Banda Aceh, NU Online
At least 266 hectares of forests in Nanggeroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Province were damaged in the 2005 - 2006 period, an non-governmental organization official said here on Monday. The state news agency reported.
Tisna Nando of the Indonesian Flora and Fauna (FFI) organization said that the forests were damaged partly as a result of the rehabilitation and reconstruction process of Aceh after it was hit by an earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2004.<>
He said that in 2005 local police confiscated 33,249 cubic meters of processed timber which were obtained from illegal logging.
Nando said that Aceh previously had 3,549,813 hectares of forests, most of which were found in Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) and in Ulu Masen in the northern part of Aceh.
But deforestation and illegal logging had been increasing during the Aceh reconstruction process to meet the need for wood materials, which in 2006 increased four folds to 120,209.50 cubic meters.
The Ulu Masen area, which covers the districts of West Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Besar, Pidie and Pidie Jaya, has 740,000 hectares of forests. About 20 percent of this forest cover have been affected by forest concessionaires’ exploitation.
"Of the total forest cover, about 20 percent or about 740 thousand hectares, have been exploited by forest concessionaires," Nando added. (dar)
At least 266 hectares of forests in Nanggeroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Province were damaged in the 2005 - 2006 period, an non-governmental organization official said here on Monday. The state news agency reported.
Tisna Nando of the Indonesian Flora and Fauna (FFI) organization said that the forests were damaged partly as a result of the rehabilitation and reconstruction process of Aceh after it was hit by an earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2004.<>
He said that in 2005 local police confiscated 33,249 cubic meters of processed timber which were obtained from illegal logging.
Nando said that Aceh previously had 3,549,813 hectares of forests, most of which were found in Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) and in Ulu Masen in the northern part of Aceh.
But deforestation and illegal logging had been increasing during the Aceh reconstruction process to meet the need for wood materials, which in 2006 increased four folds to 120,209.50 cubic meters.
The Ulu Masen area, which covers the districts of West Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Besar, Pidie and Pidie Jaya, has 740,000 hectares of forests. About 20 percent of this forest cover have been affected by forest concessionaires’ exploitation.
"Of the total forest cover, about 20 percent or about 740 thousand hectares, have been exploited by forest concessionaires," Nando added. (dar)
