Part II
COUNTRY BRIEFS (continued)

INDONESIA (continued)

1. Present situation

1.1 Natural woody vegetation

1.1.1 Description of the vegetation types

The following is based on (2), (3), (4), (6) and (25), using broad classes of this study as a general framework. For an area stretching for about 5 000 km along the equator with several recognized geological and phytogeographical divisions, the flora of Indonesia is relatively uniform.

The various climax types have stages derived both artificially (by man) and by nature itself. Shifting cultivation, hunting, burning practices and selective tree felling, have influenced vegetation to a high degree, in places for many centuries. Where the destructive agent is stabilized, especially in semi-dry climates, the derived seral vegetation types may have become also stabilized. There is little difference between pioneer stands resulting from anthropogenic causes and those originating from natural factors such as fire, storm and volcanic eruption (examples: pine stands in northern Sumatra and Casuarina stands in eastern Java). The rate of destruction of climax types and subsequent degradation of vegetation, is directly linked with population pressure and dryness of climate at the particular location.

Closed broadleaved forests (NHC)

a) Closed broadleaved forests on (at least periodically) water-logged lands

• Mangroves: under tidal influence, they are mainly found along the eastern shores of Sumatra, the western and eastern shores of Kalimantan, the western and southern shores of Bird's Head as well as the southern shores of Irian Jaya, the shores of the Aru islands, with limited areas remaining in southeastern Sulawesi and along the northern shore of Java (12). Their structure is simple and they constitute belts of (mainly) Rhisophora, Avioennia, Sonneratia, Ceriops, Xylocarpus and Lumgitsera species, determined by soil and current and inundation patterns; tree heights are usually between 7 and 25 m. Large areas of mangrove, especially near the estuaries of major rivers, have been disturbed by extraction for fuelwood, charcoal and tannin production. Unregulated cut has given rise to thickets of the fern Acrostichum aureum and Aoanthus spp., by which natural regeneration is greatly impaired.

  No inventory of the Indonesian mangroves has been actually carried out. The most reliable area estimate appears to be that of Wiroatmojo and Judi (1978), i.e. 3.6 million ha. A conservative figure of 2.5 million ha has been adopted in this study for forested mangrove. Other figures as those indicated in (16) – 1 million ha, - in (12) – 2.5 million ha and 9.5 million ha by Martosubroto and Naamin have been compiled by B. Christensen in “Mangrove forest resources and their management in the Asia and Far East”.

• Swamp forests: they occur on alluvium with or without a thin layer of muck or peat, mostly along the lower course of rivers, behind the mangrove belt in areas more or less permanently freshwater-logged; vast tracts are found on the eastern coast of Sumatra, the western coast of Kalimantan, and in the basin of Irian Jaya north of the Central Range as well as in the whole southern part. Trees are of great height (emergents reach 50 to 60 m) and mostly of the same genera as those of the dryland rainforest, but of different species. These forests are floristically very variable with a local dominance more pronounced than in the dryland rainforests. The main species and genera are: Adina Alstonia, Campnosperma, Coccoceras, Couthovia (Irian Jaya), Dillenia, Dyera, Erythrina, Eugenia, Fious robusa, Gluta renghas, Lophopetalum, Memecylon, Metroxylon, Pandanus, Parkia (Irian Jaya), Pentaspadon motleyi, Sapotaceae, Serianthes (Irian Jaya), Shorea, Timonius (Irian Jaya) and Vatica rassak. Sago palms are found extensively in this type in Irian Jaya. Periodic fires have a distinctive selective effect, leading to gregarious occurrence of fire resistant species, e.g. extensive areas of Melaleuca leucadendron which covers extensive areas in southern Sumatra, southwestern Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.

• Peat forests: they occur on alluvial lands with a peat layer from 0.5 m up to 20 m thickness, entirely rain-fed with highly acid, oligotrophic water conditions (“blackwater rivers”), almost sterile. The vegetation at the centre of the peat-dome is made of poor, scattered trees and Pandanus. Peat forests are found only in ever-wet climates in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya. The main characteristic tree species are: Alstonia, Amoora, Anisoptera, Calophyllum, Campnosperma, Combretocarpus rotundatus, Cratoxylon, Duric corinatus Eugenia, Gonystylus, Jackia, Koompassia, Litsea, Lophopetalum, Melanorrhea, Parastemon, Sapotaceae, Shorea, Tetramerista glabra, Tristania and Zylopia.

