The Forest of Indonesia

The forests of Indonesia are currently the second largest in the world, after those of Brazil. However they are disappearing at an alarming rate following more than three decades of uncontrolled exploitation. Recent studies indicate that, if the current rate of deforestation is not arrested, the remaining forests will disappear within 10-15 years.

The European Commission has had a substantial development co-operation programme with the GoI in the forestry sector for many years. Previously known as the EC-Indonesia Forest Programme (ECIFP) the co-operation programme is based on the recognition of the need to protect, conserve and sustainably manage Indonesia"s forest resources taking account of the welfare of local populations, general development of the Indonesian economy and global concerns.  The ECIFP consisted of a total of 7 projects and a Liaison Office and had a total value of about 120 million Euro. At the moment there is just one residual project active under the ECIFP: The South Sumatra Forest Fire Management Project

EC Commitments to support Indonesia

EC support to the forest sector in Indonesia is however continuing and the EC-Indonesia FLEGT Support Project represents the latest practical evidence of this continuing cooperation financed under the general budget line of the European Commission. The EC also support the sustainable development of the forestry sector in Indonesia through a number of smaller projects financed under the “Tropical Forest Budget Line” and the “Asia Pro Eco Budget Line”.

Given the commitment of the EC and some of the Member States to supporting the sustainable management of the Indonesian forestry sector, the 1999 Paris Meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) emphasised the international concern on the current state of the forests in Indonesia. The direct outcome was the holding of a high-level forestry seminar in Jakarta in January 2000, which brought together representatives of all main stakeholders and where the real conditions of the sector were presented.

The response of the Government of Indonesia (GoI) at the February 2000 CGI meeting in Jakarta was to commit itself to a series of actions to tackle the main issues and to develop a new approach to managing the forestry sector. Among the commitment entered into by the GoI is the intention to reduce illegal logging, particularly in designated National Parks. The Ministry of Forestry has since then pursued this objective but with limited success.

ITTO, Multistakeholders Forestry Programme (MFP) and Bappenas/Natural Resources Management (NRM) have recently undertaken supply and demand forecast studies in Indonesia on industry capacity and current and expected future sustainable supply under various scenarios. The studies identified a current overcapacity in the forest industry compared with the sustainable supply and recommended various alternatives on how this imbalance between supply and demand could be addressed now and in the future. Partly as a result of these studies the Ministry of Forestry recently established a Working Group tasked with further analysing the situation of the forest industry in Indonesia and developing specific recommendations on how the industry could be revitalised /restructured to be more in tune with the existing and future supply situation.

EU Action Plan

Illegal logging was first raised as a serious international problem in 1998 in the G8 foreign ministers’ ”Action Programme on Forest”. In April 2002, the European Union hosted an international workshop to discuss how the EU should combat illegal logging. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in the same year, the European Commission set out a strong commitment to combat illegal logging and the associated trade in illegally harvested timber. To build on this commitment, the FLEGT Action Plan was adopted in May 2003.

The Action Plan is the European Union’s response to the global problem of illegal logging and the trade in associated timber products. The Action Plan foresees development assistance as one of the primary means of influencing the trade in illegal timber and wood products. The Action Plan sets out a range of measures that aim to combat the problem of illegal logging. These include:

• Support for improved governance and capacity building in timber producing countries
• Development of Voluntary Partnership Agreements with timber producer countries to prevent illegally produced timber (at the moment round wood, sawn wood, plywood and veneer) from entering the EU Market
• Efforts to reduce the EU’s consumption of illegally harvested timber and discourage investments by EU institutions that may encourage illegal logging.

The EC-Indonesia FLEGT Support Project must be seen in the overall context of this EU FLEGT Action Plan. Following immediately after completion of the Illegal Logging Response Centre Project (ILRC) and reflecting progress and achievements of this earlier project, the EC-Indonesia FLEGT Support Project has been developed in discussions within the relevant departments of MoF, with the EU Member States" forestry programmes and with a number of local NGOs active in the sector. It has also been presented to the Member States missions in Indonesia

More specifically the EC-Indonesia FLEGT Support Project aims to support the objectives of the Action Plan by providing a broad based set of activities to assist the GoI in tackling illegal logging. The project focuses on addressing the underlying issues that are responsible for illegal logging. Subsequent development and application of sustainable forest management principles through good governance and the harmonisation of laws and dialogue within the forestry and associated sectors in Indonesia forms the key components of the project

EU Member States with bilateral programmes in the Indonesian forestry sector are Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom. Other agencies and/or donors active in the forestry sector in Indonesia are the World Bank, USAID, ITTO, JICA and Korea as well as NGOs and research institutions such as CIFOR, WWF, Telapak, Forest Watch Indonesia and Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

More information about FLEGT