THE FINAL CUT Illegal Logging in Indonesia's Orangutan Parks
Introduction   Indonesia's Forests   Forest Reform   Unreal Reform Real Reform   Tanjung Puting   Gunung Leuser   Conclusions   Recommendations	Towards Real Forest Reform - Unreal Reform The economic crisis in Indonesia has sparked a raft of new measures affecting the forestry sector, created at the behest of agencies such as the International Monetary Fund as loan conditions. During 1998 there were at least 20 new decrees passed spanning trade liberalisation, forest resource utilisation and transparency. While a few of the measures have had a discernible effect, such as the break-up of the price-fixing plywood cartel APKINDO and the freezing of the much-abused reforestation fund - used to fund a national aircraft and pulpmill, most remain on paper. For example a requirement for the forestry department to conduct a comprehensive survey of the remaining forest, using satellite imagery and mapping, has not been met. Within Indonesia the battle over forestry reform is focused on the government's revised draft forestry law, which is being rushed through the national parliament despite opposition from NGOs, academics and a group of former ministers. While on the surface a process of consultation was followed in the drafting of the bill, in reality input from civil society has been ignored. As the Communication Forum for Community Forestry put it, the ethos has been: Inform, Invite, Ignore. In a submission to the World Bank the forum, which includes NGOs, government and industry representatives, slammed the proposed bill on two major counts; that it perpetuates state control of the forests, and that it remains focused on the management of timber rather than the whole forest ecosystem. The defining concept of the draft bill is the state's monopoly on forest management and resources, serving only the narrow interests of concession holders. Such an approach will never adequately tackle problems such as illegal logging, as the present government is unable to secure the forests, lacking as it does the legitimacy, capacity or political will. The draft bill once again excludes the voice of local people affected by forest exploitation, rewarding instead the timber barons and their political patrons. It is only through a meaningful dialogue with local communities over forest management issues that the widespread problem of illegal logging can be tackled. Retaining centralised control and using the military apparatus to secure the remaining forests is doomed to failure.
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