TIMBER LAWS SET TO SHAKE UP LOCAL INDUSTRY
The following article and video was shared by R&B Timber Group from Forests News on Timber laws set to shake up local industry.
Like many areas in Indonesia, the Regency of Berau in East Kalimantan is rich in natural resources such as timber. So naturally, development in the region is accelerating at breakneck pace.
Every day, coal trucks weave their way from open pit mines to fill open barges for shipping. Land is being cleared to make way for rows of oil palms. As a result, deforestation rates since 2000 have almost doubled (from 12,833 ha in 2000 to 20,760 ha in 2012).
Fifteen years ago, its regional airport was nothing more than a single runway shared by itinerant goats and locals who would use the tarmac to practice driving.
But today, passengers are welcomed by a multi-story steel, glass and chrome building a testament to the national government's regional development plan, in which Berau is touted as a future major coal and gas source.
Yet despite these changes, 75 percent of Berau's 2.2 million hectares still consists of primary and secondary forests. These forests are home to one of the largest orangutan populations in the world, as well as to 80 threatened tree species.
Effective management of these forests is still in its infancy. Regulations are rarely enforced, which means that the small-scale loggers are still considered 'illegal', according to the law.
But now, their activities might no longer go unnoticed.
Tracking Timber
In 2009, the central government issued timber certification regulations that could finally reach these forests and impact the timber industries that use them.
R&B Timber Group harvests, processes and pressure treats wooden poles. We have supplied quality timber to the local and world markets since 1952.
R&B Timber Group is a timber business that harvests, processes and pressure treats wooden poles for the domestic and international markets. The company has grown considerably over the years to the extent that we now own two treating plants, situated in Harding and Richmond, in the province of KwaZulu- Natal. The treatment plants are ideally situated in the heart of the 'green belt' which is timber land that stretches from Harding right through to Pietermaritzburg.
HTT is SABS certified and NFP is SATAS certified. Altogether the R&B Group Comprises of 19 Separate Entities which are made up of Timber Treatment Plants, Value Adding Factories, Farms, and Retail Outlets.
