J. A. VON MONROY
FAO Technical Assistance Officer1
1 Mr. von Monroy served in Indonesia under the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration.
INDONESIA was one of the first countries of Southeast Asia to apply for long-term aid, under the United Nations Technical Assistance Program, in the preparation and implementation of an integrated forest industries development program. The initial request was for a thorough survey and analysis of the forest industries situation and then the formulation of a development scheme linked to the general objectives of the first and second national five-year development plans. The second request was for assistance in bringing about improvements in specific sectors of forestry, logging and industry, combined with a phased training program for technicians and research workers abroad.
The following is a brief summary of some of the stages followed in drawing up a guide to future development in forestry, forest industries and in general land-use planning in the country.
The investigations began with an assessment of the requirements of forest products in relation to the expected economic development of the country and the prospective increase in population. The data finally arrived at were:
|
|
Approx., in mill. ha. |
Percent of total |
|
Present land area: |
149 |
100 |
|
of which |
|
|
|
Forest area |
90 |
60 |
|
Area under permanent agriculture |
13 |
9 |
|
Nonclassified |
45 |
31 |
|
(Area under shifting cultivation) |
(12) |
31 |
|
Present population: |
85 million | |
|
Estimated population by 1957: |
115 million | |
|
Estimated present annual requirements of forest products: | ||
|
|
mill. m3 | |
|
Timber |
5 | |
|
Fuelwood |
65 | |
|
TOTAL |
70 | |
This total is equivalent to about 0.8 cubic meter per caput per year, but does not include bamboo which is the main rural building material in Java, Bali and some parts of Sulawesi (Celebes). By including bamboo and other organic building materials, a total consumption of about 1 cubic meter per caput per annum (in roundwood equivalent) is reached.
Fuel is by far the larger item of wood consumption (about 90 percent in the form of firewood and 10 percent as charcoal). The present pattern of energy consumption is approximately as follows:
|
|
Percent |
|
Woodfuel (including charcoal and agricultural waste) |
80 |
|
Oil |
15 |
|
Coal |
3 |
|
Hydroelectric power |
2 |
Oil (kerosene) consumption is fast increasing owing to the introduction of efficient kerosene burners in many households.
The largest amount of industrial timber (about 90 percent) is consumed for building and construction, especially for housing, and the next largest for packing material, about 7 percent, whereas timber for miscellaneous items such as furniture, matches, etc., represents about 3 percent.
The distribution of the forest resources varies between the island groups but the percentage of land area under forests is as follows:
|
|
Percent |
|
Java |
22 |
|
Sumatra |
60 |
|
Kalimantan |
77 |
|
Sulawesi |
53 |
|
Lesser Sunda Islands |
20 |
The composition by forest types is estimated in round figures, to be:
|
|
Percent |
|
Primary rain forests |
65 |
|
Secondary forests |
15 |
|
Inland swamp forests |
14 |
|
Teak plantations |
1 |
|
Non teak plantations |
1 |
|
Mangrove forests |
1 |
|
Other forests |
3 |
It appeared from the investigations carried out that the recorded production of Indonesia is confined to about 50 percent of the timber and 3 percent of the fuelwood consumed. The balance of consumption comes from unrecorded cutting (gardens, farms, community forests not yet under government control, etc.). Java, with nearly 70 percent of the total Indonesian population, requires the bulk of all the forest output, but its forest area represents only 3 percent of the total forests of all the islands.
In conducting his investigations and drawing up his proposals, the writer was given every assistance by the Directorate for Forestry and Land Utilization and by all other departments. He came to the conclusion that by 1975 requirements for forest products would have increased on an average by 50 percent as a result of the population growth and improved living standards. At the same time, the pattern of requirements would have considerably changed, and his proposed development program was adapted accordingly.
