Indonesia finally acts on illegal logging

Justice Minister Baharuddin Lopa has announced that the Indonesian government will launch a joint operation involving the National Defense Forces (TNI), the National Police and the Forestry Ministry against illegal logging as deforestation has taken an increasing toll on the country. "The cabinet is resolved that illegal logging can no longer be tolerated because it has been a practice for so long and caused huge losses to the government," he said after a cabinet meeting on Thursday chaired by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Lopa said Forestry Minister Marzuki Usman had been instructed to plan the joint operations and law enforcement moves. It was revealed the under the auspices of the anti-illegal logging drive special attention would be given to national parks and protected forests such as Leuser in Aceh, Tanjung Puting in Central Kalimantan and Kerinci Seblat in Jambi. Lopa said the target of the operations would include those who planned, financed and conducted the illegal logging activities.

Illegal logging is taking an increasing toll on Indonesia's forests, and scientists predict that many unique environments will be lost within five years. Large parts of the country were proposed as conservation areas, but under the Suharto government lucrative logging concessions were given to timber companies and have been maintained despite changes of government.

Environmentalists, while welcoming the latest moves, fear it is too little and far too late. Logging gangs operating in Sumatra and Kalimantan have destroyed much of the forest on the edge of national parks.

Removing forests exposes land to all weathers and last year there were extensive floods in deforested regions, which led to deaths and destroyed roads, buildings and crops. The fires lit by loggers to clear land have also spread uncontrollably - they are thought to be the root cause of the clouds of pollution which blanketed much of Southeast Asia in 1998 and 1999. (Asia Times Online/Asia Pulse). (Sumber : Asia Times Online, 12 May, 2001)