FAO Forestry country profiles - forest management

Objectives

All of Indonesia¿s natural forests are owned and administered by the state. The Ministry of Forestry¿s role is to wisely utilize the resources of the forest so as to recognize the multiple functions of forests and achieve intergenerational equity. Since 1999, Indonesian forest management and utilization have been restructured with a shift from timber-based to resource-based management. In parallel, greater focus is also given to empowerment of local communities, decentralization and strengthening the role of research and education. The MOF is also reviewing several policies to make them more compatible with sustainable forestry management principles, notably the Act on Basic Provisions for Forestry and the concept of people¿s participation in forest management.

In February 2000, the Government of Indonesia made a commitment to set up an Interdepartmental Committee on Forestry to initiate policy related to forest management. The commitment spells out eight important points as priorities in the reform of policy on forest resource management and the activities of forest-based industries. These are:

1. To invite cooperation and coordination of other Ministries to impose strong measures against illegal loggers especially those operating within national parks, and to enforce the closure of illegal sawmills;
2. To speed up forest resource assessment as the basis of a National Forest Programme (NFP);
3. To evaluate policies relating to conversion forests and place a moratorium on all natural forest conversion until the NFP is agreed;
4. To downsize and restructure wood based industries to balance supply and demand for raw materials and most importantly to increase the competitiveness of Indonesian wood based industries;
5. To close heavily indebted wood industries and link proposed debt write-off to capacity reduction;
6. To relate reforestation to existing forest industries and those under construction;
7. To recalculate the real value of timber;
8. To use decentralization processes as a tool to enhance sustainable forest management.

This commitment is based on concern over diminishing forest resources, where the annual rate of deforestation reached 1.8 million from 1990 to 2000. Damage to forest resources is exacerbated by the capacity of wood and pulp industries that far exceeds the sustainable supply of forest resources.

The potential of forest-based ecotourism is currently being explored in Indonesia. In particular, it is intended that ecotourism will be developed further in nature recreation parks and hunting parks.