In 2007 three laws were
turned out that supported natural exploitation: the Investment Law,
the Spatial Planning Law and the Small Island and Coastal Region
Management Law. The three serve as the basis for natural exploitation
licenses in 2008 and the coming years. In early 2008, the state again
issued a controversial policy. Government Regulation No. 2/2008 on the
types and rates of non-tax income from forestry has been met with
public rejection. In the rule, the state allows protected forest zones
to be utilized for mining operations as long as mining companies pay a
maximum rent of Rp 300 (2 US cents) per square meter a year.
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2008/12/ecological-disasters-and-indonesias.html

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous