Indonesian forest to disappear in 15 years

Antara, Mar 12, 2006:
Indonesian forest to disappear in 15 years
 
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Committee Chairman for National Green
Archipelgo, Ary Sudarsono said Indonesian forests were expected to
disappear in 15 years to come if the government did not make serious
efforts to preserve them.

"With a destrfforts to preserve them.

"With a destruction level of 2.8 million hectares annually, the
Indonesian forests will become extinct in the next 15 years," he said
in a press statement made available to ANTARA News here on Sunday.

He said that during the 2000-2005 period, of the 120.3 million
hectares of forests in Indonesia, 59.2 million hectares were damaged.

"If the country`s forests are all damaged, natural disasters such as
floods, landslides and drought will take place everywhere," he added.

Sudarsono said that damages to forests could cause the extinction of
27,000 plant species in Indonesia, which account for 10 percent of
the world`s plant species, 1,539 bird species (17 percent of the
world`s), 515 species of mammals (12 percent) and 270 amphibious
species (16 percent).

Therefore, Sudarsono said, his committee would launch an
environmental preservation campaign in any sports, arts and cultural
events.

On Friday, Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar launched an
environmental recovery program for an area at Merapi Mountain which
was severely damaged by volcanic material mining.

The Merapi Conservation Program was held in mountainside Kemiren
village in Srumbung subdistrict in Magelang district.

The Magelang district administration has distributed 20,000 fruit
seedlings to villagers who are told to plant them on a total land of
50 hectares in six villages.

Magelang district head Singgih Sanyoto said non-environmental
friendly sand minings have seriously damaged reserved forests and
farm lands in the mountainside.

Illegal logging has also been attributed to forest damage. Illegal logging activities, for example, are rampant in the protected
forest of Peleng Island, Banggai Kepulauan (Bangkep) district,
Central Sulawesi.

"Almost every week, we can see logs cut illegally from the protected
forest are piling up along Salakan-Palam roads," a local resident
said.

Indonesia loses Rp30 trillion (about US$2,8 billion) annually in
revenues and taxes due to illegal logging activities. While, around
2.8 million hectares of the country`s forest areas disappear every
year.