When trees in a forest area are cut down, the assumption is that wildlife will be affected leading to a decrease in population. In reality that’s not always the case, though in many cases it’s true. This book presents comprehensive reviews about logging activities and their impact on wildlife based on years of research (since 1993) in Malinau district, East Kalimantan

When trees in a forest area are cut down, the assumption is that wildlife will be affected leading to a decrease in population. In reality that’s not always the case, though in many cases it’s true. This book presents comprehensive reviews about logging activities and their impact on wildlife based on years of research (since 1993) in Malinau district, East Kalimantan.

Pada awal pemerintahannya, Yudhoyono dan Departemen Kehutanan (Dephut) menempatkan pemberantasan pembalakan hutan sebagai salah satu prioritas utama kebijakan di bidang kehutanan. Sayang, komitmen Yudhoyono itu tidak didukung oleh aparat penegak hukum. Sehingga, yang terjadi laju deforestasi justru terus mengalami peningkatan, mencapai 2,8 juta hektar per tahun, tercepat di dunia. Ini lebih parah dari era Soeharto yang hanya 1,7 juta hektar per tahun. Kalangan kalangan LSM sendiri yakin, angkanya jauh lebih besar dari 2,8 juta hektar. Penebangan liar bukan hanya terjadi di lokasi bekas areal tebangan hak pengusahaan hutan (HPH), tetapi sudah menjarah ke hampir semua kawasan konservasi yang ada di Indonesia. Menurut Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), epidemi pembalakan hutan juga sulit diberantas karena didukung penyokong dana (cukong) yang beroperasi seperti institusi kejahatan terorganisasi dan sindikat internasional yang tak jarang didukung institusi pemerintahan sejumlah negara.

Environmental groups The Nature Conservancy Indonesia and CIFOR launch on Dec.21 a book title "Life after logging: Reconcilling wildlife conservation and production forestry in Indonesian Borneo. Two of the book’s authors, Douglas Sheil of CIFOR and Erik Meijaard of TNC led a discussion on the book at ak.’sa.ra bookstore in Kemang, South Jakarta.

In many parts of Africa, farming communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change on their crop production, through longer and more frequent dry spells during the rainy season, and also trekking long distances to fetch freshwater for drinking, since streams are drying up. But climate change is also having an impact on forest resources. In West Africa, as in other parts of the continent, forests play a very important role. In Burkina Faso, for example, 80 per cent of fuel used in the home – among both urban and rural families – is firewood. Medicinal plants gathered from forests are also an essential resource in the treatment of illness, particularly among the poor. But climate change is putting the future of these resources at risk, and already people’s livelihoods are being affected.So what can be done to protect forest resources against the impacts of climate change? Currently, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is identifying which resources are most vulnerable, and working with forest users to protect them. Johnson Nkem and Monica Idinoba are both working on the project. On a recent visit to Burkina Faso, Susanna Thorp met them, and began by asking Monica whether forest users in West Africa are aware of the impacts that climate change is having on their resources.

BANYAK hutan ditebang. Yang menjadi korban bukan saja ekosistem di sekitar hutan, tapi juga manusia yang tinggal tak jauh dari hutan itu. Tak ada yang berubah, meski kegiatan penebangan hutan dan dampaknya begitu marak diberitakan. Begitulah nasib ‘hutan pasca pemanenan’. Hutan hujan tropis merupakan ekosistem daratan yang paling kaya akan keragaman jenisnya di bumi. Namun dengan adanya kegiatan penebangan kayu, pertanian dan pemanfaatan hutan lainnya, luas hutan tropis ini menjadi berkurang dengan laju sekitar 12 juta ha (sama dengan luas Yunani) dalam setahunnya.