Indonesia: Ongoing Initiatives

   

WRI/GFW's goal in Indonesia is to support legal and sustainable forest use through multi-stakeholder processes involving government, timber producers, timber exporters, national and international NGOs and the research community. Our databases and monitoring projects support forest policies in the following areas:

Forestry Sector DatabaseSince 2002, GFW is partnering with Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) to compile data on forest industries. We have collected ownership and location data for all of Indonesia's concessions, and have made it available in Bahasa Indonesia (English version to come) in a web-based, interactive database on the FWI website, www.fwi.or.id. The database covers the entire archipelago and includes interactive maps, and allows users to view lists all logging companies, plantation companies and mills with their investors, owners, output volume, annual management plans, allowable cut and other characteristics. This project is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Monitoring Compliance in the forestry sectorUsing satellite images, we are detecting illegal activities carried out by legal concessions. In a pilot area in the province of Central-Kalimantan, we (in collaboration with FWI) are monitoring concessionaire compliance with their annual management plans. This type of work has been used successfully by GFW in Central Africa. Funding has been provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Funding permitting, this work will be extended to other provinces in Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Monitoring Forest-cover Change in IndonesiaFigures on forest extent and deforestation in Indonesia vary widely depending on the year reported and the group reporting, and accurate information that quantifies and locates deforestation is not available. Several large scale mapping projects on forests have been carried out in the last decade to fill this information gap. Unfortunately, these were one time projects so results from different projects and time periods, cannot be compared to develop accurate analyses of actual forest change. Some small scale deforestation figures (e.g. national parks) have been well documented, but cannot be applied to the entire archipelago. GFW, with World Bank support and in partnership with the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), is setting up a system that can detect forest-cover change over the entire archipelago of Indonesia. GFW is partnering with several universities to compare and work with different methods and satellite systems. We expect to make a decision on appropriate methodologies by the end of 2004. We envision updates in specific regions every six months to one year, with results published in data briefs available in a variety of hard copy and web-based formats.

Developing a Forest Information System for the Indonesian forest sectorGFW will combine the forestry sector data, compliance monitoring data, forest cover change data produced by the three initiatives described above with additional environmental and socio-economic data into a Forest Information System. The system will be useful for guiding forest development and investment and forest law enforcement and forest policy making. The World Bank will use the system to inform the implementation of their strategy for Indonesia, and has invited us to present it at their strategy rollout meeting in the Fall of 2004, that will be attended by the Ministry of Forestry and other important stakeholders. We hope to build support for a multi-stakeholder process that will collaborate to sustain the system and produce: 1) a yearly update of reliable and spatially explicit de- and reforestation statistics with maps of forest cover and forest cover change; 2) a yearly update of actual forest land allocation with maps of logging concessions, mining concessions and protected areas and maps of probable areas of illegal logging; 3) analyses that identify good management practices by verifying voluntarily provided information on forest operations.

Initiatives in Development

Oil palmGFW, in collaboration with Conservation International, would like to increase the ability of the oil palm sector to contribute positively to regional development plans that balance needs of the private sector, government, local communities, and environmental interests. Land use decisions could be guided by social, environmental and economic data that will help industry members identify the true costs and benefits of plantation development and facilitate participation in integrated regional development plans led by government and non-governmental organizations. GFW proposes to create an interactive online tool that will enable users to access existing environmental, economic, and social data for specific geographic areas, analyze the risks of developing in these areas, and identify actions that should be considered to generate the greatest environmental, economic and social benefits. This project is not intended to be a substitute for environmental or social impact assessments already in use, but will provide maps and data that facilitate improved resource-use and land-management decision making. GFW is exploring partnership and funding opportunities to implement this work.

