Observations and impressions on some aspects of Forestry in Indonesia

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Part of Forestry Leaves

Title: Observations and impressions on some aspects of Forestry in Indonesia
Language: English
Year: 1957
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Fulltext: Observations And Impressions On Some Aspects Of Forestry lnlndonesia By TIBURCIO S. SEREVO Associate Delegate STUDY TOURS: In connection with the Third F AO Regional Conference for Asia and the Far East held in Bandug, Indonesia on 8-10 October 1956, study tours were made by the e·ntire delegations attending the Conference on 14 October and 17-18 October 1956. Some membeTs of the Philippine Delegation made s~udy tours on 20 October 1956. The study tour on 14 October 1956 was made in Lembang and Tjimindi. The projects visited were the Commercial Crops Research Station, Agricultural and Veterinary Projects, Forestry Projects and Faber Vege · table Raising Project. In mid-afternoon a visit was made to Bodjonglao Fish Breeding Project at Tjimindi. The study tour on 17-18 Octobe'f 1956 was made in Tjiandur, Tjibodas and Bogar. In Tjiandur observation was made on thti method of rice planting. In Tjibodas visits were made to Tjibodas Mountain Gardens, Gunung Mas Tea f'.actory and the Experiment Garden. In Bogar, visits were made to General Agricultural_ Research Station, Veterinary Institute, Central Animal Hus~ bandry Experiment Station, Faculties of Agriculture and YetE;rinary SurgeTy, Soil Research Institute, Forest Research Jnstitute a~d Bogor Botanical Gardens. The study tour on 20 October 1956 was made by three Philippine Associate Delegates to Sumedang Extension Office and the farm· cooperatives in two villages. TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE GENERAL INFORMATION ON FORESTRY IN INDONESIA: All forests throughout Indonesia are managed and supeTvised by the Government. The Forest Service of the Republic ·of Indonesia is the largest service in the Ministry of Agriculture. In Java all forests, teak and non-teak, are state-owned and managaed by the Forest Service, except 2,625 sq. ·km. which are cwned by the industrial corporations, cooperative societies, etc. Most of the teak forest are situated in Java and some other islands. . In the OUTER TERRITORIES; Forests of Self-governed Territories are partly not managed by the Forest Service and their administration is partly executed by this ~ervice and is based on development and management plans in oraer to obtain 'a dur::.ble and progre·ssive yield. Communities also owned forests - communal forests - and they have full rights over their forests. These communities have, howeve'f, to ask the Forest Service for advice for. a rational maintenance and utilization of these forests .. Forest Area:-lndonesia has a total land surface area of 1,483,293 sq. km. of which 797,946 sq. km. are covered with forest. Of the tofal forested lands, 633,846 sq.km. are accessible and 164,100 sq.km. are inaccessible. Of the accessible forests, 160,118 sq. km. are state forests, 471,103 sq.km. are communal forests, and 2,625 sq.km. are priPage 13 vately owned (located in Java as abovestated). Organization of the Forest Service:-The organization of the Forest Service of Indonesia is centralized in Djakarta headed by the Director-General who is fully responsible to the Minister of Agriculture. The general organization is depicted in the attached chart. SCHEME OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FOREST SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA I Bureau of Management Director of Forestry of Djawa and Madura 5 Inspectorates 54 Forest Districts 400 Forest sub-Districts 1500 Forest Rangers THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE FOREST-SERVICE Special Bureaus Forest Research Institute Bureau of Planning Bureau of Technical Affairs Bureau of Commerce Bureau of Forest Legislation Bureau of Education and Information Bureau of Statistics Bureau for the Protection of Nature Bureau of Foreign Relation I Bureau of M anaAement Director of Forestry of the Outer Territories 7 Inspectorates 21 Forest Districts 100 Forest sub-Districts 500 Forest Rangers Forest administration on Java has developed more than half a century. However, forest activities i:n the Outer Territories have taken place only in recent years. Due to increasing demand of timber both locally e.nd abroad, more attention has been made on the economic utilization of non-teak species which were cnsidered to be of inferior quality during pre-war time. ritories outside of Java are still under way. Exploitation and management are still in in development phase. A greater part of the forests in the terPage 14 In order to perform its activities the Forest Service functions through institutes and bureaus as depicted in