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Govt allows mining in protected forests
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a regulation to pave the way for business people to run underground mining operations in the country’s protected forests with use of a land swap system
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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a regulation to pave the way for business people to run underground mining operations in the country’s protected forests with use of a land swap system.
The regulation is eligible for mining companies of all minerals.
“It is applicable for all minerals,” Forestry Ministry secretary-general Hadi Daryanto told The Jakarta Post.
He said the policy was aimed at preventing forest destruction.
“Conservation and forest protection would be prioritized while digging for rich mineral sources under primary forests,” he said.
The regulation says companies securing permits for underground mining are required to substitute each hectare awarded to a concession holder in the land swap system.
In provinces with total forest area of less than 30 percent of its river basin, the company should substitute land double the size of its concession area.
If a province still has forest area covering more than 30 percent of the river basin, a company should pay money that would be used to rehabilitate the river basin area with the same width of its concession area.
The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) criticized the regulation for failing to elaborate on mechanisms of underground mining to avert environmental damage.
“The regulation should be reviewed. It is only to speed up licensing processes but fails to elaborate technical issues to protect forests,” Jatam campaigner Hendrik Siregar told the Post. He added that the regulation should determine the minimum depth of underground mining from the surface and other details of the technical process.
Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta earlier also opposed underground mining in protected Deforestation: Most forests in Merangin regencyDeforestation: Most forests in Merangin regency, Jambi, are severely damaged due to forest encroachment and land diversion for plantations. Forestry Minister Zulkifl i Hasan, during his visit to the area in January of this year, asked residents to stop forest encroachment. Antara/Ismar Patrizkiforest area, saying it ran counter to the government’s commitment to save forests and deal with climate change.
The government issued a presidential decree in 2004 to allow 13 companies to operate in protected forests.
The Indonesia Mining Association (IMA) called on the government to review the decree, which it said was discriminatory.
The mining companies welcomed the new regulation to ease licensing process in protected forests. “The long awaited decree is truly great news to our zinc concession operated by 80 percent owned subsidiary, PT Dairi Prima Mineral in North Sumatra,” the CEO of PT Bumi Resources Mineral Tbk, Kenneth Farrell said.
Farrel said that the regulation would allow more concession owners to dig mineral resources, which would in return increase royalties for the government.
The government has also issued a new presidential decree on a forest moratorium, which would suspend new permits in primary forests.
The decree, however, allowed companies to develop geothermal projects in primary forests, although the 1999 Forestry Law prohibits mining in both protected forestland and conservation areas.
Indonesia has the world’s largest estimated geothermal reserves with capacity to generate 28,100 megawatts distributed in 265 sites across the country.
The Forestry Ministry predicted that about 70 percent of geothermal deposits were located in protected and conservation areas.
Environmental activists have voiced support for the development of geothermal projects, but they warned that massive geothermal projects in protected areas could also damage forests.
