Amid
the rapid expansion of plantations and mining activities in forest areas,
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has vowed to both sustain the
environment and eradicate poverty.
“As a developing nation, we must prioritise
the promotion of growth and the eradication of poverty, but we will not achieve
these goals by sacrificing our forests. We must attain both development and the
(good) management of our forests simultaneously,” he said at the Forests
Indonesia Conference on Tuesday.
Yudhoyono said that forest management was
tightly intertwined with people’s livelihoods, food security, the availability
of wood and fuel and climate change. Therefore, he added, everyone needs to
take bold initiatives through close collaboration and partnership with all
stakeholders.
“We must change the way we treat our forests
so that they are conserved even as we drive hard to accelerate our economic
growth. We must intensify our efforts to reduce emissions from land use and
forestry exploitation. These factors account for up to 85 per cent of
Indonesia’s entire greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
The Centre for International Forestry Research
(CIFOR) recorded that Indonesia was losing about 1.1 million hectares of forest
each year, most of which was due to unsustainable logging that include the
conversion of forests to plantations for palm oil, and the pulp and paper
industry. It is also partly due to large-scale illegal logging, which is
estimated to cost Indonesia about US$4 billion annually.
Indonesia plans to achieve US$15,000 per
capita and 8-9 per cent of growth by 2025, from the current level of US$5,000
per capita and 6.5 to 7 per cent growth.
Indonesia has sealed a notable agreement with
the Norwegian government, which has promised to pay US$1 billion in assistance
funds in 2014 should Indonesia be successful in reducing levels of
deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
Norway has confirmed that Indonesia can use
the funds for economic and development activities including expanding oil palm
plantations on degraded land.
Hadi Daryanto from the Indonesian Forestry
Ministry said that his ministry had made a map of 18 million hectares of forest
to accommodate both forest preservation and economic growth. He said that
low-income people can take part in the programme through the community forest
areas.
“We will provide 2.5 million hectares of
community forest over 20 years. When the time comes, people can join the formal
sector,” he said.
Andrie S. Wijaya of the Mining Advocacy
Network (JATAM) in Indonesia said to maintain the environment as well as
people’s economic wellbeing, the government should strengthen local economies
rather than major firms.
He cited farmers in Kertabuana village in East
Kalimantan, who used to earn 14 million rupiah (US$1,600) per month from
agriculture or fisheries before mining activities started operating in the
area, which polluted the water and resulted in reduced harvests and fish
stocks.
“In many regions in eastern Indonesia, people
possess local wisdom regarding their environment. But the government tends to
see them only as poor people, which creates dependency,” he said.
Andrew Steer, World Bank’s special envoy on
climate change, said Indonesia could capture the carbon market, which was
estimated to grow over the next five years as the demand for certified products
increase.
Tifa Asrianti
The Jakarta Post
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