• Heathforests: they are found on podsolized siliceous soils under ever-wet conditions, with a hard pan of dark coloured humous substance at 1 to 2 m depth, temporarily inundated after heavy rain. Tree vegetation is similar to dryland rainforests but with thinner stems. Health forests occur in the climatic zones of ever-wet conditions, mainly in Kalimantan, also on Sumatra, Bangka, Belitung, Karimata, Anambas and Natuna Besar (Bunguran) islands and locally in Sulawesi and Irian Jaya. Dominant species in Kalimantan are: Dipterocarpaceae (Shorea spp.) Myrtaceae, Gonystylus, Agathis, Decrydium elatum, Styphelia and Bachea spp. Regrowth after destruction of climax type is very slow, giving rise to “padang” vegetation of easily inflammable brushwood between open sandy spaces. Vegetation on limestone hills, frequently found in southern Sulawesi, northern Irian Jaya and eastern Kalimantan, have a similar composition.

b) Closed broadleaved forests on dry lands

• Tropical rain forests: they are found in ever-wet and semi-wet climates up to 1 300 m elevation approximately. They are mixed, evergreen, multistoreyed forests with main canopy 30–50 m high and emergents. The most important timber species are those of the Dipterocarpaceae family with, as main genera, Shorea, Hopea, Dipterocarpus, Dryobalanops, Anisoptera, Parashorea and Vatica. These trees form the main frame of the forest (canopy, emergents) throughout the type in Sumatra and Kalimantan but become scarcer in Sulawesi, the Maluku and Irian Jaya, although in the latter area they are still represented as major timber species locally. Usually there are several codominants in a locality and dominance of one species is rare (e.g. Dryobalanops). Crowns of dipterocarpe often reach 60 m high. Other major representatives in the canopy are: Agathis, Altingia, Diospyros, Duabanga, Dyera, Eusideroxylon, Intsia, Koompassia, Palaquium and Pometia spp. There are well pronounced facies of the type, e.g. riverine with Dipterocarpus oblongifolius, Eugenia, Ficus, Gluta renghas, Octomeles sumatrana, Pometia, Saraca spp. and slope facies (often with Tristania spp. in Kalimantan). Pioneer plants which invade the land after serious, repeated destruction of rainforest types, are often introduced from outside the region, forming vegetable blankets preventing early regeneration: Eupatorium spp., Hyptis suaveolens, Lantana camara and Mimosa invisa. Regular burning gives rise to Imperata fields (alang-alang), a most unsuitable habitat for germination and seeding growth of rainforest plants. Ferns of Blechnum, Nephrolepis and Gleichenia spp. may invade clearings on poor soils, forming impenetrable thickets In the regeneration stages of rainforests, the following species are well represented: Adinandra, Engelhardtia, Homalanthus, Macaranga, Mallotus, Melechia, Oreocnide, Parasponia, Peronema, Ploiarium, Psidium, Schima, Trema, Vitex and Weinmannia spp.

• Montane rain forests: they are found approximately between 1 300 and 2 300 m elevation. They are mixed forests like the tropical rain forests of the lowlands but with far less representatives of the typical families of these latter, including the Dipterocarpaceae, which fade away entirely around 2 000 m. They are replaced by representative of families found in the humid sub-tropics, e.g. Lauraceae, Fagaceae, (especially Quercus and Castanea spp. in Sumatra and Kalimantan and Nothofagus spp. in Irian Jaya), Cunoniaceae, Monimiaceae, Acer, Ulmus (northern Sumatra), Magnoliaceae, Hamamelidaceae, Raponea, Leptospermum, Ericaceae (tree ferns) and increasing numbers of conifers. In secondary stages, thickets of the fern Gleichenia spp. often develop with Ericaceae species. Below the summits of active volcanoes, under influences of mudstreams and on lapilli cones, dwarf forests are found as well as stands of Pinus merkusii (Sumatra), and of Dodonaea viscosa, Trema and Parasponia spp. (eastern Java and Nusatenggara islands). In fire-swept areas, following species occur gregariously: Albizia lophanta (on Java), Engelhardtia spp., Eucalyptus spp. (in Timor), Pinus merkusii (northern Sumatra) and Casuarina junghuhniana (eastern Java and Nusatenggara).

• Subalpine rain forests: they occur up to about 3 500 m and are made of stunted trees of Araucaria (Irian Jaya), Dacrydium, Podocarpus, Libocedrus (Irian Jaya) Ericaceae, Leptospermum, Olearia, Quercus, Rapanea, Schefflera and Xanthonyrtus spp.. The type in after destruction replaced by alpine grasslands, which can be found extensively in Irian Jaya, on which forest regeneration is very slow due to low temperatures.

