Nurfika Osman & AFP – Environmentalists have demanded that the government crack down on mining and plantation firms operating illegally in the country, following a startling official admission that these violations were commonplace.
Bustar Maitar, lead forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, said on Thursday that forestry and environmental protection laws needed to be seriously enforced.
"The most important thing is that violations should be made public," he said. "The public should be allowed to know what is happening with our forests and who the perpetrators behind the violations are."
He was responding to a statement by the Forestry Ministry on Tuesday that said less than 20 percent of plantation companies and less than 1.5 percent of mining firms in Central Kalimantan had official operating permits.
"There are only 67 plantation companies out of 352 that operate legally in Central Kalimantan, while there are only nine out of 615 mine units that operate legally," the ministry said.
The finding also found that violations of laws designed to protect Indonesia's forests, home to endangered species such as orangutans and tigers, had "become widespread in a number of regions, especially in Central Kalimantan."
The findings were released after an investigation by a task force set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to look into the "forest mafia" – networks of miners, planters and officials blamed for rampant illegal land clearing.
Indonesia is the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, due mainly to deforestation by the palm oil and paper industries, which is fueled by corruption.
The Forestry Ministry promised to stop issuing new plantation and mine permits in the province and to cooperate with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to enforce the law.
A University of Indonesia study last year concluded that the Indonesian military acted as coordinator, financier and facilitator for illegal loggers in Borneo, where deforestation rates are among the fastest in the world.
Bustar said that Yudhoyono, a former Army general, should not "back the military personnel [implicated] in such cases."
He added the situation in Central Kalimantan was only the tip of the iceberg. "We have 33 provinces across the country, and if 50 percent of a single province's forests face the same problems as Central Kalimantan, this is dangerous," he said.
Bustar also called on Yudhoyono to implement a promised two-year moratorium on issuing new concessions in natural forests and peatland, which was due to go into force on Jan. 1.
The moratorium is part of an agreement struck with Norway last May, in which Indonesia will get $1 billion to help preserve its forests.
"We're also worried about the moratorium because the government is now one month behind on it, and we haven't seen any sign that they're going to implement it immediately," Bustar said. "The president should take action."
Environmentalists accused the government last month of granting massive new logging concessions on the eve of the moratorium.