Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post 3 Dec 07;
The continued loss of protected forests on Java could lead to serious ecological disasters on the densely populated island costing the country some Rp 136 trillion annually, an environmental organization said over the weekend.
According to a recent study of Java's forests between 2002 and 2006, conducted by the Greenomics Indonesia, some 165,000 hectares of conservation and protected forests on Java experienced decreasing ecological function.
"Most of the deterioration can be found in West, Central and East Java provinces," Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said.
"The large number of squatters in forests and illegal logging have made things even worse," he said.
He said at least 61 regencies in the three provinces were prone to floods, landslides and drought due to climate change and the damage due local forests.
"Damage to conservation and protected forests has affected at least 123 rivers and is threatening more than 10 million hectares of farmland and thousands of villages located along the rivers," said Elfian.
"During the rainy season, floods submerge farmland and villages in coastal areas; landslides hit villages and damage infrastructures in mountainous areas.
"In the dry season, drought hits almost all regencies located in mountainous areas, costing Rp 136.2 trillion annually to the government and the people on the island," he said.
Elfian stressed the importance of maintaining balanced and sustainable development on Java, and halting logging in conservation and protected forests.
He also called for increased efforts to reforest barren areas prone to natural disasters.irregular seasons and the ecological disasters have caused losses in the agriculture sector," he said.
"Climate change will remain a major hurdle for people-based economic development in years to come.
"The more forest areas are damaged, the more serious the ecological disasters will be and the more losses the people will suffer."
Indonesia and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change are jointly hosting the latest meeting to start hammering out a new global agreement to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol. The 13th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change starts Monday.