The recorded annual output of the Indonesian forests amounts at present to only about 4 million cubic meters (timber and firewood), that is, about 0.06 cubic meter per year per hectare. The production potential, however, under the prevailing humid tropical conditions and with proper forest management can be put at 2.5 cubic meters for teak, 15 to 20 cubic meters for conifers, 20 to 25 cubic meters for certain soft broadleaved species (Albizzia, etc.) and even more for selected Eucalyptus species. This means that the ecological conditions of Indonesia present a production potential for certain fast-growing species (including bamboo) of up to 10 tons air-dry organic material per year per hectare, that is, about four times the average growth under the ecological conditions of Central Europe.
This is the reason for proposing a ten-year afforestation program, primarily for Java, to convert secondary forests and uncultivated lands into fast-growing plantations located as near as possible to the main centers of consumption. The annual target amounts to about 30,000 hectares of new plantations, mainly intended to supply cheap building materials, pulpwood, and wood for packaging, plywood and matches.
The implementation of this program has been in progress during the last three years and the results are favorable. The main species planted are: Pinus merkusii, Agathis lorantifolia, Albizzia falcata, Anthocephalus cadamba, and bamboo. Trials are also being made with various eucalypts and other exotic species.
Prewar in Java, forestry traditionally concentrated on intensive management of teak. The teak plantations on which the reputation of Indonesian forestry was founded still provide the bulk of the forest revenue and contribute, on less than l percent of the total forest area, about 80 percent of the gross forest income. further increase of teak plantations, except for inferior grades is, however, not feasible for ecological reasons.
The possibility of embarking on a broad development program for the natural forests on the Outer Islands where Dipterocarpus and Shorea species prevail, has been widely discussed both from the technical and economic aspects. At present only 10 percent of Java's total wood requirements are supplied from the Outer Islands (mainly from Kalimantan). A further increase is technically possible but is, for the time being, scarcely an economic proposition because the efficient development of these areas requires large capital investment and a high standard of organization. Owing to the great distances involved in transport, timber from the Outer Islands must be more expensive than that produced on Java in fast-growing plantations near to the consumption centers and where wages are relatively much lower. Moreover, the industrialization program needs a variety of raw materials, such as long-fibred pulpwood; bamboo for paper; soft broadleaved species for packaging and cheap housing, tough and light-colored species for matches, etc., whereas the natural forests of the Outer Islands supply mainly heavier species more suitable for general construction and similar purposes.
These are some of the reasons why the afforestation program has been started on Java where two thirds of the total population are concentrated and where tree cover also serves an important function in erosion control.
If the planting program is continued for ten years according to the schedules now laid down, the production capacity of the country as a whole will be doubled - without reducing the agricultural area - and at the same time the timber crops will be sufficiently varied to supply the main raw material requirements.
A similar program is under consideration for the wastelands covered by alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica) on the Outer Islands. These areas add up to more than 10 million hectares and are in part well suited to the production of long-fibred pulpwood for use by local mills and also, along the coast, for export in semi-finished form.
FIGURE 2. - A dense clump of the bamboos commonly used for housing in Java.
Housing 2
2 See also Housing Development In Indonesia, Unasylva, Volume 10, Number 1, 1956.
The following figures show the present housing situation:
|
Region |
Brick houses |
Timber houses |
Mixed timber/ bamboo houses |
Bamboo dwellings |
|
percent |
||||
|
Java |
5 |
small |
50 |
45 |
|
Outer Islands |
2 |
90 |
8 |
small |
|
TOTAL, Indonesia |
3 |
28 |
31 |
32 |
While bamboo is the principal housing material used in Java, on the Outer Islands timber is more common. The trend even in Java is towards more permanent dwellings and this means timber of good durability, large-sized building boards, insulating roof material, etc. This requires a supply of more and reasonably priced timber (suitably treated or protected), production of mineralized wood wool slabs or hollow blocks, and of various types of building boards, partly with surface treatment or other types of water-resistant preservation. Factories to provide such materials were included in the first and second five-year plans.
Packaging
The soap-, margarine- and cigarette-industries require annually about 300,000 cubic meters roundwood timber for conversion to packing cases. The most suitable species is Albizzia falcata (density about 0.3).
