The Jakarta Post 10 Oct 16;
The condition of an estimated 500,000 hectares of land in Jambi, both forested and non-forested, has been described as “critical” by the Jambi provincial administration.
The administration pledges to take action to conserve the land to prevent the damage spreading further.
Jambi governor Zumi Zola said the actions was necessary to protect the local environment.
The governor said the damage to the land could trigger natural disasters such as floods, landslides and drought. Therefore, he said, anticipatory measures were urgently needed.
“Although the size of forested land in Jambi is still huge, it is believed that the size keeps declining year by year,” he said on Saturday.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 million hectares of forest land in Jambi, 40 percent of Jambi’s total land area.
