Stephen Schaber – The Indonesian government is facilitating the destruction of protected forests, according to a cable news report aired on Tuesday.

"[Logging and mining companies are] legally destroying the forests since government officials simply gave them a license to do so," Al Jazeera correspondent Step Vassen says in the special report.

Al Jazeera bases its findings on discussions with environmentalist organizations and footage captured secretly in Kalimantan of a coal mining company operating in a protected forest area.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently signed a two-year moratorium on logging in Indonesia's primary forests and peatland. The Al Jazeera report challenges the authenticity of the ban.

"Indonesia is at the forefront of the battle against climate change," Vassen says. "But the reality on the ground [is that] most of the so-called, 'lungs of the world,' have been destroyed already."

Environmentalist organizations interviewed for the report blame corrupt officials for the exploitation. They say it is common practice for government officials to issue logging or mining licenses in return for a "stiff bribe." The sheer volume of cases brought to court back their claim, the groups say.

One local Kalimantan resident says the president's logging ban is too late, "because most of Kalimantan's is already divided between mining companies and palm oil plantations."

The Norwegian government has promised Indonesia $1 billion to implement a two-year logging ban. Vassen says Indonesia refutes criticism "the ban is only symbolic."

But a presidential advisor on climate change, quoted in the report, believes a balance can be struck between environmental preservation and economic growth.

"[Can] Indonesia achieve 7 percent growth without harming this 60 million hectare primary forest," Agus Purnomo says. "Yes. And we can also reduce emissions significantly."

The report questions Agus' assertion by immediately showing flyover footage of deforested land that now resembles a "moon landscape." The correspondent simultaneously points out that, "mining companies are legally bound to restore the forest."

The report also cites the power of local government as a factor in the exploitation. "Ever since the introduction of regional autonomy," Vassen says, "the [central] government is often overpowered by local authorities who are not keen to enforce the logging ban."

The Al Jazeera correspondent says that in just one district in East Kalimantan, more than 700 logging permits have been requested, among which "hundreds" have been issued.

The district chief, interviewed on-camera, concedes corruption is a problem. "Officials wrongly handed out permits," Rita Widyasari says. "They've handed out permits in a protected forests so they didn't treat forests in a proper way. They gave it away for mining or plantations."

Despite the district chief stating this abuse will not happen again under her rule, environmentalists remain skeptical. "With new corruption cases being detected throughout Borneo, the remaining forests could very well be up for sale."