Only 50 percent of plywood chests for tea export are presently produced within the country in spite of the availability of raw material. Under the first and second five-year plans, two additional plywood factories will be erected to make the country self-sufficient in this commodity. A total of about 50,000 cubic meters of roundwood will be required to supply these mills and furnish the packing material for a tea export of nearly 50,000 tons (i.e., a ratio of 1 cubic meter of roundwood for 1 ton of tea).
Pulp and paper
Import restrictions keep down the present paper consumption in Indonesia to about 100,000 tons per year, i.e., 1.2 kilograms per caput. The actual requirements are considerably higher.
The domestic paper production, based on rice straw, is negligible and does not exceed 5,000 tons per year. But, within a ten-year period, Indonesia can become self-sufficient in the principal commercial types of paper. The main fibre raw material will be Pinus merkusii, Agathis loranthifolia, bamboo and certain hardwoods for admixture, as well as bagasse and rice straw.
This new industry - five factories are programed - will be based mainly on the fast-growing forest plantations on Java and Sumatra. Celebes could supply raw material from natural bamboo forests for an additional plant.
Under Indonesian conditions, a net plantation area of 5,000 hectares is considered sufficient to provide raw material for a plant with a capacity of 12,000 tons of paper per year.
Matches
During the last three years Indonesia has become basically self-sufficient in matches. The raw material for this industry is also mainly supplied from forest plantations (Anthocephalus cadamba and Pinus merkusii).
The present consumption (about 500 sticks per caput per annum) is likely to increase very considerably during the next decade.
These few examples show that in the industrial field progress is being made in spite of many difficulties.
In new countries which are making every effort to build up a sound economy in the shortest possible time, technical assistance, both international and bilateral, can contribute considerably to efficient planning and practical implementation.
FIGURE 3. - A plantation of Pinus merkusii in Northern Sumatra.
The Indonesian government requested international co-operation mainly along the following lines:
1. Assistance in the preparation of a forest industries development program, based on a thorough analysis of the present and future requirements, an appraisal of the existing and potential resources and a detailed plan for integrating forestry and forest industries into a dynamic national economy.2. Co-operation in specific fields of forestry, such as logging, forest inventory, and yield studies.
3. Survey of specific industries (matches, plywood, building material, paper) combined with demonstration of improved processing methods.
4. Industrial runs with Indonesian raw materials to find out how to adjust the processing methods to these raw materials and markets.
5. Training of staff in the field and abroad, preferably by persons familiar with the country.
6. Assistance in the preparation of an Atlas of Indonesian Resources and Land Use, indispensable for integrated planning.
Bilateral technical assistance arrangements have been made to start investigations on "minor" forest products which are so important in Indonesia, primarily rattan of which Indonesia's share in the world market exceeds 90 percent.
Another field of bilateral technical assistance concerns the improvement of cooking devices. Studies in Switzerland, initiated by FAO, have proved that, by slight modifications, a 40 to 50 percent saving of the fuel from forest sources can be made.
By agreement with some European countries, a new system of bilateral technical assistance under FAO guidance has been developed to adjust processing methods to the technical and economic requirements of Indonesia. The basic point is that most of the modern techniques which originated in the temperate zone are not suited for direct application to the raw materials, climate and economic conditions of the less-developed areas of the world.
A two-year research and development program, in cooperation with specialized Central European institutes and industries, has therefore been started. Indonesia will provide the raw materials for laboratory tests and industrial runs and will also designate staff to work on the spot.
Results obtained up to now in specific fields (preservation of timber, bamboo and rattan, development of new types of derived building materials suitable for the humid tropics, stabilization of Indonesian timbers for pencil production and similar purposes, binders from indigenous sources, high-yield pulping methods for tropical raw materials, etc.) prove how much time and money can be saved by such co-ordinated efforts.
These examples show that, for new countries embarking on a dynamic development program, the usual system of technical assistance, mainly confined to assignment of experts and granting of fellowships, should be supplemented by long-term co-operation for improvement of basic techniques in the various fields of forestry and forest products, adjusted to the technical requirements and to the economy of the country concerned. In this respect, Indonesia, in co-operation with the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration (UNTAA) and FAO, has made a considerable step forward.
FIGURE 4. - Teak logs cut from a plantation, awaiting shipment.
