Jakarta – The Environment and Forestry Ministry is planning to issue 1,000 wood legality certificates this year to support the revival of the country's wood industry.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stressed that the revival of the wood industry should be supported by an adequate supply of high-quality raw materials and quality product designs.
She said the supply chain of the raw materials should be simplified to ensure that prices are competitive in the global market. "Upstream industry should work together [with downstream industry]," Siti said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Tuesday.
"There should be synergy in managing resources. We should also have adequate knowledge and information, particularly information about the market."
The minister expressed appreciation for business players who were committed to using legal types of wood, saying it was important because it allowed end-products to penetrate the international market.
Siti said the wood industry's commitment to using legal raw materials was recognized by the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"For the first time in the last 15 years, the UN and the FAO recognize that Indonesian forests are managed well and they also recognized that the deforestation rate is declining," she said when launching an event on the national wood industry in Kendal regency, Central Java, recently. (bbn)