• Monsoon forests: they occur up to about 1 000 m in areas with a dry/wet period ratio higher than 1/3. They are mixed stands of simpler structure than rain forests, with a canopy 25–30 m high and fewer emergents (e.g. Gossampinus, and Tetrameles). Most trees are shedding their leaves during the dry period, but there are always some evergreen species (e.g. Azadirachta spp.) found from northwestern Java through the Nusatenggara islands to southern Irian Jaya, as well as in southern and southeastern Sulawesi, in the western tip of central Sulawesi and the southern parts of its northern arm, and in the Buru and Seram islands of the Maluku. Typical species which do not occur in rainforests are: Acacia leucophlea, A. tomentosa, Actinophora fragrans, Aegle marmelos, Albizia chinensis, A. lebbeckioides, Azadirachta indica, Borassus flabellifer, Butea monosperma, Caesalpina digyna, Cassia fistula, Casuarina junghuhniana, Corypha utan, Dalbergia latifolia, Dichrostachys emerea, Eucalyptus alba, Feronia elephantum, Garuga primata, Homalium tomentosum, Lagerstroemia cinera, Lannea grandis, Melaleuca spp., Melia azadarach, Santalum album, Schleichera oleosa, Stereospermum suaveolens, Streblus asper, Tamarindus indica, Tectona grandis, Tetrameles nudiflora, Zizyphus mauritiana. In the dry belt of southern Irian Java, several Australian floristic elements are included: various species of Eucalyptus, and of the families Myrtaceae, Protaceae (Banksia and Grevillea spp.). Burning has resulted over the centuries in typical pyrogenic types with a single dominant species, e.g. Tectona grandis on Java, Melaleuca leucadendron in the Maluku and Irian Jaya, Eucalyptus alba in Nusatenggara and Irian Jaya, other species of Eucalyptus in southern Irian Jaya, Banksia dentata (Irian Jaya and Aru islands), Timonius sericeus, Borassus flabellifer and Corypha utan in Nusatenggara.

• Mountain monsoon forests: they are found above 1 000 m elevation, occurring originally as a mosaic in mixture with rainforests. Increased liability to destruction by fire has resulted in typical secondary types such as: open grasslands, Casuarina junghuhniana stands in eastern Java, Eucalyptus - Casuarina forests in Nusatenggara, stands of Cyathea spp. on the eastern plateaus of Irian Jaya and Pinus merkusii stands in highlands of northern Sumatra.

• Forest fallow types (coded NHCa in this study) correspond to the various closed broadleaved formations described above. They include young secondary forest growth occurring after traditional, low intensity shifting cultivation with restricted burning. “Alang-alang” fields which are the result of short rotation shifting cultivation with extensive burning and are not included in the category of forest fallow (NHCa) since there is little or no chance for a rapid recolonization by a secondary forest growth. The total alang-alang complex area is estimated at 15.5 million ha of which 3.6 million ha in Sumatra, 1.8 million ha in Kalimantan, 3.7 million ha in Java and Bali, 2.4 million ha in Sulawesi, 0.9 million ha in Nusatenggara and 3.1 million ha in Irian Jaya.

Open broadleaved forests (NHc/NHO)

These include natural grass savannas with Eucalyptus spp. in Irian Jaya and similar types with Melaleuca spp. in the Maluku and Eucalyptus alba in Nusatenggara. Natural areas of these types have been greatly extended due to man-made fires.

Coniferous forests (NS)

Forests dominated by conifers include among others:

• natural stands of Pinus merkusii of northern Sumatra (provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra);

• Agathis forests of Irian Jaya, Kalimantan and central Sulawesi (Agathis being mixed with broadleaved species except for small areas).

Scrub formations (nH)

In addition to the secondary scrub formations, called “belukar”, established after repeated burning for shifting cultivation, some scrub types are of natural origin. They include:

• elfin forests, dwarf forests at very high elevations with Ericaceae species;

• scrub formations, near volcanic craters, consisting of a mixture of usually low (less than 7 m in height) trees coniferous species and Fagaceae.

1.1.2 Present situation of the woody vegetation

Present areas

Areas given in the table below are based, with adjustments, on information contained in the draft area table (19) prepared by the Directorate General of Forestry in 1980. The table gives the latest count per province of lands covered by high forests (mangroves, swamp forests and dryland forests as well as types dominated by a single tree species), secondary type of “belukar” and shifting cultivation areas including alang-alang grasslands. The data in (19) have been compiled from aerial and ground surveys carried out over the various parts of the country between 1968 and 1980.

Of a total “forest land” of 145 million ha, about 119 million ha are estimated by the Directorate General of Forestry (Bina Programme (27)) to be covered by a vegetation with trees of diameter 35 cm and above. The total area of tree vegetation not affected by agriculture arrived at in this study (N.f+NHc/NHO) is about 117 million ha which is a quite comparable figure.

