Thousands Hectares of Forest Areas Allocated For National Park
Surakarta, Friday, 5 December 2008 (Tempo Interactive)

The Forest Conservationist Association (KPH) of the state-owned forestry company PT Perhutani have been able to save the forest areas under their management from destruction. There has been no case of illegal logging found in the 33.150 hectares of forests belonging to the state. However, the KPH will reserve 4.721,6 hectares of forest concession in the Merapi and Merbabu mountain areas to the National Park Service soon.

“We will continue planting trees in state-owned forests until 2010,” said Andriyanto, head of Public Relations and Land Affairs of the Surakarta Perhutani. The tress will be planted in all forests in the former Surakarta Palace grounds.

He stressed that there has been no downsizing of areas in state-owned forests under his responsibility throughout 2008. Forest areas will decline naturally, but because the forestry concession was given to the National Park Service. “The only thing that will decline is the size of forests that we manage,” he said. Meanwhile, the total size of the forest in general will stay the same.

In fact, according to Andriyanto, that was the original plan. The state concession hand-over was based on Forestry Minister Decree in 2004, when Mohammad Prakoso was still in charge. “However, the plan can only be realized now,” he said.

The forests which will be managed b y the National Park include 6.110 hectares of forest in Mount Merapi area, and 5.725 hectares in Mount Merbabu. “So far, the forests have been managed by the Surakarta and North Kedu associations,” he said.

The utilization of the forests will need the authority of the National Park. “However, I don’t think there will be any forest conversion, particularly when the forests are likely to become a conservation area,” Andriyanto said.