Indonesia’s forestry minister has said that companies without sustainable timber supplies should be closed down.

Muhammad Prakosa, speaking at the 12th meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia, said if unsustainable forest companies are not shut down soon it will be politically difficult to close them down later. As a result, he said the government is looking to put them under the ministry of forestry’s supervision.

He said policies operated by the Indonesia Bank Reconstruction Agency (IBRA) are proving a major obstacle to sustainable forest management.

Mr Prakosa said IBRA’s wood-based industries restructuring does not include timber sourcing as essential.

He added: “IBRA’s policy to allow forest companies to remain in business has contributed to the over-capacity that demands more raw materials than Indonesia’s forests can supply.”

&#8220IBRA’s policy to allow forest companies to remain in business has contributed to the over-capacity that demands more raw materials than Indonesia’s forests can supply.”

Indonesian forestry minister Muhammad Prakosa

Meanwhile, the Indonensian government has issued decrees on the transportation and export of logs in a bid to crack down on illegal timber trafficking.

Inter-island transportation of logs must be carried out by locally-registered vessels to allow monitoring of log movements, and only companies which are registered exporters can export logs, hopefully making it simpler to track down the source of timber products.

Critics claim the decrees will be ineffective unless the government restructures timber companies.