Plundering Indonesia's Forests
11/12/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY
The last forests of Indo-Malaysia are being mopped up. Even CNN has
the scoop on the logging in Indonesian National Parks. South-east
Asian rainforests are toast unless something is done quickly.
g.b.
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Item #1
Title: Plundering Indonesia's forests
Source: Cable News Network, http://www.cnn.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 9, 1999
Byline: Gary Strieker, International Correspondent
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- It was almost two years since our last
assignment here. During that time, Indonesia has been racked by
economic and social turmoil.
This time we wanted to find out what was happening on the big story
we covered in 1997: raging forest fires in Borneo and Sumatra.
Fortunately, abundant rains prevented the fires from breaking out
again this year. But we found another disturbing story. For most
Indonesians their troubles are obvious: unemployment, inflation,
corruption, human rights abuses, and widespread separatist violence.
But if those are not enough to give them nightmares, there's another
peril that overshadows all the others, a catastrophe that would
haunt future generations when today's problems are only memories
-- the looming specter of environmental disaster.
Destruction on a vast scale
In 1997-98 the fires made big headlines by generating a blanket
of smoke across Southeast Asia. The haze was blamed for respiratory
ailments, shipping collisions and airplane crashes. But these
threatens unfortunate consequences deflected Indonesia's largest
attention from the tragedy taking protected forest place in the
forests where the fires were blazing.
In 1997-98 the fires reportedly destroyed more than 4.5 million
hectares of forest across Indonesia. That's an area larger than
Denmark; more than twice the size of New Jersey; a huge chunk of
priceless tropical habitat that is now gone forever.
And inside the burning forests, of course, countless wild animals
perished in the flames. Among them were certainly thousands of
orangutans, the endangered great ape that now seems doomed to
extinction.
Evidence now confirms that most of the fires were set by timber and
agri-business companies. Their purpose was to clear land in the
cheapest possible way, to make it easier to go ahead with profitable
investments in oil palm, rubber and timber plantations.
Never mind that the fires were set intentionally in defiance of
Indonesian law. According to many critics, the fires were only part
of a long-standing system of aggressive exploitation of Indonesia's
forests that enriched an elite group of businessmen, military
officers and politicians inside a circle surrounding former president
Suharto. As expected, with the collapse of the old regime there are
now many accusations about corruption and illegal fortunes amassed by
Suharto's family and cronies. Those who profited from forest
resources are only part of a much bigger scandal.
Legacy of exploitation
But there's something different about the forest dealings. Years of
abusive exploitation have left a legacy that could outlive the
Suharto era and condemn Indonesia's forests to annihilation.
The legacy is the perception of forests as a source of timber, a
storehouse of a valuable commodity to be harvested for cash, as
quickly as possible.
The way many Indonesians value their forests is clearly shown in the
rise of illegal logging in the aftermath of Suharto's fall.
With a lingering power vacuum in Jakarta, some Indonesians have seen
an opportunity to steal timber from the forests, even from protected
reserves and national parks. Extensive illegal logging is causing
widespread damage to forested habitats that were undisturbed until
these recent invasions.
Among piles of harvested trees, we spoke to some illegal loggers in
Tanjung Putting National Park. After years of watching rich people
reap rewards from the forests, they said, it was now time for them to
claim their share of the timber.
According to Ambrose Ruwindrijarto, an environmental activist here,
many Indonesians have felt cheated because they didn't have access to
the forests. Their rights have always been given away to concessions,
to businessmen, he told us, and now suddenly when they feel more
empowered they go into the forest and take something for themselves.
Many illegal loggers are confident that government authorities will
fail to prosecute them, and in most cases they've been right. In
fact, local officials often work with them to evade the law, in
exchange for a share in profits.
The idea that forests are to be plundered for profit has trickled
down from the top, an attitude that conservationists say must be
changed if Indonesia's remaining forests are to be saved.
Still time for reform
Unfortunately even the new government, charged with reformist
ambition, might fail to give the forests the attention they deserve.
It's appalling that the political parties don't have sufficient
comprehension on forestry issues in Indonesia, says Ruwindrijarto,
who laments that he and other conservationists are having a difficult
time trying to focus new political leaders on the problem.
In its last days in October, the old government rushed a new forestry
law through Indonesia's parliament. It was intended as a measure of
reform, but conservationists say it perpetuates the treatment of
forests as sources of timber instead of valuable ecosystems to be
managed sustainably for future generations.
Conservationists here say the new law, like the old, focuses on the
state's monopoly on forest resources and the process of awarding
concessions to outsiders, ignoring the rights of local people. They
warn that the law will continue to benefit rich timber barons,
promote the corruption of politicians, and encourage the further
destruction of Indonesia's forests.
There are still vast tracts of magnificent forests to save here: the
largest in Asia, third largest on the planet. They're critical parts
of our global environment, the only home for many endangered species
of animals and plants. They're vital sources of food, raw materials
and medicines for millions of Indonesians. Losing these forests could
cause incalculable damage in ways we can't even foresee.
There are now hundreds of grass-roots environmental organizations in
Indonesia. Many are determined to stop the annihilation of their
forests. That's a story with global implications, and we'll do our
best to cover that in the months ahead.
Item #2
Title: Authorities turn blind eye to Borneo forest looting
Source: Cable News Network, http://www.cnn.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 11, 1999
Byline: Gary Strieker, International Correspondent
TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia (CNN) -- At low tide, park
rangers have to push their boat to the mouth of the Buluh Besar, one
of the rivers in Tanjung Puting, Indonesia's premier national park on
the island of Borneo.
It is the largest protected area of swamp forest in Southeast Asia
and a refuge for many endangered species of wildlife, including the
orangutan.
But it has become a sanctuary under siege, facing destruction by
forces that park rangers seem powerless to stop.
Upriver, illegal loggers cut down countless hardwood trees in a huge
assembly-line operation, using a primitive railroad to bring logs
from areas deep in the park.
This massive timber theft is carried out in broad daylight, in full
view of government authorities.
"We have only two speedboats and it's very difficult also to make a
patrol," says a park ranger. "This is very difficult to stop them."
Especially when the loggers operate amid a web of corruption where
local officials turn a blind eye to crime.
Working with Indonesian activists, the Environmental Investigation
Agency, a private group based in London, has gone undercover to
expose how a few rich businessmen have conspired to plunder the park.
They're making millions by using low-paid laborers and middlemen to
collect and transport stolen timber to their sawmills.
Most illegal logging in the Tanjung Puting Park could be stopped if
Indonesia's government had the political will to do so. But
conservationists say that kind of commitment remains to be seen, and
there are still millions to be made by stealing the trees.
Meanwhile, illegal logging is said to supply more than half the
timber consumed by Indonesia's huge wood processing industries, even
in legally protected national parks.