The procedure followed to derive area estimates from data of the table in (19) is given below:

• (i) it has been assumed that half of the areas above 1 000 m elevation is unproductive (inoperable) due to difficult accessibility (NHC/NSf2i). These areas were assessed on topographical maps as percentages of total land area: 30% for Aceh and North Sumatra, 13% for central and southern Sumatra, 8% for West, Central and South Kalimantan, 26% for East Kalimantan, 30% for the whole of Sulawesi, 28% for the Maluku and Nusatenggara islands and 20% for the Irian Jaya;

• (ii) the forest areas legally gazetted in 1980 for nature conservation (NHC/NSf2r) were assessed from (10), for swamp and dryland separately; if, on dryland, the area is at the same time considered inoperable it is deducted from the estimate of inoperable areas in (i);

• (iii) the total high forest areas of the table in (19) e.g. the virgin and selectivey logged productive forests (NHC/NSf1), were compared with counts on maps prepared for four provinces (Jambi in Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South and Southeast Sulawesi) in 1979 (23). These latter maps incorporated latest local information on the extent of non-forest, alang-alang, belukar and logged-over areas from concession survey reports, giving the approximate situation in 1977. The comparison showed that for regions with a population density over 70 persons/km², the high forest was overestimated in the table in (19) by a likely 30% (southern Sulawesi), while for regions with population density less than 70 persons/km², the overestimate was likely 20% (Jambi and West Kalimantan). After deducting the inoperable and gazetted nature conservation areas from the forest areas by provinces in the table in (19), these reduction factors, depending on population density, have been applied to all provinces, except those of Java and Bali with extremely high densities. The 30% reduction factor was applied to Aceh, North Sumatra, Lampong, South, Southeast and North Sulawesi and Nusatenggara. This gave a baseline forest area for the year 1977;

• (iv) the data from the four sample provinces have been used to estimate the ratio virgin to logged-over forest in 1977. These are 21% for Jambi (Sumatra), 39% for West Kalimantan and 48% for South and Southeast Sulawesi. The forest area resulting from (iii) is broken down into assumed virgin and logged-over parts, by extending the sample ratios over the whole of the corresponding island and the Sulawesi estimate over the Maluku and Nusatenggara islands. 10% is deducted from virgin forest areas as inaccessible (NHC/NSf2i) to be added to the inoperable forest under (i), this on the basis of experience in Peninsular Malaysia (23). For Irian Jaya the area logged-over in the past 25 years was estimated on the basis of an average outturn per year of around 600 000 m³ and a production of 40 000 m³/ha, e.g. annual coupes of 15 000 ha on average (from the richest and most accessible stands);

• (v) areas logged since baseline date 1977 to end 1980 (four years) have been estimated from an average annual commercial outturn of 30 million m³, at 40 m³/ha, e.g. a total annual coupe of 750 000 ha, and applying the following recorded outturn ratios for island/groups to the total country (11): Sumatra 28%, Kalimantan 57%, Sulawesi 6%, Maluku 5% and Irian Jaya 2% of total log production. Logging in swamps and in dryland forests was assumed directly proportional to areas;

• (vi) the areas deducted in (iii) from the high forest area of the table in (19), are considered to have been unstocked during the 1970's (less 10% of crown cover of trees at least 8 m high). They may be in part covered by seedlings of forest trees and are therefore considered as forest fallow. Their regeneration into forest may be doubtful due to burning for hunting and shifting cultivation and in the next inventory round forest fallow may be reclassified as shifting cultivation, shrub or alang-alang fields.

The table below gives the results of steps (i) to (vi) applied as adjustments to the table in (19). The balance of the total land area of the whole country (191 931 900 ha) is reported in the table in (19) as alang-alang grasslands (10 to 11 million ha?), Estates (7.5 million ha), sawah (8.3 million ha), village gardens (2.9 million ha), sago (0.8 million ha), built-up areas (0.5 million ha), inland waters (0.5 million ha) and rocky and other unknown/unproductive areas (2.5 million ha), with forests of one species (largely plantations recognized on air-photos) of 1.6 million ha.

Areas of natural woody vegetation estimated at end 1980
(in thousand ha)

The following additional remarks are useful for a good understanding of the above table:

• the only intensively managed productive broadleaved forests (NHCf1m), apart from the plantations, are the mangroves and mangrove-fishpond complexes managed by Perum Perhutani by tumpangsari (taungya) system which cover about 40 000 ha on the northern coast of Java (18) (26);

• all swamp forests except those included in nature reserves (1 775 000 ha), which cover a total area of 19.7 million ha have been classified as productive forests (NHCf1), although it is realized that stand and terrain conditions may not render their exploitation profitable;

• unproductive closed broadleaved forests (NHCf2) include mainly forests inoperable for topographic or legal reasons; the areas indicated under this class include also relatively small patches of naturally unstocked areas such as rock outcrops, volcano cones and areas above tree line;

• the official figure for the total area in nature reserves is 5.58 million ha in 1980; larger unstocked areas, as reported in (10), have been excluded from the total of closed broadleaved forests unproductive for legal reasons (NHCf2r);

• forest fallow areas, in the strict meaning used in this study (NHCa), are considered negligible in Java, as such areas have been unstocked for over ten years, located mostly in legal protection forest land; they are included partly in the shrubland category (nH). In Irian Jaya, forest fallow is not considered of donsequence, since destruction of high-forest cover frequently results in the more permanent establishment of open woodland, e.g. savanna with Eucalyptus, especially in the southern dryer monsoon climate (NHc/NHO);

• natural open broadleaved formations (NHc/NHO) are mostly found in Nusatenggara and Maluku and to a lesser extent in Irian Jaya. Large parts of these formations show some form of interference by agriculture;

• “belukar” areas (dense thickets possibly dominated by isolated trees tangled with lianas) and other shrub formations resulting from repeated clearing and burning of the original vegetation are classified in nH. This category includes also a small proportion of natural shrub formations of the types mentioned in section 1.1.1.;

• in the absence of precise information half of the total area of Pinus merkusii stands has been assumed productive (NSf1) and half unproductive (NSf2) in the form of open stands with grasses.

