Google – AFP, Angela Dewan (AFP), 1 January 2014
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Timber
workers chat along a dirt road in the forests in Berau, East Kalimantan,
November 13, 2013 (AFP, Bay Ismoyo)
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Berau —
Deep in the forests of Borneo island, workmen from an Indonesian timber company
fell a tree with a chainsaw, stick a red tag with a serial number onto it and
attach a corresponding stub to the stump.
This is all
part of an arduous auditing process, one of many government attempts to clamp
down on illegal logging and clean up one of the country's most corrupt and
mismanaged sectors as Western countries demand proof their timber imports are
legal.
Following
an agreement signed with the European Union in September, Jakarta is rolling
out a system under which companies holding government-issued permits are given
a certificate to prove their wood is harvested within the law.
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Logged
trees and their identity tags in
Berau, East Kalimantan, November 13,
2013 (AFP, Bay Ismoyo)
|
But critics
say logging permits considered legal are often obtained through illegal means,
and laws passed in Europe, the US and Australia to give consumers a clear
conscience do little to tackle under-the-table transactions that compromise the
sector.
?This
system is basically asking, do you have a permit, and if you do, that box is
ticked. It?s saying anything that the government does is considered legal,?
said Emily Harwell, lead author of "The Dark Side of Green Growth", a
recent report by Human Rights Watch.
"It is
silent on corruption."
Indonesia
is rapidly losing its forests, mostly to make way for plantations for timber
products such as paper and palm oil.
According
to a map released by Google Earth in November, two million hectares (20,000
km2) are lost annually, the equivalent of 10,000 football fields every day.
Bribery for
permits
The
forestry ministry is considered the country's most corrupt institution,
according to a 2012 survey by the country's respected Corruption Eradication
Commission (KPK), which found permits being bought from officials with bribe
money was the most common act of corruption.
Timber
companies in Indonesia, which has the world's third-largest expanse of
rainforests, are legally obliged to comply with strict guidelines before being
granted permits, such as carrying out environmental impact assessments and
consulting communities affected by their operations.
But permits
are handed out even when such requirements are not fulfilled, critics say,
while even government data shows only 16 percent of such permits have been
through the process of consulting affected communities.
Law
enforcement is not only lax, it is often part of the problem. In May,
mid-ranking police officer Labora Sitorus was arrested for allegedly running a
$150 million illegal logging ring in the remote, eastern Papua region -- seen
as Indonesia's last bastion of vast untouched rainforest.
Sitorus was
caught after state financial auditors linked him to 115 containers of
illegally-logged timber in Surabaya on Java island, a hub for hand-made
furniture exports.
Critics
like Harwell say this all means that even with Indonesia's new Timber Legality
Assurance System, the mountains of cardboard packaging, dining tables and
timber flooring being sent abroad with a stamp of approval are not necessarily
legal at all.
Nevertheless
there are some companies striving to ensure their timber is genuinely legal.
Sumalindo
Lestari Jaya -- the timber company on Indonesian Borneo tagging its logs and
tree stumps -- has spent years engaging with the local indigenous Dayak
communities affected by its 60,000-hectare (150,000-acre) concession near the
city of Berau.
Sharing the
wealth
The company
shares the benefits of its harvests in cash handouts, school tuition for
children and basic infrastructure with four of five communities affected by its
operation, and involves them in operational decision-making.
"Sumalindo
didn't at first engage with the communities. But they realised that by
communicating better with them, they could come up with something fair that
respects everyone's rights," said Joko Sarjito from WWF, which facilitated
the agreements.
The company
exports construction timber, wood panelling and timber flooring to Germany,
Britain, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan, and it is hoping to qualify for
a superior certificate from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which also
ensures sustainability and fair trade.
"To be
honest, it doesn't really make financial sense to go for the FSC certificate.
It's about 30 percent more expensive to produce, and the returns are only
around five percent higher," Sumalindo board director Rudi Gunawan said.
"But
we do it for our name, for pride."
While some
big companies have the funds to venture into the brave new world of clean
timber, artisan furniture makers have trouble even registering as a business, a
basic requirement for a certificate of legality.
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A timber
company worker cuts down
a tree in the forests of Berau, East
Kalimantan, November 13, 2013 (AFP,
Bay Ismoyo)
|
Sources in
the industry said there have been several cases where artisans have simply
bought certificates of legality and that the auditing process could be
compromised.
The
forestry ministry admits there is room for improvement in the new initiative,
which is not set in stone until the agreement with the EU is ratified.
We are
still developing it and we are completing the text, so we are open to views
from NGOs and we want to ensure our timber is truly legal,? said Dwi Sudharto,
the ministry's director general of processing and marketing of forest products.
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