Forest Condition in Indonesia

Indonesia has 10 percent the world's tropical forests remaining. Indonesian forests have 12 percent from the number of species of mammals, 16 percent owners of species of reptiles and amphibious animals, 1519 species of birds and 25 percent of world's fish species. Some of them are endemic or found only in those areas. Size native Indonesia's natural forests shrank at a pace that is very worrying. Until now, Indonesia has lost the original forest by 72 percent. Indonesian deforestation uncontrolled for decades and caused shrinkage of tropical forests on a large scale. The rate of forest destruction period 1985-1997 was recorded 1.6 million hectares per year, while in 1997-2000 period to 3.8 million hectares per year.

This makes Indonesia is one of the places with the highest deforestation rates in the world. In Indonesia, based on Landsat imagery interpretation results in 2000 there were 101.73 million hectares of forest and degraded land, of which 59.62 million hectares area in the forest area.

In the 16th century until the mid of 18th century, natural forests in Java are still estimated around 9 million hectares. In the late 1980s, natural forest cover in Java, only 0.97 million hectares, or 7 percent of the total area of Java Island. Currently, the closure of land on the island of Java by 4 percent live trees. Since 1995 Java Island has experienced water deficit of 32.3 billion cubic meters annually. Functions of forests as a ground water storage will also be disturbed due to forest destruction continued. This will impact on the increasingly frequent drought in the dry season and floods and landslides in the rainy season. In the end, this will seriously affect the economic condition of society.

The timber industry in Indonesia has a very high production capacity than the availability of wood. Employers timber cutting and destructive uncontrolled, planters opened a vast plantations, and mining entrepreneur opened the forest areas. Meanwhile, displaced and marginalized people in forest management that resulted in people no longer have access to their forests. And this is also exacerbated by conditions of a corrupt government, where the forest is considered as a source of money and can be drained out for personal and group interests. Deforestation in Indonesia uncontrolled has started since the 1960s, known as the flood-hood, where people do manually wood. Large-scale logging began in 1970. And continued with the issuance of business permits of industrial forest plantations in 1990, which made clear-cutting (land clearing). In addition, forests also transferred its functions to large-scale plantation area that also conducts the overall deforestation, the transmigration area and also the area of urban development.

In 1999, after the beginning of autonomy, local government distributes its forest areas to local entrepreneurs in the form of small-scale concessions. At the same time an increase in logging activity without the permission of uncontrollable by community groups that are funded investors (brokers) are protected by government and security forces.

Deforestation of Indonesia is largely a result of a political and economic system corrupt, who consider natural resources, particularly forests, as a source of income that can be exploited for political gain and personal profit. Growth in wood processing industries and plantations in Indonesia proved very profitable for many years, and the profits are used by the Soeharto regime as a tool to recognize and control your friends, family and potential partners. For more than 30 years, this country dramatically increase the production of plantation forests and planted in land previously of the forest. Today Indonesia is the main producer of logs, sawn timber, plywood, pulp and paper, in addition to some plantation, such as oil palm, rubber and cocoa is achieved economic growth without regard to the sustainable management of forests or the rights of the local population.

For now, the causes of deforestation increasingly complex. Lack of law enforcement is happening right now and exacerbates the destruction of forests has a direct impact on the reduction in orangutan habitat significantly.

Causes of deforestation in Indonesia are :

1. Company of Forest Rights

Over half of Indonesia's forest area is allocated for timber production based on selective logging system. Many timber companies that violate the traditional patterns of land ownership or land use rights. Lack of oversight and accountability of companies that control over forest management is very weak and over time, many production forests that have been excessively exploited. According to government classification, at present nearly 30 percent of concessions that have been surveyed timber, into the category of "already degraded". The Company of Forest Rights concession areas which facilitate the reduction degrades the quality to below the threshold of productivity, which enables the planter to apply for a forest conversion permit. If this application is approved, then the forest will be cut down and converted into plantation forests or plantations.

