Malesia

The European Commission has announced creation of a fund of $20.3 million to help Indonesia fight the booming trade in illegal logs and to conserve its remaining forests. Enforcement efforts will be undertaken in Jakarta, Jambi and West Kalimantan

Malaysia's Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry (KPPK, Kementerian Perusahaan Perladangan dan Komoditi) has announced plans to build up the capacity for timber plantations to remove pressure from native forests. Most of Peninsular Malaysia's lowland tropical forests were converted to other uses during the colonial era, and today there are vast areas of former tin mines, as well as current plantations of oil palm and rubber. Collectively, these lands could produce large amounts of wood products that could be certified as originating from sustainable forest management (plantations can obtain sustainability certificates provided they are not created by felling existing forests). Malaysian growers have long experience with plantations of oil palm, rubber and fruit trees, and should be able to adapt to new species with careful planning.

KPPK Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui announced the plan, saying that private funds would be sought from the wood industries for the approximately RM2 billion needed. The Ministry would like to see 1.5 million hectares of timber plantation set up in the next 10 years. Much of the money would be for federal support for states to develop plantation management methods. In Malaysia, land management is a state responsiblity in which the federal government plays an advisory role.

The world has an insatiable demand for timber, and today that demand is being met to a large extent with illegally harvested tropical timber. The US, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and other nations have had considerable success establishing major forest industries based on plantation-grown timber. In Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, rubberwood has become a major export commodity. Conservation of remaining tropical rainforests requires that alternative sources of raw materials be found, and Malaysia is taking appropriate steps in that direction.

One important challenge will be species selection. Many valuable forest species, such as meranti (Shorea spp. and other dipterocarps), may be difficult or impossible to adapt to plantation conditions. Forest scientists, including geneticists, physiologists and silviculturists, will need to carefully research and test appropriate species. Initial plantation projects should be small, so that large investments are not made in projects that fail.

Without this kind of science-based approach, the entire RM2 billion could be wasted on failed attempts at large-scale plantations. This happened in the Jari project in Brazil where Daniel Ludwig, an American entrepreneur, started large-scale plantations of Gmelina for pulp production. The project denuded 6475 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest and was a complete disaster. The disaster was due to bad planning, excess expenditure of funds, and, perhaps most importantly, the lack of results from any pilot projects prior to scaling up.

Indonesia will not use imported wood for Aceh's reconstruction following the tsunami. The demand for wood is high, with about seven million cubic feet required. Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban announced the policy at a meeting of the House of Representatives in Jakarta. Legal wood harvest from Indonesia's forests is currently about 5.6 million cubic meters per year, so additional sources of wood will be needed. Minister Kaban did not reject the use of donated foreign wood, but said that no wood would be bought from other nations. The minister's statement appears to be a response to the World Wildlife Fund's concerns about the impact of Acehnese reconstruction on Indonesia's forest resources.

Menteri Kehutanan M.S. Kaban mengingatkan Badan Rekonstruksi Aceh untuk tidak mengimpor kayu tanpa ijin dari Departemen Kehutanan. Sebab, kebutuhan kayu di Aceh masih bisa dipenuhi dari pasokan dalam negeri.“Sejak awal diprioritaskan untuk memasok kebutuhan kayu di Aceh,” ujar Kaban. Selain itu, untuk kebutuhan rekonstruksi Aceh, bisa ditambahkan dari kayu temuan maupun kayu sitaan.

When I worked in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, lowland forests were being logged but were still extensive. The pictures show aerial views of these vast forests during the flight from Jakarta to Pontianak. At that time, Kalimantan still had over 80% of its lowland forests, but they were under substantial pressure from logging and from land clearance. The transmigrasi program, that moved large numbers of Javanese families to Kalimantan increased the rate of conversion of land from forest to agriculture. Forests were still extensive and unbelievably diverse. Home to orangutans and proboscis monkeys as well as a riot of plant species diversity, these forests are one of the great biological treasures of the world. In a new report, the World Wildlife Fund says that less than 50% of the original lowland forests remain, and could be largely eliminated within 10 years. Rampant illegal logging, much of it at the behest of Malaysian operators is stripping the forests. At the same time, development pressures of a growing population of poor farmers is accelerating land conversion. Populations of organgutans and proboscis monkeys may no longer be sustainable in the wild. Forest fires, once a rarity, are now an annual occurance, often blanketing Southeast Asia in haze. Efforts are underway to persuade Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei to set aside vast reserves of montane and upland forests in central Borneo, but preservation of significant amounts of lowland forests appears unlikely. Illegal logging can be stopped, with concerted action. Thanks to vigorous efforts by Indonesians like my friend Herujono Hadisuparto of Universitas Tanjungpura, illegal log routes from Indonesia into Malaysia have been closed. However, corruption and poverty continue to work against efforts to stop illegal logging. Indonesia is now a democracy, and the central government is working hard to control corruption. However, unless Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei cooperate to enforce existing laws against illegal logging, and unless the international community acts to stop consuming illegally obtained wood, the clearing of lowland forests will not stop until the last tree is gone. Borneo is one of the world centers of biodiversity. Over 210 mammal species are found in Borneo, at least 45 of them found only on the island. A new fox species was reported last month. Between 1994 and 2004, over 361 new species have been identified, including 260 insects, 50 ploants, 30 fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes and a toad. The vast majority of these species have been poorly studied and little is known of thier life history and conservation needs. Borneo is also an important economic treasure for Indonesia. Huge, by far the largest Indonesian island, rich in natural resources, and with tremendous potential for ecotourism and sustainable forestry, Borneo will either deteriorate further or remain as one of Earth's treasures. The Heart of Borneo project to preserve 1/4 of the central part of Borneo is critical to the island's future.	Lowland forests of West Kalimantan in 1984.
	Plywood mills along Landak river surrounded by lowland forests in 1984.
	Young orangutan in lowland forest in West Kalimantan