T

he article by Dewi Tresya from the World Resources Institute (WRI) published in The Jakarta Post on Nov. 29 provides a good recommendation for future improvement of the SVLK timber legality system, known as Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu as part of an integrated strategy to combat illegal logging.

In fact, illegal logging was the main reason behind the development of the system. SVLK, which was developed through multi-stakeholder consultations, is in itself already an integrated system based on existing Indonesian laws and regulations.

This consists not only of laws and regulations under the Environment and Forestry Ministry, but also regulations under the Trade Ministry, Industry Ministry, Manpower Ministry and Finance Ministry. Export regulations under SVLK itself is regulated under three Ministerial Decrees, from the Environment and Forestry Minister, Trade Minister and Finance Minister.

We endeavor to mainstream SVLK into the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s strategic planning, and link it to other policy initiatives on social forestry, law enforcement and climate change. Currently, the ministry is preparing to include SVLK as part of Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

SVLK also contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 12 on responsible production and procurement, Goal 13 on actions to tackle climate change and Goal 15 on sustainable forest management.

However, SVLK alone cannot be the solution to all the problem of deforestation in Indonesia, because there are many drivers of deforestation. Instead, SVLK complements law enforcement against illegal logging by offering market incentives to compliant companies.

 The WRI’s article questions SVLK effectiveness in combatting illegal logging based on data that shows rising deforestation between 2012 and 2014. This is not a fair assessment of link SVLK with deforestation in years prior to 2013 because SVLK only became mandatory in 2013, and the export regulations underwent several revisions and were only finalized in May 2016, therefore making SVLK only effectively in-force in 2016.

The SVLK is a living system that has undergone continued improvements to adjust to new contexts and challenges, including new challenges in land-use change in Indonesia. The ministry continues to improve SVLK implementation in different aspects.

For example, SVLK has been integrated into a draft government regulation on economic incentives to regulate public procurement of timber products.

In fact, some local governments such as the districts of Klaten in Central Java and Jombang in East Java are already ahead of the game by adopting their own local decrees mandating SVLK-certified timber products for local government procurement. We also plan to strengthen some of the sustainability requirements to improve forest governance.

It is important to emphasis the role of independent monitoring as an integrated part of SVLK that can contribute to law enforcement. It is the only timber legality assurance system in the world that integrates independent civil society monitoring. The role of independent monitors adds to the credibility of SVLK in the eyes of global market.

The WRI’s article made an assertion on timber losses due to illegal logging based on a Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) report, which compares the volume of timber produced in state forests as reported in the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s statistics, with volumes of logs processed by the timber industry. The difference between formal statistic of log production plus imports and estimated consumption may indicate the existence of unreported timber.

But this gap can be explained by the rising production from private forests or hutan rakyat, which is not reported in the ministry’s official statistics and are not subject to the government’s non-tax revenue.

The EU-Indonesia Joint Implementation (JIC) data shows that the total volume of timber harvested from private forests in 2015 was 39.75 million cubic meters, which was almost equal to the volume produced from state forests. The Environment and Forestry Ministry is currently developing an integrated Information System called SI PHPL+ covering upstream to downstream, linking current information systems consisting of timber administration online information system (SI PUHH), e-money and a Legality Information Unit Online System, locally known as “Sistem Informasi Legalitas Kayu” (SILK). This will provide a much more complete picture on timber production in Indonesia, including production from private forests and linking it to downstream industries all the way to exports.

This system also has the added advantage of including data for industries below 6,000 m3 which is not documented in current Ministry’s official statistics.

Given that the implementation of the FLEGT licensing of verified legal timber products is only one part of the EU’s Action Plan to combat illegal logging from the demand-side, it is important for us to continue to remind the EU to also enforce other measures under the Action Plan to effectively eradicate trade in illegal timber.

It would be helpful, however, not to confuse FLEGT License with SVLK as the WRI article has done. FLEGT license is a scheme developed by the EU to prevent illegal timber imports from coming into the EU market. Therefore, it is merely an exporting document for the purpose of timber exports into the EU. The Indonesia FLEGT License is based on SVLK, and SVLK is enforced on all trade in timber, both for domestic trade and exports.
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The writer is the Director General for Sustainable Production Forest Management at the Environment and Forestry Ministry.