GOVT URGED TO CONTINUE REFORESTATION PROGRAM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 8 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has urged the Indonesian government to continue its reforestation program through a one-billion-tree planting program to reduce damage to the environment, which has reached over 60 percent.          "The forestation program is the right step to restore the damaged environment, but it seemed that these activities are less intense of late," Walhi executive director Abetnego Tarigan said recently.          The damage to the environment, which reached over 60 percent, was acknowledged by the Minister for Environment, Balthasar Kambuaya, who warned in Jakarta on Saturday that the damage to the environment had continued to increase.          "Environmental damage in Indonesia reached 61 percent this year, which is an increase from last year's 59 percent," the minister said.         He noted that there are many factors contributing to environmental damage, including forest fires and drought due to the dry season. The minister said the government has implemented steps to reduce this damage by building dams.          When he met with scouts in South Sulawesi on Wednesday, the minister also revealed the same thing, expressing his concern over the damage to the environment.          He told members of the scout movement that some 40 to 50 percent of Indonesia's environment has been damaged on a national scale.          Kambuaya was speaking at an event organized jointly by the office of the Ministry of Environment and the National Scout Movement to promote a campaign aimed at spreading awareness about preserving the environment.          The minister noted that the damage has been largely caused by the activities of human beings. "It is caused by the actions of human beings, and therefore, the scout movement can help popularize ways in which we can safeguard the environment while going forward."     Kambuaya, who is also a rector at the Cenderawasih University of Papua, said his office would extend full cooperation to the scout movement and provide them with information about how the public can work towards preserving the environment so that the younger generation is able to enjoy the fruits of their efforts during the next 20 to 30 years.          However, he noted that local residents also need to act to maintain the environment.          Therefore, his ministry has coordinated with local governments to popularize early steps that should be taken to safeguard the environment in the short term and the creation of long term programs, such as the construction of reservoirs and water tanks. These could help solve shortages of water caused by droughts.          "Long-term plans should be made every year to face droughts so that the dry season and shortage of water, as is happening now, could be overcome," the minister said.          In the meantime, forests which constitute a main factor in preserving ground water and absorbing carbon dioxide should also be protected and areas whose forests are damaged must be rehabilitated.          For this, Walhi called on the government to continue its program to plant one billion trees per year. The program has been launched by the forestry ministry in the past few years.          Walhi director Abetnego Tarigan said that his forum has observed the tendency of the government to only plant the trees, while neglecting them and not maintaining and preserving them.          Abetnego who is also an activist of the "Sawit Watch" (an oil palm plantation watchdog) said that those who followed the government¿s appeal and reforestation program also tended to ignore the tree plantations.          "Those involved in the one-billion tree planting program lacked care for what they have planted", he said.  They also lack diversification and tended to plant only one tree species.          He said that monoculture system had a negative impact because it reduced the fertility of soil, as rotation of nutrients did not take place, unlike on land which received different species of plants.          Besides, the diversification of biodiversity did not take place because only a small number of animal and plant species could live in an area planted with a monoculture system. Indirectly, the development of the ecosystem is thereby disturbed.          "The important thing is that trees which are planted should be able to be used for preserving nature, while the local residents earn a living from their economic benefits," Abet said.          At the end of last year, the government resumed its reforestation program, having set itself the target of planting at least 1.7 billion trees capable of absorbing about 47.6 billion tons of carbon gases.       "I believe 90 percent of the 1.7 billion trees will grow. We have set ourselves the target of planting at least 1.7 billion trees this year. Hopefully, the number of trees that can grow will be far higher than last year," Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said at that time.          As part of its efforts to cut gas emissions 26 percent by 2020, the Indonesian government, since 2007, has been coordinating a tree planting drive to rehabilitate its damaged forests, green its denuded lands and provide homes to billions of tons of carbon sinks.          Further, Indonesia  has designated 37.5 million hectares  of  its 130 million hectares of forests as homes for carbon sinks as part of its  emission reduction project through the global Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) program.          A total of 40 million hectares are former production forests, half of which have been damaged or are in critical condition. The damaged forests are expected to be rehabilitated with consistent and continued tree planting programs.          Last week, the forestry minister expressed optimism that his ministry would be able to use 90 percent of its designated budget   for this year's program, including reforestation. "I am convinced the absorption of the budget would reach 90 percent by the end of the year," Minister Zulkifli Hasan said while swearing in 15 echelon II officials on Wednesday.         Therefore, the minister recalled that the reforestation program should be intensified, not only in Java but also outside Java, such as in Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.         "In areas which are relatively wet, such as in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua, there is no reason for the officials to delay the reforestation program," asserted Zulkifli.      (T.A014/INE/KR-BSR/B003) 08-09-2012 21:19