| Abstract : Jakarta, October 29 - President Megawati Soekarnoputri had the honors of opening Indonesia's third National Forestry Conference on Thursday the 25th of October. Her ten minute speech open to only 300 "guests" (read: individuals willing to wait in cramped and dreary conditions for three hours for a glimpse of the famous lady) introduced forestry organizations, chronicled previous Congresses (1956, 1990), and introduced the theme of the conference "[i]Selamatkan Hutan, Selamatkan Masa Depan[/i]" ("Saving the forests, is saving our future"). However, it was not this theme that became the mantra of the Congress, but rather her message concerning illegal logging and corruption in the forestry sector - [i]"Kita harus berani dan jujur", jangan "tahu, tapi pura-pura tidak tahu"[/i] ("We have to be brave and honest", don't "pretend to not know what we already know"). |
| No ImageThis message was repeated to and instilled in over 750 participants throughout the day as the conference continued. Speakers on the opening day were from various backgrounds including national government officials, learned professors, and even the father of environmentalism himself, Prof. Emil Salim.
Vice Chairman of the DPR-RI Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno was the key note speaker and spoke on the role of the forestry sector in the future. Soerjogoeritno delineated six problems that the forestry sector is facing today. He included problems concerning actual forest land not meeting the minimum sustainable standards; the decline of forest resource conditions on Java but mainly on the outer islands; the management of the forest being too centralized with the national government playing the dominant role but needing to decentralize; and the inequitable development of the timber industries, such as IPKH and the pulp & paper industry, to the non-timber and fiber industries. Soerjogoeritno's suggestions for the forestry sector were numerous and idealistic which may, if history serves correctly, prove to be unattainable.
Absent from the scheduled list of speakers and perhaps mirroring the existing Java-centric top-down approach by the Department of Forestry, were regional government officials and representatives from forest dependent ethnic groups from around the archipelago. Within the first three hours of the conference these groups approached the floor microphones and fervently began to sound their voice and state their opinions. Most of these "unofficial" speakers expressed similar opinions - it is not the local officials nor the people that have to jangan [i]"tahu, tapi pura-pura tidak tahu"[/i] but rather, it is the government itself that has to be brave and honest in seeing problems that exist at all levels and in all variations.
Perhaps the event that most illustrated the growing agency and influence among the forestry community occurred on the second day. The Minister of Forestry, Muhammad Prakosa, opened the day with a half hour speech on the forestry sector. Dissatisfied with the Minister's words and lack of his willingness to field questions, the auditorium erupted into near riot behavior as members of the audience crowded around floor microphones to let their voices be heard. After two hours and with the crowd showing no signs of dissipating, Minister Prakosa was forced to return to field questions, although strictly regimented, for another hour.
In the afternoon of the second day, the Congress moved away from their top-down strategy and broke into three sessions. This allowed detailed discussions on specific topics by smaller special interest groups.
On paper, the Congress's mission was to develop one name/label for the perception, vision, and mission of the forestry sector in Indonesia. The Congress was meant to be a platform to convey ideas, opinions, and aspirations on the progress of the developing forest sector under a system that would guarantee the protection of forests for all of humanity. The intended output of this Congress was to develop a declaration, recommendation, and resolution suggestions for the legislative and executive branches of government. The planned format for this Congress was to discuss seven aspects of twelve strategic forestry issues and to come up with twelve governmental commitments to the forestry sector.
The seven aspects included (1) policy and legality, (2) region and forest resources, (3) nature conservation, (4) forestry finance and development, (5) human resources and professionalism, (6) social and institutional, and (7) business and technology.
These aspects were discussed in each of the following twelve strategic issues: (1) reforestation/rehabilitation fund and HTI, (2) community forestry, (3) dynamics of social conflict, (4) intensity of forest degradation, (5) logging moratorium vs. reconstructing the logging industry, (6) forest value, (7) autonomy of management and forest management, (8) illegal logging, (9) law enforcement, (10) small scale forest industry (HPHH/IPHHK), (11) district spatial plan (RTRWK), and (12) eco-label certification.
The resulting twelve governmental commitments are as follows: (1) moratorium on converting forestland, (2) close debt-ridden industries, (3) stop illegal logging, (4) restructure wood industry, (5) recalculate natural resources, (6) reforestation and industrial capacity, (7) decentralize forestry management, (8) develop national forestry program, (9) combat forest fires, (10) rearrange land tenure rights, (11) recalculate forest resources, and (12) improve forest management system.
Similar to many seminars and congresses, the governmental commitments were nothing more than an idealization of what should happen rather than a real strategy for recognizing real attainable goals. In truth, while the strategic forestry issues and corresponding aspects were legitimate and important points in need of discussion, they were overshadowed by the growing attention of the participants towards their rights as an influential forestry community positioned outside the national government yet with lack of representation at the national level.
Possibly this was the most promising result of all from this Congress. This meeting allowed oppositional opinions to be voiced - perhaps for the first time in history - from various participants in the forestry sector. The Congress successfully afforded a platform and an atmosphere where it was okay to question and criticize the government - another first for this emerging democracy.
It was not without its faults, however. People have yet to become fully comfortable with this forum and often instead of being constructive with their criticism, became emotional and illogical in their arguments. But, as a beginning and as an open forum for discussion of forest related issues, it offers promise. Should this forum of communication continue to flourish, perhaps one day the government will be able to address the many strategic issues and governmental commitments in real terms.[b][S][/b]
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