$40m to be spent on reforestation in Indonesia
MANADO (Indonesia) — The government has allocated 43 billion rupiah (S$40.5 million) in the 1991/92 Budget for the reforestation of about ‘300,000 ha of barren land, according to Minister of Population and Environment Emil Salim.
The Indonesian Observer quoted the minister as telling reporters last week that It could take up to 60 years to rehabilitate the many hectares of unproductive land in Indonesia.
Mr Salim said much of the barren land was In Java and around big cities in other regions.
To cope with the problem of deforestation, the country still needs foreign assistance, he said, adding that the Dutch government had expressed a willingness to provide a grant for the reforestation programme.
Forestry Minister Hasjrui Harahap last Tuesday called on forest concessionaires to concentrate on developing timber estates in order to reduce the need to cut down forests.
"We need to boost the development of timber estates and reduce the felling of forest trees by 2 per cent annually so that there will be no further felling of forests in 50 years’ time," he said.
Mr Harahap called on businessmen to develop timber estates by co-operating with the appropriate government agencies.
The development of the country’s timber estates, Mr Harahap said, is mainly aimed at reforesting unproductive land to supply raw material for timber industries and to create more jobs.
Director-General of Reforestation and Rehabilitation Armana Darsidi meanwhile said that Indonesia would have a bigger share in the world pulp trade because of the increasing demand for the commodity. He predicted that the world would suffer a shortage of 18 million tonnes of pulp by the year 2000.
According to Mr Darsidi, as increasing number of investors are submitting applications to the Forestry Ministry to develop timber estates.
The government aims to develop 1.5 million ha of timber estates during the current Five-Year Development Plan, which runs from 1989 to 1994, he said.
Source : The Straits Times, 1st April 1991
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