Ownership

All natural forests in Indonesia are state-owned. Man-made forests are also public, except 20 000 ha of private plantations. Several public bodies share the administration of the public forests, e.g. provincial forest adiministrations and state forest corporations under the supervision of the Directorate General of Forestry. Management operations are carried out by private companies, through contracts and concessions with the state, or by state forest entreprises. Utilization rights (for clearing, timber felling, collection of minor forest products and grazing), if continually practised under customary law, are recognized in many areas.

Legal status and management

The Basic Forestry Act of 1967 stipulates management of the forests under the principles of multiple use and sustained production and gives the government considerable control over both public forests and private plantations, through the central and provincial forestry administrations. A functional classification of the forests is intended, e.g. the division into production, protection (limited and full), nature conservation and “reserved” (undecided) forests. Delineation awaits the formal adoption of a land-use plan, to be derived from a national inventory of the forest resources, which has been set in motion by the government. At present, the uncertainty about land-use hinders the full management and control of concession operations.

Management is currently based on the Indonesia Selective Felling System (minimum DBH felling limit of 50 cm, cycle of 35 years), to be applied by concession companies. Companies rarely cut below the limit, but due to concession periods of at most 20 years, are not concerned by the need to contain exploitation damages to residual stock within limits required for this system. Selectively logged forests may be destroyed by subsequent tree fellings and shifting cultivation under customary rights of local people. The 40 000 ha of mangroves on the northern coast of Java are under intensive management (NHCf1m-38, NSf1m=NHc/NHO1=0).

Forest utilization

Log harvesting (11)

Logging and timber extraction is being carried out in Indonesia, through the agency of concessionaires and through State Corporations (e.g. Perum Perhutani). The system of logging adopted differs between Java and the outlying islands.

- Teak is the most important tree species of Java. All teak operations are carried out by Perum Perhutani.

Trees are girdled two years before felling. A labour intensive system of logging is adopted, to provide working opportunities for the communities in the area. Felling of trees is done by axes or hand saws and cross cutting (bucking) is also done by hand operated cross-out saws. These operations are done by a team of 2 persons. Skidding is done by using oxen or buffaloes. From forests logs are taken to the log yard by road (truck) or rail (trains) (see below). In the yard, logs are graded and scored. From the log yard, the logs are either sold (for local use or export) or taken to the processing units of Perhutani.

- Outside Java, logging by non-mechanical system is done in swamp forests. Skidding was formerly done by Kuda-Kude system. Maximum skidding distance under this system (by railroad) was about 400 meters. This system produced short and low quality logs and involved higher exploitation waste, and these are the reasons why it has almost been discontinued from 1971. While extraction in swamp forests offers special problems, there are notable advantages because they are usually made up of fewer species.

Logging in concession areas outside Java is carried out under a mechanised system. Under this system felling is done by chain saws (one or two men) and skidding is done by wheel or crewler tractors. Transportation takes place in trucks or through river by tugboats (see below). Scaling logs is done in the forests by the concessionaire and is spot-checked by the Provincial Forest Service or the Directorate of Marketing, depending on the nature of concession. Logging is done all the year round, but the average number of working days per month is only about 15, due to interruption by rain. In Kalimantan, many of the skilled labourers in logging are expatriates Malaysian, Filipinos, Japanese and Korean. On an average, 85 to 90% of the logging labourers are Indonesian.

- Various forms of transportation are used. In Java, ox teams (carts) and wood burning locomotives are still being used to transport logs over rail. In Kalimantan and outlying islands river transport with motor tugs is a cheap means of transportation. Trucks and tractors are coming more and more into use for log transport. One of the major problems in the outlying islands is the long distance of transportation and the heavy roading cost. Because of these reasons, only floaters which can be brought down cheaply are extracted. Sinkers are left behind. Inter-island transportation is also a major problem.

- The level and pattern of log production has considerably changed during the last 15 years or so. Until the mid sixties the Indonesian hardwood log production was centered around teak produced produced mainly in Java and Madura. But in the few years since, Dipterocarp sources for the outline islands have become increasingly dominant. In 1961 over 89 percent of the Indonesian log production was in Java, Madura and Sumatra, while only 8 percent came from Kalimantan. By 1971 already, nearly 65 percent of production was from Kalimantan; and this trend has continued with the other outlying islands (e.g. Irian Jaya) being developed for timber.