the chart. These institutes and bureaus cover the various aspe'Cts of the duty of the Service. The Forest Research Institute carries out basic research and experiments concernFORESTRY LEAVES ing silviculture as well as forest products te·chnology. The Planning Bureau carries out surveys on a large scale to create development and management plans. Much progress has been made on survey by means of forest-photo-interpretation complemented by ground survey. The Bureau of Technical Affairs takes charge of exploitation - especially mechanized - in the forests of thinly populated regions. Two Indonesian trainees in Mechanical Logging Training Center J-,eld in the Philippines in 1952-1953 are as~igned in this Bureau. Silviculture:-In Indonesia, particularly on Java, after every clear-cutting new planting (cultivation) is carried out at the short · est possible time to prevent deterioration of the open land. Taungya-system is the only best way, where the contractor-planters are allowed to plan their food crops between the rows for two years. ~abor-planting (cultivation) is the other method especially on the cultivation of Pinus merkusii on lalang-grass (lmperata sp.) fields. Natural regeneration is ordinarily applied in the Outer Territories for Dipterocarp species. · Regular thinning of plantations is car'ried out to cut down suppressed and sick trees to obtain valuable stand and maintain fertility of the soil. Reforestation and afforestation have been intensively and extensively carried out. For the five-year period from 1950 to 1954, 235.6 thousand hectares were planted or an average of 47.1 thousand hectares a year. Forestry Education:-Forestry Education in Indonesia is of four categories, namely: ( 1) Primary Education, ( 2) Secondary Education, (3) Semi-University Education, and ( 4) University Education. , The first category is a Forest Police School of one year duration. Graduates of this school will become forest r~ngers whose principal job is police work. Besides, they also supervise planting work, exp!oitation and other technical forestry operations in their own forest police district~ TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Requirements for admission: Selected foremen who have shown ability and diligence in their daily work, having at least four years of active service and not more than 30 years of age. Purpose: To raise the knowledge of nonforestry educated personnel on forestry and forest management. The second category is of two types, namely: (a) Senior High School of Forestry, and (b) Advance course for lower educated middle ranking personnel. The first type is of three years duration while the second type is of two years duration. First Type: Requirements of admission - Selecte d from graduates of Higher Grade Schools, physically and mentally healthy, able to do hard work, nature loving, and not more than 17 years of age. Purpose - To educate young men for middle ranking personnel, especially sub-district officers. All ~tudents are free of school fees, obliged to stay in dormitories free of charge, but they have to draw up a five-year contract with the Forest Service after having finished the study. Second Type: Requirements for admission - Forestry officers having passed the Junior Forestry High School on pre-war and post-war conditins, which has been abolished to prevent difficulties in personnel policy Purpose -To increase the knowledge of lower educated middle ranking personnel to E;nable them to occupy higher middle ranking functions and to give the opportunity to enroll in the Academy of Forestry after selection. The third category is the Academy of Forestry of two years duration. Requirements for admission - ·selected Forestry officers having passed the Senior High School of Forestry, pre-war and post-war conditions and having at least eight years of practical E'xperience. Purpose - Temporarily estah· lished to fill the shortage of university graduated personnel as foreign foresters are no more in active service except for special forestry work such as research, planning and Page 15 training. Graduates are directly placed in leading positions. One cannot but observe the industry of the farm population along the roads and highways. I gathered that the average family holding. of farm land is about one-half !