Environmentalists fear that the remaining lowland forests on Sumatra will vanish in the next 10 years because of its conversion into industrial forest to produce raw materials for the world’s rapidly growing pulp and paper industry.
Senior forestry specialist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Christian Cossalter said recently that timber from Sumatra’s forests, especially from Riau province, was being harvested not only to meet domestic industry’s demand, but also for export to China, where many Indonesian businessmen have set up pulp and paper factories.