Total log production and exports have increased dramatically during this period as is shown in the table below:

Log production and exports ¹
(in thousand m³)

¹ The figure in parenthesis correspond to the volume percentage of log exports

In 1978 the value of exports of logs and timber was almost exactly equal to one billion US$.

The total log output is composed of few species or species groups. In 1973, a year of peak extraction, the break-down of log production by species was as follows:

The average volumes of logs actually extracted from the forests varies between 20 and 45 m³/ha according to the islands (see paragraph 1.1.3).

Other forest products

The total production of fuelwood and charcoal was estimated in 1980 at 75 million m³ roundwood equivalent (24). 42 000 tons of charcoal were exported in 1978 (16).

Minor forest products are extracted from the woody vegetation. In 1978, exported quantities for some of them amounted to the following:

¹ aromatic seeds of Myristica fragrans, originating from the Maluku islands
² from Shorea stenoptera and other Shorea, source of illipe fat
³ hard resin from Agathis spp.
⁴ or cajuput oil, distilled from leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron

The production of ulin shingles (Eusideroxylon zwageri) for domestic use accounted to 15.3 million pieces in 1978.

1.1.3 Present situation of the growing stock

A national forest inventory is currently under preparation by the forestry service. Information on areas given in the previous section, has been derived from data produced by concession surveys which were carried out from 1968 and covered over 700 units corresponding to the very bulk of productive high forest on all major islands outside Java and Bali, including Irian Jaya. These concession survey reports also give information on numbers of trees by species and gross volumes per ha, for trees with DBH above 35 cm. For smaller trees, and trees of non-merchantable species and for already selectively logged forests, the information contained in the concession reports, is either inadequate or inexistent.

Concession survey data were summarized for four sample areas - Jambi (Sumatra), West Kalimantan, South and Southeast Sulawesi and Bird's Head of Irian Jaya - by the UNDP/FAO/Indonesia Forest and Forest Products Development project. Results were compared with more complete data resulting from the national inventory of Peninsular Malaysia (23). The comparison showed that, on an average, virgin forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan have a tree stocking, total as well as commercial, very similar to those of Peninsular Malaysia. For Sulawesi and Irian Jaya, the comparison showed that, on an average, their virgin forests have a total tree stocking respectively 15% and 25% below that of Peninsular Malaysia. Growing stock estimates of logged forests are provisional only, because of inadequacy of concession surveys for the purpose of this study. The above percentages have been applied to more precise stock data of the Peninsular Malaysia national inventory e.g. VOB: 323 m³/ha in virgin forests (NHCf1uv), 204 m³/ha in logged forests (NHCf1uc) and 198 m³/ha in unproductive forests (NHCf2i).

As far as the “volume actually commercialized” is concerned (VAC), it has been estimated, on an average, at 45 m³/ha for Sumatra and Kalimantan. For Sulawesi and Irian Jaya the compilation of concession sample data has lead to VAC estimates respectively equal to 25 and 20 m³/ha.

The growing stock (VOB) of the productive logged-over coniferous forests (NSf1uc) has been tentatively estimated at 80 m³/ha and that of the improductive ones at 60 m³/ha.

Growing stock estimated at end 1980
(totals in million m³)

¹ including 40 000 ha of intensively managed mangroves in Java.

No detailed data on growth rates of natural stands are available for Indonesia. Estimates for dipterocarp forests have been made between 1 and 2 m³/ha/year in currently commercial species. Commercial growth in the forests of Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya, where current commercial stock is much less than in Sumatra and Kalimantan, must be assessed at less than 1 m³/ha/year.

1.2 Plantations

1.2.1 Introduction

Forest plantations were initiated in 1880 in Java with teak (Tectona grandis) and in 1916 in Sumatra with pine (Pinus merkusii). Since these early days, trial plantings with many species were made followed by full-scale plantation establishment in pre-war days in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and the Nusatenggara islands. Species included besides teak and pine, were: Albizia falcata, Agathis lorantifolia, Dalbergia latifolia, Altingia excelsa, Shorea spp., Pterocarpus indicus, Eucalyptus deglupta, Acacia decurrens, Swietenia spp., Maesopsis spp., Melaleuca leucadendron and more recently such fast-growing species as Calliandra, Sesbania, Gliricidia and Leucaena for fuel. While several tree species are easily established in plantations and well growing on suitable soils, the expansion of forest plantations in recent decades has met with serious obstacles, due to tremendous pressures for land and fuelwood supply in the most densely populated provinces of Java and in Bali and due to burning practices for shifting cultivation and hunting, practised under customary law in the less densely populated areas elsewhere.