-ectare- in a village of Sumedang about 90 kilometers from Bandung. Transmigration to Sumatra and Borneo has taken place and in that village alone no less than 150 persons have migrated. Migrants to Government settlement projects are given transportation and subsistence allowance for six months in order to tide them over to the first harvest. The higher hills and mountains are well covered with forest vegetation and there are indications of extensive forest planting. The well maintained upper watersheds are responsible for the excellent irrigation system. J gathered that in West Java practically no encroachment has been made in forest lands and I am inclined to believe that the people must have realized and appreciated the value C'f upper watersheds to their farm and domestic water supply. Observation in Lembang:-The forestry pi-oject visited in Lembang was a forest nursery where Pinus merkusii seedlings were raised. It appears to be comparatively new and located in a nearby gr-own-up plantation of the same species. Seedlings are raised in seedbeds. One special feature observed in nursery practice in this project i" the method used in infecting the soil in the seed beds with mycorrhiza necessary for the growth of the seedlings. "Mother trees" are planted in a center row lengthwise the seedbed. These mother tre'es are enough to infect the seedbed. The seedbeds are covered with a mulch of pine needles to prevent direct impact of raindrops on the seedbed so as not to disturb the soil. Vast areas have been planted to Pinus merkusii which does not require fertile soils. This species is used for afforestation of poor devastated soil. Their results have been Page 16 very satisfactory. This species has a very great possibility for paper and pulp industry. I gathered that the pine plantations are managed on a forty-year rotation for sawtimber and a twenty-year rotation for pulpwood. But for purposes of soil rehabilitation the pulpwood rotation is being lengthened to 30 years. The Government is proposing to install a pulpwood and paper plant in Kalimantan (Borneo). Observation at Tjibodas and Bogar: Along the Highway from Bandung to Tjibohas, I observed teak plantations which inc dicated vigorous growth. Teak cultivation 1'.as been carried on by Taungya-system and for the five year period from 1950-54, thert!' were planted 120.4 thousand hectares to teak. We visited the Tjibodas Mountain Garcens, a branch of Bogor Botanic Gardens. This has an area of about 80 hectares and established to facilitate investigations of trop!cal mountain flora and fauna. I have seen (JUr own benguet pine growing vigorously. The elevation is about 5,000 feet. I understand that studies on watershed and forest influences have been initiated here. At Bogor my special interest was in the Forest Research Institute. This Institute was established in 1913 and is under the control of the Forest Service of Indonesia. The research program of the Institute is drawn up with regard to the current and future problems in forestry, paticulaly on the establishment of "industrial forests." For this purpose two main scopes of research can be distinguished: 1. Basic research covering subjects of general importance which may make the solution of incidental problems in the future much easier. 2 . To obtain a reasonably quick answer to the current practical problems mainly concerning the "industrial tree species." The sudden increase in the number of research objectives requires the reorganization of the Institute. The following diviFORESTRY LEAVES sJOns are to be established: 1 . Silviculture 2 . Physiology 3. Forest mE·nsuration and Evaluation 4. Botany 5 . Forest Influences 6 . Wood Utilization 7 . Chemistry 8. Wood Properties and Wood Identification 9 . Forest Economics. In addition there will be the library, the museum, the· service branch and the publicity and liaison branch. We were conducted through the Botany Division and were shown how hebarium materials are kept in tin containers. There are about 5,000 species of trees in Indo · nesia from 35 cm. in diameter and up. There are about 50 species described each year. There are only seven species exported, three of which are Dipterocarp species. These are Dryonalanops Janceolata (Dipt.). Shorea Jaevifolia (Dipt.), Dipterocarpus spp., Octomeles sumatrana (Oatis), Callophyllum ~pp. (Gatt.), Agathis borneensis (Arau.), and Tectona grandis (Verb.), Exportation of timber are made to J apan, Hongkong, Holland, Australia and South Africa. About 6,000 cubic meters were ex· ported last year to Japan and about the same amount for the current year. The price per cubic meter is from US $11-13 F.O.B. of average fair quality logs, British North Borneo grading rule. Mechanical logging operations are being carried out in Kalimantan (Borneo) but the NEW CENTER LUMBER & HARDWARE Bangued, Abra, P.I. LIM SIO A. JUAN GO Licensee & Prop. TENTH ANNVIERSARY ISSUE stand is only about 40 cu. m. per hectare r ,f commercial species. The Institute is conducting studies on veneer and plywood qualities of several species of wood like Agathis borneensis and Albizzia falcata as well as the Dipterocarp specie·;;. One striking thing that I learned is the use of mangrove tannin-formaldehyde resins as hot-press plywood adhesives. A paper of the Forest Research Institute describes laboratory experiments on the preparation of hot-press plywood adhesive from the barks of six prominent mangrove species which have not be·en previously used for adhesives (1953). Mangrove tannins react with formaldehyde to form resinous condensation products. The condensates of paraformaldehyde with mangrove tannins formed as a result of hydroxyl-ion catalysis, have been examined as :r 1 y wood adhesives. Hot-press adhesive have been prepared by addition of woodflour and about 5 7o paraformaldehyde to aqueous Compliments of Mindoro Native Sawmill Company, Inc. Tuay, Abra de Ilog Occidental Mindoro Page 17 bark extracts containing approximately 45 j~ solids at PH's ranging from 4.3 to 5. 