For more information on these projects, please contact:
Dr. Fred Stolle
Global Forest Watch
10 G Street NE, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20002

Chile: Overview

Chile is a long, narrow country located in the southwestern part of South America that possesses a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from deserts in the north to temperate rainforests in the south.  Chile's forests are some of the most impressive of the world, ranging from Chilean palm forests andSclerophyllous forests (composed of tree species adapted to drier climates), in north-central Chile, to prehistoric araucaria forests, temperate rainforests, and alerce forests— the “redwoods of the Andes”—to the South.  Almost every type of temperate forest native to the Southern Hemisphere can be found in Chile.  These forests are of great ecological and conservation value.  They store vast quantities of carbon that contribute to global climate regulation, control flooding, purify water, cycle nutrients and soil, and are home to numerous plant and animal species, many of which can only be found there.  At the local level, native forests are important not only for biodiversity but also as a source of timber, non-timber forest products, and fuel wood for many rural communities. Unfortunately, it is not guaranteed that these forests will be conserved in the long term.  To maintain their natural levels of biodiversity, large tracts of 'frontier forests' (tracts of mature forests or dense timberline forests of at least 5,000 hectares, which are intact or only slightly altered) must be conserved.  In its latest study, Chile's Frontier Forests: Conserving a Global Treasure, GFW Chile found that of the roughly 30% of forests classified as frontier forests, only a small area (27%) is protected.  Most of these frontier forests are in areas with steep slopes or located at high attitude.  About 7% of protected areas are private, and the government manages the rest within parks, reserves, and as national monuments. Chile's frontier forests today face several urgent threats, such as illegal logging, conversion to plantations of exotic species, and unsustainable management practices.  Given these facts, current protection plans in Chile are not sufficient to safeguard these valuable forests.  In the state's protected areas system, the SNASPE, forest types are poorly represented, and reserve size in many regions is inadequate.  For example, 84% of these protected areas are concentrated in Regions XI and XII, regions with low human population densities and few forest-related industrial developments.  Aside from these areas, only a small fraction of forest in the rest of the country is protected. In its study, GFW Chile has found that Regions VI and VII have lost all of their frontier forests and contain mere fragments of undisturbed or minimally altered native (non-plantation) forests, ranging in size from 6.25 to 5,000 hectares.  Of these forests, only 1% is protected in Region VI and only 15% in Region VII.  This points to an urgent need to increase protection of these remnants, as they represent unique areas of original forest that are invaluable for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecological processes, while serving as a genetic reservoir for future restoration of these ecosystem types.  We must act quickly— once these areas are gone, they cannot be restored. In Region VIII, 17,000 hectares of frontier forest remain in a region with the highest level of forestry plantation activities.  With such obvious threats, this region must be closely watched, given that, as in Regions VI and VII, it holds the only remaining examples of forests that once covered the central parts of the country.  Region X has the greatest proportion (43%) of frontier forests relative to its total native forest area.  This region almost exclusively houses the extremely unique and vulnerable coastal mountain range forests.  These forests, which account for 7% of Chile's total frontier forest, are among the most threatened, but are the least represented in the protected areas systems.  Unfortunately, plans for a new government-sponsored coastal highway, which will increase fragmentation of these forests, poses an additional threat. The report, Chile's Frontier Forests: Conserving a Global Treasure, is a product of the GFW Chile team.  GFW Chile developed a methodology for delineating frontier forests in Chile based on the most up-to-date available data from Chile’s forest management agency.  GFW Chile will continue to monitor changes in forest cover and development activities occurring in and around frontier forests, in order to detect their impacts on forest ecosystems and biodiversity.  Global Forest Watch was launched in 1998 by the World Resources Institute (WRI) to work in alliance with nongovernmental organizations and local leaders from forested countries around the world.

Total Area (2000): 756,630 km²

Neighboring countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Peru

Capital: Santiago

Official language: Spanish

Number of regions: 12

Total population (2000): 15.2 million

Average Annual Population Growth (2000): 1.3%

Urban population (% of total):85.7%

Annual GDP growth: 5.38%

GDP per capita (1997, in US dollars): 5,271

Forest Facts

Percent of Land Area Forested

South America: 50.5%

Chile: 20.7%

Average Annual Percent  Change in Forest Area (1990 - 2000)

South America: -0.4%

Chile: -0.1%

Biodiversity

Mammals: 91 species

Number of endemic species: 16

Estimated number of species per 10,000 km²: 22

Plants: 5,292 species

Number of Endemic species: 5,125

Estimated number of species per 10,000 km²: 2,698

Birds: 296 species

Number of Endemic species: 16

Estimated number of species per 10,000 km²: 71

Reptiles: 82 species

Number of Endemic species: 43

Estimated number of species per 10,000 km²: 20

Amphibians: 49 species

Number of Endemic species: 34

Estimated number of species per 10,000 km²: 12