Indonesia Warned Over Forest Crisis

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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1/9/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

Indonesia's abysmal forest management practices continue to be

highlighted internationally. The World Bank has decided it may

withdraw support for forest protection projects as a result of

continued failure to stop illegal cutting and burning.

g.b.

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Title: Jakarta warned over forest crisis

Orang-utans are disappearing with the forests

Source: BBC Online

Date: January 8, 2000

Byline: Clare Arthurs, East Asia Reporter

The World Bank has warned Indonesia that the state of the country's

forests is now so bad, it may withdraw support for forestry protection

projects.

World Bank officials in Jakarta say they want the Indonesian

Government to promise action within a year to stop forests being

illegally cut down or burned.

They say that unless action is taken, supplies for the legal timber

industry could run out within a few years.

The bank is now preparing for a meeting of international donors in

Indonesia later this month which will present the government with the

full story of the crisis.

The bank is couching its threat in co-operative terms. It wants to

work with the Indonesian Government to save the forests, the

livelihoods of local people and the native animal species, including

orang-utans.

Environmentalists blame loggers for forest fires

But years of talking about deforestation in Indonesia have achieved

nothing.

Maps developed by the Forestry Department show that Indonesia has been

losing about 1.5 million hectares every year - much more than was

previously thought.

The cost is high - the forest fires of 1997 and '98 cost the local

economy about $7bn.

Supplies to Indonesia's legal timber industry could run out within a

few years. And the rate of illegal logging is even higher.

Warning

At the seminar this month the bank will press the Indonesian

Government to acknowledge the problem and take co-ordinated action

within the year.

Tom Walton, who manages environmental policy for the World Bank in

Jakarta, says they are looking for firm promises.

''If the response is not a broad commitment from the government to do

something, the World Bank management will be very sceptical of a whole

lot more effort being put into the sector by the bank,'' he added.

''We have plenty of other things we need to do in Indonesia.''

Blame

The Indonesian Government has said it wants to preserve the forests,

but it has been more active in apportioning blame than taking action

to stop deforestation.

The World Bank says the Forestry Department cannot deal with the

problem alone, and the new minister has so far declined to even

discuss it.

The senior economics minister, Kwik Kian Gie, will address the forests

seminar, which will also be shown a video called the Final

Cut.

If the Indonesian Government does not respond, the title may prove to

be portentous.

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