ID :
93033
Thu, 12/03/2009 - 16:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/93033
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OVER 100 RIVER BASIN AREAS SERIOUSLY DAMAGED
Medan, N Sumatra, Indonesia, Dec 3 (ANTARA) - A total of 108 river basin areas (DAS) in Indonesia are now in seriously damaged condition, a Forestry Ministry official said.
Silver Hutabarat, director for DAS management affairs at the Forestry Ministry, said here on Thursday Indonesia had at least 4,000 DAS, of which 108 were in the seriously damaged category.
He said the damage in the 108 DAS was caused by both human beings and natural factors. "Therefore, we are giving priority to the rehabilitation of the 108 DAS, most of which are located in Java," he said.
He said the damage in most of the DAS happened over the past 10 years when Indonesia was hit by economic crisis.
Tens of thousands of hectares of forests which are under the management of state-owned forest company Perhutani were exploited by people so that they affected the water absorption capacity of the soil.
At present, DAS damage was happening at a faster and faster rate after the central government gave autonomy to regional governments. Exacerbating the problem was that the lack of coordination between authorities in the upstream and downstream areas where the river streams lie.
"The authorities of each of the damaged areas denied responsibility for the damaged areas," he said.
He said that there were two main causes of DAS damage, namely human activity such as illegal logging, forest fires, forest denudation and excessive exploitation of forest and land, and natural causes such as erosion and high rain falls.
Hutabarat said that the DAS damage should be handled soon because otherwise it would harm the interest of the succeeding generation.
The forestry official said that the government has been taking efforts to improve the DAS conditions such as reforestation in the damaged DAS locations.***
Silver Hutabarat, director for DAS management affairs at the Forestry Ministry, said here on Thursday Indonesia had at least 4,000 DAS, of which 108 were in the seriously damaged category.
He said the damage in the 108 DAS was caused by both human beings and natural factors. "Therefore, we are giving priority to the rehabilitation of the 108 DAS, most of which are located in Java," he said.
He said the damage in most of the DAS happened over the past 10 years when Indonesia was hit by economic crisis.
Tens of thousands of hectares of forests which are under the management of state-owned forest company Perhutani were exploited by people so that they affected the water absorption capacity of the soil.
At present, DAS damage was happening at a faster and faster rate after the central government gave autonomy to regional governments. Exacerbating the problem was that the lack of coordination between authorities in the upstream and downstream areas where the river streams lie.
"The authorities of each of the damaged areas denied responsibility for the damaged areas," he said.
He said that there were two main causes of DAS damage, namely human activity such as illegal logging, forest fires, forest denudation and excessive exploitation of forest and land, and natural causes such as erosion and high rain falls.
Hutabarat said that the DAS damage should be handled soon because otherwise it would harm the interest of the succeeding generation.
The forestry official said that the government has been taking efforts to improve the DAS conditions such as reforestation in the damaged DAS locations.***