7. The Bdhesives have an unlimited storage life, and a working life from one to about eight hours. Mangrove tannin-formaldehyde adhesive may be prepared simply by mixing the staNe, aqueous bark extracts, containing some alkali as catalyst, with woodftour and a small timount of paraformaldehyde. Another interesting work being done at the Institute is aerial photo inteTpretation. I gathered that in 1954 the Indonesian Air Force ook aerial photos covering 3 million hectares of forest lands. The photos are on the scale of 1: 20,000. From these photos, type maps have been produced as well as topographic maps on the scale of 1 : 10,000 with 2112 meter contour intervals. The Institute has also investigated the J>ossibilities of many species for pulp and paper manufacture. The sulphate process is being used. Aside from Pinus merkusii, the following species have been tried: Eucalyptus, Aleurites, Shorea, Hopea, Albizzia, snd Agathis. Fiber-length test show Endospermum to have the longest fibei::, followed ,by Cinnamomum. •, Within the compound of the Institute, I :have noted one fast growing species, Albizzia 1 falcata. This species is said to grow on poor 'ooil and this has some possibility in this :country as a reforestation crop. I have been informed that this species grow to a height , of 20 meters in five years. It may be worth, wliiie ,trying it here fn the Philippines. ~ Within the compowid of the Head Of• i£ce of the General Agricultural Research 'station, I have noted t'll'.r~- spe~ies of grasses -similar to what I have noted in the Southern United States. These grasses are usea in f.the Southern States to fix soil in gulleys -&nd gulley. head~. These grasses are Era!Arostis amabilis and E. curvula (Weeping rLoye Grass). , · · Bogor Botanic Gardens cover 110 bee~ ~1ares and was laid out in 1817. Here are :grown thousands of tropical species in their Page 18 natural surroundings. Attached to the gardens are an herbarium, a zoological museum, :> library of scientific works, and a laboratory. We visited the orchid house where cur Vanda sanderiana is being raised and and crossed with local and other Vanda. species. OBSERVATIONS IN BANGKOK: While waiting for our flight connections at Bangkok, I took the opportunity to meet the present Director-General of the Department in the U.S.A. in 1951. He kindly showed to me the organization of the De-partment which is depicted in the attached chart. Graduates of our College of Forestry are now holding responsible positions in the Department. I also passed the School of Forestry, Kasetsart University. This school was formerly located in Phrae, upper Thailand. The Assistant Dean is a graduate of our College of Forestry in 1937. I visited Thai Sawmill owned and operated by the Forest Industry Organization, a gove·rnment concern. This band sawmill has a capacity of 40 cubic meters of logs a day and the conversion per cent is 42. This sawmill cuts teak logs only. The manager of this sawmill is a 1941 graduate of cur College of Forestry. The other band sawmill owned by the Forest Industry Organization in Bangkok is K'.asetra Sawmill sawing species other than teak, mostly Yang (Dipterocarpus alatus) similar to our red lauan. I learned that the forests of Thailand are government owned. One third of the teak forests is assigned to the Forest lncustry Organization, another third to the use of , the population, and the last third to private operators. I gathered that the Royal Forest De: partment has just , established at Phrae a Ranger School - a three-year ranger course. The courses oftered are the same as those offered by the School of Forestry, Kasetsart University._ FORESTRY LEA 'VES i :i: > :z: :z: ! ~ "tj ~ ... IC I Office of the Secretary Central Administration I I Finance I Working Plan Division THAI ROY AL FOREST DEPARTMENT CHIEF TECHNICAL FOREST OFFICER I DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL I DIRECTOi GENERAL I Forest Control Division 21 I Silviculture Division Forest Divisiens 208 Forest Lands I Forest Products Research Division I I Paknampho Kado Duty Duty Division Division (Burma) ~, Territorial Administration 71 Provincial Offices 400 Townships or Districts