Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The government claimed success Tuesday in its war on illegal logging, saying that a recent clampdown on the industry had cut national deforestation by up to 70 percent during the past year.
However, an environmentalist doubted the government's claims and said there was evidence illegal logging in many areas was continuing unchecked.
Forestry Ministry statistics show during the past 12 months, Indonesia lost an estimated 3 million cubic meters of timber from illegal logging, compared to about 10 million cubic meters annually the previous years.
Speaking at his official residence in Central Jakarta, Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban said: "I believe we can end illegal logging this year."
Last year, the government, the National Police and the military launched a series of security operations, mostly targeting illegal loggers in Kalimantan and Papua. Officials arrested hundreds of perpetrators and confiscated more than 500,000 cubic meters of timber and many units of heavy machinery.
Kaban said one indication the war on illegal logging had been successful was the increasing number of timber processing companies going bankrupt because of a lack of wood.
"That is an unavoidable consequence because they were running their businesses without taking into account the amount of supply of legally sourced timber," he said. The country's total official timber production quota stood at only 8 million cubic meters in 2006 but milling capacity here is much more.
Environmentalists believe illegally cut timber fills in the huge gap between the legal national quota and demand, which they say stands at around 30 million cubic meters a year.
To revive the timber processing industry, the government plans to expand the existing 2.5 million hectares of industrial timber estates to 5 million hectares by 2009, providing an estimated capacity of 53 million cubic meters a year, Kaban said.
However, Yayat Afianto of environmental group Telapak doubted the minister's claims. He said Telapak's evidence showed timber smuggling from the country was still rampant and smugglers were finding new ways to evade the authorities.
"The fact that the world's timber industry still growing shows that it still has enough supply. And this supply is mostly covered by logs cut here illegally," Yayat said.
Telapak still received reports of massive timber smuggling operations from Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua and there were many actions the government should take before claiming victory over illegal logging, he said.
"I praise the government's bold initiatives in fighting this crime. However, other problems should be settled first, such as empowering people living nearby the forests (so they don't cut down the trees to sell)."