Since the late 1960's, as part of the 5-year development plans (Repelita), the government has stepped-up its plantation programmes, covering now annualy significant areas in all provinces, except in the Maluku and Irian Jaya. The plantation activities are channeled mainly through:

• Perum Perhutani, for the reforestation of all state forest lands in Java;

• Directorate for Reforestation and Greening (DITSI), for the reforestation of state forest and land outside concessions in provinces outside Java and the afforestation of critical badlands outside state forest lands;

• concession companies, for the reforestation of concession forest lands outside Java.

For the two first agencies, special funds are made available through presidential instructions, for the purposes of reforestation and afforestation. In 1977 Perum Perhutani reported the completion of its reforestation programme. From 1978 onwards, the Perum Perhutani programme consists of restocking the exploited production forest areas according to the periodic management plans. These, however, are far from routine as ever-increasing emphasis is to be put on fuelwood production and the provision of services to local communities. More recent initiatives of Perum Perhutani include the intensified tumpangsari (taungya) with fertilizers, fodder crop agro-forestry with elephant grass (Pennisetum spp.) and mulberry interplanting (for the silk industry).

Reforestation within concession areas, has been initiated in the 1970's. A few of the larger companies as well as the state corporations (Inhutani) outside Java (mainly in Kalimantan), are engaged in converting belukar areas into plantations of mainly pine (P. merkusii and P. caribaea): in 1980 area is estimated as 5 000 ha.

The DITSI programme of reforestation and rehabilitation (“greening”) is concentrated in selected critical watershed basins. According to the 1978/79 assessment (15), the following forest and non-forest lands needed rehabilitation:

“Greening” plantings include fruit and fodder trees in densely populated watersheds and fire-hardy species. Recently a “corridor-system” of planting is applied in less densely populated watersheds, by which the borders of 25 ha blocks are formed by 60 m wide planted strips (actual planted area=25%). The total areas planted, including total areas covered by the corridor-system, was reported as 4 744 000 ha (without Perum Perhutani reforestation) in 1980 (22). Plan realization was reported over 90%.

However, the difficulties encountered in maintaining these plantations, were shown by a DITSI study of the survival rates in the period 1974/5–1977/8 by year and location separately for reforestation and “greening” (21). From the tables of sample data, the following survival rates are extracted:

¹ High density of population (more than 70 habitants/km²)
² Low density of population (less than 70 habitants/km²)

As these rates have been found for the first 3 years after planting and no data have been analized yet on successive periods, these rates may be extended and give survival after a 9-year period of:

• 34% for reforestation in densely populated regions;

• 17% for reforestation in less densely populated regions;

• 6% for greening, on an average, for all regions.

Repeated burning, low viability of seeds and poor quality of planting stock, especially of pines, were indicated as reasons for low survival rates.

1.2.2 Areas of established plantations

The statistical records on plantation work by Perum Perhutani and DITSI, by years and species planted, and the reports on established plantations by age classes (9), have been used to project plantation areas to the end of 1980. Perum Perhutani plantings have been regarded as industrial plantations (except those specifically reported as fuelwood, mulberry for silkworm-cultivation, etc.) as well as all concession plantings and all plantations established before 1969. Age class breakdown is sometimes not given in detail and the corresponding figures are shown in brackets. For “other plantations” (fuelwood, fodder, fruit trees, badland rehabilitation), no attempt has been made to provide an indication of species breakdown, as this has not been applied to the reported areas realized.

The total area of industrial plantations by end 1980 (2 197 000 ha) compares with the officially reported 2 077 500 ha by end 1976 (9). The sharp reduction for “other plantations” as compared with officially reported areas is due to the application of survival rates and the assumption that all plantings outside Java since 1977/78 have been carried out under the “corridor-system” in which actually planted areas are only 25% of the areas concerned.

Industrial plantations

Areas of established industrial plantations estimated at end 1980 ¹
(in thousand ha)

¹ Figures in brackets are tentative estimates of successfully established and reasonably stocked plantations.

Other plantations

Areas of established non-industrial plantations estimated at end 1980
(in thousand ha)

Distribution of the non-industrial plantations between (fast-growing) hardwood species (PHH 2) and softwood species (PS.2) is not known exactly. The corresponding figures are indicated with an asterisk (*), assuming tentatively that the hardwood species represent 70% of the non-industrial plantations in the whole of Java, Bali, Nusatenggara and Sulawesi and 30% in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

All plantations

Areas of established plantations estimated at end 1980 ¹
(in thousand ha)

¹ Figures in brackets are tentative estimates of successfully established and reasonably stocked plantations. Those with an asterisk correspond to an assumed breakdown of non-industrial plantations between (fast-growing) hardwood species and softwood species.

1.2.3 Plantation characteristics

Estimates of growth rates have been made for various plantation sites, including older surviving stands. It is, however, not precisely known what can be expected from recent plantations, under the various conditions of soil, climate and interference. Yield tables for teak in Java exist for different site classes. Average rotations and mean annual increment (MAI) at rotation age for the main species are compiled from various sources in (11) and (24) as follows:

2. Present trends

2.1 Natural woody vegetation

2.1.1 Deforestation

There is no nationwide forest cover monitoring programme which would permit a quick assessment of the deforestation rates for the whole of the country. Some forest concession surveys and operation reports give scanty information on changes.

