1.17 million ha of Indonesian forests gone each year

Antara 31 May 10;

Gorontalo, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The association of Indonesian wild bird preservation, better known as "Burung Indonesia" (BI), claimed that 1.17 million hectares of forests in Indonesia were gone each year.

Managing Director of Burung Indonesia Agus Budi Utomo said that the natural forests are the last defense of the biodiversity in Indonesia, but ironically the forests had become smaller and smaller because of the illegal logging activities of irresponsible people as well as their conversion of forested land into open fields for other purposes.

He said Monday that the rate of disappearance of forested land in Indonesia had reached 1.17 hectares per year, while in Gorontalo province the rate had reached 1,689.2 ha per year.

He said to overcome this, he tried to offer a solution of restoring the ecosystem which would not only raise productivity of forests and preserve biodiversity, but would also increase the economic value of forest resources for the welfare of the people.

In the future, restoration of the ecosystem will have an economic significance by way of the utilization of non forest products, environmental services, and the utilization of regions, Agus said.