Severe Deforestation in Indonesia
Deforestation in Indonesia is getting worse. Every second, a forest area with the size of a football field changes its function. Coupled with the adopted capitalist system, the ownership of Indonesia’s forests is under the control of foreign parties. This statement was delivered by a student of the Faculty of Forestry IPB, in his speech at the opening of Indonesia’s Forest Management Talk Show in the Room of Sylva Pertamina, Darmaga campus of IPB (11/12). The theme raised in the event was "Responding to Economic Challenges for the Future of Forestry."
The many misconducts not exposed to the public have caused the uncertainty over the condition of forests in Indonesia. The fact is already obvious, i.e. the flash floods in Wasior and Kalimantan are the signs of the many bare forests of Indonesia.
This is justified by Ir. Djoko Supomo, MM, Head of Sub Directorate of Assessment of Natural Forest Utilization, Forestry Ministry of Indonesia, as a resource person. Currently, Indonesia’s forest is about 120 million hectares, which is categorized into three: conservation forest covering 20.5 million hectares, protection forest of 33 million hectares and production forests of 66 million hectares. The production forest in the era of the 1970’s (New Order) was the natural resource needed at that time. Entrepreneurs (individuals) were allowed to have a forest area of more than 1 million hectares.
"In that era, forests were explored and exploited to produce timber for export. The revenue from timber sales reached U.S. $ 29 billion per year. However, the exploitation was still of the primary industry, thus no added value. Only in the era of 1990’s when industrialization grew, the added value was obtained, "he said.
Then, are now Indonesia’s forests still green? According to Ir. Djoko, Indonesia is now in the era of rehabilitation and stabilization of the region. Illegal exploitation of wood products in an era of 1990‘s could reach 30 million m3 per year from natural forests, but now with the target of 9.1 million m3 per year, only 5 million m3 per year can be realized.
"This means that if converted one hectare of land produces 40 m3, then there are still about 200-250 hectares of forest per year that could be exploited by holding the principles of forest sustainability. Illegal logging is getting greatly increased with the regional autonomy, in which the authority is given to regional leaders. The arising problem is the overlapping in granting permits. Thus, in 2000-2005 without complying with the principles of sustainability, the illegal logging amounted up to 1.7 -2.5 million hectares per year or equal to the size of a football field per second," he added.
Meanwhile, a source person from IPB, Dr. Ir. Iskandar Z. Siregar, who currently serves as Director of Research and Strategic Studies of IPB expressed the need for improved functions and skills that must be possessed by a forester. "A forestry graduate must become a certified forester, that is, he holds a certificate issued by a forestry association where a forester will be tested for his capacity and skills to conform to the international standards. In Germany, it takes up to 2 years for a forester to obtain such a certificate," he explained. (mtd)