A comparison made in document (27) between the total forest areas in 1950 and in 1977 indicates that 9.27 million ha of forest cover have disappeared in this period of 17 years. If the deforestation rate is made proportional to the growth rate of the agricultural population during the same period, the calculation shows that the annual rate of agriculture encroachment on the forests must have been in 1977 (i.e. in the middle of the period 1976–80) of the order of 410 000 ha. To this figure must be added about 100 000 ha of annual deforestation by the transmigration schemes (see below) and some 20 to 50 000 ha of clearing for permanent agriculture, infrastructure works, urbanisation, etc. This rough calculation leads to an annual deforestation rate of some 550 000 ha in the period 1976–80. This figure has been raised to 600 000 ha for the period 1981–85 to take into account the growth in agricultural population (6% approximately in 5 years) and progress in transmigration schemes.

Practically all deforestation takes place now at the expense of the productive closed broadleaved forests already logged over (NHCf1uc), in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawasi, Maluku and Nusatenggara mainly. No substantial decrease in closed forests occurs in Java, Bali and Irian Jaya.

The following deforestation estimates are only tentative at this stage. The order of magnitude is thought however to be the correct one.

Average annual deforestation
(in thousand ha)

Total number of people involved in shifting cultivation has been estimated at 11.5 million (11), or 2 million families approximately. This figure includes the tribal communities and the new settlers occupying often illegally the land.

Transmigration from the overpopulated islands (Java, Bali and Madura) to southern Sumatra and Southern Kalimantan has become increasingly important. The number of families concerned by this national programme was 12 500 in 1975 and the target was raised to 25 000 families per year during 1976–1980 (11). In total however, from 1974 to 1978, 50 000 families were moved. Each family is given 5 ha of land. In addition a minor scheme to re-settle the moving agricultors into a permanent co-operative settlement provides each family with one hectare. In 1977 some co-operative settlements involving shifting cultivators had been established in East Kalimantan as pilot projects (11). Although transmigration and co-operative settlement are prone to develop further, their impact on deforestation is still limited compared to traditional shifting cultivation and unorganized settlements.

2.1.2 Degradation

The estimate of critical lands requiring urgent rehabilitation, as given by DITSI in 1978/79 for 69 watershed basins, was 7.8 million ha (see section 1.2.1). Lands inside these watersheds, which had been rehabilitated, are said to amount to 2.4 million ha (17). It has also been stated (17), that total areas considered critical or seriously eroded, amount to 20 million ha, which would mean that the total area of bad lands outside the selected watersheds is equal to the area within (areas outside the selected watersheds have not been assessed for land degradation as yet).

In the drier parts of the country, especially in the eastern islands of Nusatenggara, bush fires set for hunting or grazing are a main factor of the degradation of the natural woody vegetation; as in other tropical and subtropical countries the development of the grass layer permits the spread of the fires in the open woodlands (NHc/NHO) of these drier zones.

2.1.3 Trends in forest utilization

In order to stimulate local processing, the government has moved in recent years to ban entirely the export of logs of certains species (e.g. ramin) and to enforce the requirement of local processing of 60% of the log outturn in order for a concessionaire to get export permit for logs. The effect of these measures, coupled with the present slump in the world market for tropical hardwoods, should result in a decrease in log production for export. It is anticipated however that this shortfall will be offset by increases in domestic consumption of sawnwood and plywood. The total annual outturn from the forests of sawlogs and veneerlogs, during the period 1981–85, is therefore assumed to remain stable, around 30 million m³.

2.1.4 Areas and growing stock at end 1985

For the natural forests, the projections to end 1985 in the table below, have been made using the following assumptions:

• the area of gazetted nature reserves will increase (10) to about 10 million ha, i.e. 85% more than the total area of 1980. As it is not known which areas will be added, the rate of increase has been applied uniformally to the 1980 areas for each region. It is assumed that one third of the added area will be transferred from unlogged productive forests (NHCf1uv), one third from selectively-logged (NHCf1uc) and one third from inoperable forests (NHCf2i);

• the area increase of logged forests (NHCf1uc), identical to the decrease in virgin productive forests (NHCf1uv), has been estimated by region on the basis of a 30 million m³ total annual log production, applying the current regional outturn proportions and using the estimated regional outturn volumes per ha (45 m³/ha for Sumatra and Kalimantan, 25 m³/ha for Sulawesi, the Maluku and Nugatenggara and 20 m³/ha for Irian Jaya);

• about two thirds of the area deforested have been transferred to forest fallow (NHCa).

Areas of natural woody vegetation estimated at end 1985
(in thousand ha)