2. Industrial Timber

Industrial plantations have been promoted heavily and given a subsidy as a way to provide a supply of wood for the pulp industry is growing rapidly in Indonesia, but this way to bring pressure on natural forests. Almost 9 million hectares of land, mostly natural forests, have been allocated for the development of industrial forest plantations. This land may have been cut out or in the near future will be cut out. But only about 2 million hectares have been planted, while the remaining 7 million hectares area into open land that was abandoned and unproductive.

3. Plantation

Surge estate development, especially oil palm plantations, is another cause of deforestation. Nearly 7 million hectares of forest have been approved to be converted into plantations until the end of 1997 and this forest would almost certainly have been cut out. But the land is actually converted into oil palm plantations since 1985, only 2.6 million hectares, while new plantations to other cash crops may reach 1-1.5 million breadth hectares. The remaining area of 3 million hectares of forest land previously present in squalor. Many of the same company, who operate timber concessions, also has a plantation. And developing a corrupt relationship, where the employers apply for permission to build plantations, cutting down forests and use wood produced primarily for the manufacture of pulp, and then moved again, while the land has been opened abandoned.

4. Illegal Logging

Illegal logging is the practice of felling trees directly on the state forests illegally. Viewed from the types of activities, the scope of illegal logging include: 1. The logging plan, covering all or part of the activities of opening access to the national forest, bringing the tools and infrastructure facilities to perform cutting of trees for the purpose of illegal timber exploitation. 2. Felling trees in real meaning for the purposes of illegal timber exploitation. Production of wood from timber concessions, industrial forest plantations and forest conversion as a whole provides less than half the wood raw material needed by the wood processing industry in Indonesia. Imported wood is relatively small, and full of shortcomings illegal logging. Theft of wood in a very large scale and organized now rampant in Indonesia; each year between 50-70 percent of industrial wood supply for forest products harvested illegally. Total forest area lost by illegal logging is not known, but a former Director General of Forest Utilization, Ministry of Forestry, Titus Sarijanto, recently declared that illegal logging has destroyed around 10 million hectares of Indonesian forests.

5. Land Conversion

Role of small-scale traditional agriculture, compared with other causes of deforestation, a major subject of controversy. There are no accurate estimates are available about the extent of the forests are opened by small scale farmers since 1985, but a reliable estimate in 1990 stated that farmers move might be responsible for approximately 20 percent of forest loss. This data can be translated as land clearing about 4 million hectares between 1985 and 1997.

6. Transmigration Program

Transmigration which lasted from 1960 until 1999, the population moved from the island of densely populated Java to other islands. This program is estimated by the Forestry Department forest clearing nearly 2 million hectares during the entire period. In addition, small farmers and small-scale investors are opportunists also contribute as a cause of deforestation because they are built of plantation land, particularly oil palm and cocoa, which opened in the forest with logging and plantation operations of larger scale. Recently, transmigration "spontaneous" increase, as residents move to a new place to seek economic opportunities greater, or to avoid social disorder and ethnic violence. Reliable estimates of forest area which was opened by the migrants in the national scale has not been made.

7. Forest Fire

Deliberate burning of the large-scale plantation owners to clear land, and by local communities to protest the plantations or timber operations which resulted in a large fire out of control, large intensity and unprecedented. More than 5 million hectares of forest burned in 1994 and 4.6 million hectares of other forests burned in the year 1997-1998. Much of this land to grow back into the bush, some used by small scale farmers, but very little systematic effort was made to restore forest cover or develop a productive agriculture.

In natural circumstances, peatlands are not flammable because it is like a sponge, absorbing and holding the maximum water that the rainy and dry season there was no difference in extreme conditions. However, if the conditions are peatlands already disturbed land as a result of the conversion or creation of the canal, then the ecological balance will be disturbed. In the dry season, peatlands will be very dry to a certain depth and highly flammable. Containing peat fuel (the rest of the plant) to below the surface, so the fire spread peat below the ground surface and the slow and difficult to detect, and caused heavy smoke. The fire in peat land can be difficult to put down so long (many months). New and could die total after the intense rain.