Adianto P. Simamora
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Financial incentives for forest protection should consider the value of the natural resources inside to motivate local residents to protect the area, the govern¬ment said Tuesday.

Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said the incen¬tives should also count poten¬tial losses if the people stop exploiting the forest.

"If we get only US$100 per hectare as a financial reward, it will not resolve poverty prob¬lems for communities living in forest areas," Kaban said.

He said Indonesia's forests had extensive natural reserves, including trees and mineral resources. "A cubic meter of meranti tree wood, for example, is pric¬ed at $150. A hectare of land could produce 70 cubic meters of meranti timber. The reward must consider this," he said. "In Bengkulu, 80 percent of the forest is protected... where many precious minerals such as iron, gold and coal are found. But what will the world give us for protecting it?"

Kaban also said other coun¬tries had paid little attention to Indonesia's efforts to protect its forests. "Our forests trap tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every day but no country appreciates this," he said. He said that only since the issue of climate change became important had the internation¬al community paid attention to Indonesia's forests. "But they accuse Indonesia of being the world's third larg¬est emitter of greenhouse gases due to forest fires," he said. Kaban said that the govern¬ment had carried out several actions to help protect forests.

"We have reduced logging from 27 million cubic meters before the 2000s to only 9.l million cubic meters per year. We have also intensified efforts to fight illegal logging," he said.

"We have designated 40 mil¬lion hectares of protected and conservation forest but we never get rewarded for our efforts." Kaban said that the negoti¬ations on financial incentives for protecting forests would still be very tough. Ministers and senior officials dealing with the environment from 40 countries will hold a two-day informal meeting in Bogor on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss Indonesia's proposal on reducing emissions from deforestation in develop¬ing countries (REDD). Indonesia wants the REDD concept to be included in a new commitment after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The concept will be dis¬cussed at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) to be held from Dec. 3 to 15 in Bali.

The government plans to plant 79 million trees in the coming month to show it is serious about protecting forests to capture more carbon. Indonesian women, led by First Lady KristLani Jlerawati, will also plant 10 million trees before the Bali meeting.

Indonesia currently has 120 million hectares of forest, the world's third largest after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Indonesia has set up lobbies including organizing 10 tropi¬cal forest countries to support the REDD concept at the con¬ference. The 10 countries are Brazil, Cameron, Costa Rica, Columbia, Congo, the Democ¬ratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Peru.