Antara 12 Sep 14;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The non-governmental environmental organization Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (WALHI) stated that four factors cause destruction to forests in Indonesia.
"The four factors are industrial plantations, oil palm plantations, mining, and forest concessions," manager of WALHIs Forests and Plantations, Zenzi Suhadi, stated here on Friday.
He noted that the four factors are the major causes for destroying forests since the reform era (1998) to the present.
However, according to the recent review by the government, the cause of destruction of forests during the 1966-1998 period was illegal logging.
"The government should work hard to conserve forests in Indonesia, and if concrete action is not taken our forests will be lost and disasters will emerge," Zenzi pointed out.
He said that since the reform era (1998) until 2011, 56 million hectares of forest has been destroyed and has continued to increase every year.
"Data from the last two years have revealed that forest destruction in all the islands in Indonesia has increased up to almost 1 million hectares, caused by illegal plantations," Zenzi said.
Therefore, the government must be more assertive in taking legal action against the perpetrators--individuals or companies--who endanger the forest through plantations, mining, or logging.
The administrations must thoroughly review and observe the field conditions on areas where the companies operate.
"We hope the government will be serious in forest conservation and will take firm action against any company that has been found to be destroying forests," Zenzi added.
(T.KR-LWA/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
