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THE FINAL CUT
Illegal Logging in Indonesia's Orangutan Parks |
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Indonesia's Disappearing Forests
The forests of Indonesia are in the midst of a deepening crisis. After decades of unsustainable logging which saw the government take over control of the forests and virtually give huge tracts away to former President Soeharto's family and business cronies, the terrible forest fires of 1997 and 1998 finally focused world attention on the rapacious deforestation taking place in Indonesia. Yet while limited reforms have been implemented over the last year, it is still business as usual for most of the timber barons. The economic crisis wracking Indonesia has put additional pressure on the forests, as people across the country have been forced into desperate measures to survive. Indonesia's tropical forests are of global importance, ranked second in terms of size to those of Brazil and covering over 100 million hectares in 1995. Ten per cent of the world's remaining tropical forest cover is found in Indonesia. Yet these forests have been disappearing at a rate of more than two million hectares every year, and 72% of the country's original frontier forest has already been lost. The forests bore the brunt of the worst excesses of the Soeharto regime. The former president and his close family and associates controlled around 7.14 million hectares of forests through stakes in 27 timber companies and forest estates. Under the old regime close friends of the president like Bob Hasan were able to control vast swathes of forest. Hasan's empire covered 3 million hectares while another close ally Prayogo Pangestu was able to acquire around 3.5 million hectares through his Barito Pacific Timber Group, Indonesia's largest forestry company. The fires that swept through Sumatra and Borneo in 1997 and 1998 were largely caused by timber and plantation companies clearing land. Satellite monitoring allowed the identification of 176 firms accused of deliberately setting fires to make way for timber or oil palm plantations, although few have so far faced charges. The damage caused to the remaining forests is much worse than feared at the time. Sophisticated satellite analysis has shown that four million hectares of land were damaged in the province of East Kalimantan alone, compared with the official estimate of 500,000 hectares. |
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