Indonesia’s newly-appointed forestry minister Malam Sambat Kaban has worried environmentalists by signalling plans to boost forest industry earnings.
The minister said it was the right time to make forestry a source of income, in order to contribute to the national economy.
He has not given specific details of his plan but said the ministry would seek to rehabilitate the forests and encourage industry to invest in more modern production machinery to improve timber cutting efficiency.
The forestry ministry will also review the government’s proposed regulations to deal with illegal logging, although the minister said there were better ways to deal with the problem, including improving co-ordination between government insitutions, beefing up enforcement and building up a new forest management team.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment said the appointment of Mr Kaban as minister signalled the government’s lack of seriousness in combating illegal logging and also showed that it still viewed the forest ministry as a “gold mine”.
