Forest Demage !!!!!!

Indonesian have 10% of tropical forest remaining. Forest has 12% of mammal species / mammals, 16% owner of the animal species of reptiles and amphibian, 1519 bird species and 25% of the world's fish species. Some is endemic or can only be found in the area.

Area of natural forest with native Indonesia wipe speed which is very worrying. Until now, India has lost forest of the original 72 per cent [World Resource Institute, 1997]. Indonesia logging that is not restrained during tens of years and caused a contraction of the tropical forest-produce. Rapid forest damage period 1985-1997 was 1.6 million hectares per year, whereas in the period 1997-2000 to be 3.8 million hectares per year. This makes Indonesia one of the places with the highest level of damage to forests in the world. In Indonesia, based on the interpretation of Landsat imagery in 2000 there were 101.73 million hectares of forest land and damaged, of which 59.62 million hectares of plantation in the forest area. [MoF Planologi Agency, 2003].

In the 16-century to mid-18 th century, natural forests in Java is still about 9 million hectares. At the end of the 1980s, veils of natural forest on Java only 0.97 million hectares, or 7 percent of the total broad Java. Currently, the closing of land on the island of Java by 4% live tree. Java since 1995 and has experienced water deficit of 32.3 billion cubic meters each year.

Impact of Forest Destruction

With the reduction in imprisonment forests of Indonesia, the most of the area has become a region vulnerable to disaster, whether the disaster drought, floods and landslides. Since 1998 until mid 2003, there have been 647 recorded incidents of disaster in Indonesia in 2022 with the loss of the victim lives and billions of rupiah, where 85% of disasters are floods and landslides that caused damage to forests [Bakornas Disaster Relief, 2003].

In addition, Indonesia will also lose a variety of animals and plants which have become a proud nation of Indonesia. Meanwhile, during the Indonesian forest is a source of life for the people of Indonesia. Forest is a provider of food, the drugs and become a place of living for most of the people of Indonesia. With the loss of forest in Indonesia, caused them to lose their source of food and medicines. Along with the increase in forest damage Indonesia, shows the increasing levels of poverty of the people of Indonesia, and some of the poor in Indonesia live side by side with the forest.

What is it?

Indonesia is also Forest lungs of the world, which can absorb carbon and provide oxygen for life on earth.

As a function of forest land where the water will also be disturbed due to forest destruction that constantly. This will impact on the drought often occurs in the dry season and flooding and landslides in the rainy season. In the end, this will seriously impact on the economic condition in the community.

Why We Forests Damaged?

Industry in Indonesia has a very high production capacity compared to the availability of wood. Employers do timber logging uncontrollable and destructive, a planter of a very knowledgeable, and the mining areas of open forest.

And this also worsened the condition of the corrupt government, where the forest is considered as a source of money and can blow out for personal and group interests.

How is it going?

Logging in Indonesia is uncontrollable has started since the late 1960s, known as flood-hood, where people do logging manually. Large-scale logging began in 1970. And permission to proceed with the issuance of a permit-forest plants in the industry in 1990, who finished felled (land clearing).

In addition, the forest also transferred its functions to be large-scale plantation area that also do a thorough clearing forest, a resettlement area and also the area of urban development.

In 1999, after the start of autonomy, the local government share-share to the area of forest area in the form of rights of small scale. At the same time also increased the activity logging without a permit that is not restrained by the group that financed capitalist society (capitalist), which is protected by the government and security apparatus.

Efforts made

The Government of Indonesia through the decision with the Department of Forestry and the Department of Trade and Industry since 2001 has forbidden the export of wood rounded (log) and flakes of raw materials. And in 2003, the Ministry of Forestry has been down felled tree annual quota (the amount that can ditebang by the forest) to 6.8 million cubic meters a year and will be sent down again in 2004 to 5.7 million cubic meters a year.

The government also has established Forestry Industry Revitalization Agency (BRIK) the duty to make adjustments of production forestry industry with the availability of raw materials from the forest.

In addition, the Government has also committed to make of illegal logging and forest rehabilitation are also conducted through the National Movement Forest and Land Rehabilitation (GNRHL), which is expected in 2008 will return to forest area of three million hectares.

The results of Retrieved

Unfortunately the Government is still running it all as a mere utterance without a realization in the field. Until 2002, exports are still made of wood rounded offense that indicates the government's own policies. And still the government will give permission of natural forest and plantation forest-an area of 900 thousand hectares to employers through the auction. The government also do not have a comprehensive plan to fix the damage to forests through rehabilitation, but the activity is forced to be implemented, which would lead to the occurrence of a target and the possibility of a failure in implementation.

It is most important and the government has not done this time is to close the industry that Indonesia has a lot of debt. The Government is also not adjust the production industry with the capability of providing raw materials for wood by forest industries. This can result in logging activities without a permit will continue to progress.

And with only reduce the annual quota felled, then we still can not distinguish where the wood is legal and not legal. If only the government to temporarily stop giving bribe felled, it can be ascertained that all the timber out of forest wood which is invalid or illegal, so that law enforcement can do.

What should be done?

To stop forest destruction in Indonesia, the government must seriously start to no longer issue a license-permit new Forest, and the utilization of plantation wood, and perform law enforcement against the export of wood raw material and rounded flakes. The Government should also conduct comprehensive testing of the performance of forestry industry and law enforcement problems for the industry. After this stage, need to be restructuring the damaged forest area and also handle the social impact due to termination of logging, eg with the forestry industry employs workers in the tree planting project.

Then, when you return is forest management system, giving the permits only logging on forest trees or forest-based communities, which is managed locally.
During the suspension [moratorium] is run, industry-timber industry can still way way to import the raw material wood. To facilitate supervision, the type of wood that must be imported with a different type of timber in Indonesia.

And most importantly restore the sovereignty of the people in forest management, because the people of Indonesia have long been able to manage the forests of Indonesia.

Can individuals help?

Yes, with a lobby, write letters or do in order to pressure the government to seriously keep remaining forests of Indonesia. In addition, do the supervision of the circulation in the area of wood nearby, and give a report to the Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) and the nearest non-governmental institutions and to other law enforcement agencies, and the mass media, when the find of a circle of wood without a permit and the activities of forest .

And start planting trees for timber needs of families in the future, use the timber with the wise and no longer buy wood-the wood of the forest damage.