Bambang Nurbianto and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will lose most of its remaining 40 million hectares of forests in a matter of years unless the government takes drastic measures to stop illegal logging, an environmentalist says.

Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) campaign director Longgena Ginting said deforestation had continued at the alarming rate of three million hectares a year.

"The forests in Kalimantan, which suffer the fastest depletion, could disappear in five years," Longgena said over the weekend.

State Ministry of Environment statistics released Friday show the forest destruction rate is between 2 million and 2.4 million hectares a year. The rate was highest during the last two years.

The unchecked illegal logging has caused an annual loss of 56 million cubic meters of timber worth US$8.4 billion (each cubic meter costs $150), according to the statistics.

Longgena said illegal logging was the prime cause of deforestation in Indonesia.

Indonesia's annual timber consumption was around 100 million cubic meters a year. Legal sources account for just 43 million cubic meters, comprising 22 million cubic meters of imported timber, Longgena said.

So most, or 57 million cubic meters, of the supply must come from illegal logging, he said.

Smuggling of logs out of Indonesia is another major problem that the government is facing.

Indonesia has been under attack for its inability to protect its forests, which act as the "lungs of the world" by releasing oxygen into the atmosphere and sucking in greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide.

State Minister for Environment Nabiel Makarim has attributed widespread environmental damage, such as erosion and flooding, to the unchecked illegal logging.

"The illegal logging is now conducted indiscriminately in protected forests, national parks and in other restricted areas," he said on Thursday.

Critics say that illegal logging is probably impossible to stop because in many areas it involves collusion between business interests and corrupt government officials, police and the military.

Government officials have often referred to the lack of forest rangers to guard the vast forests as an excuse for the theft of timber and poaching.

In some areas, illegal logging involves people from outside the region and the activity has sparked conflict with locals as has happened in West Java.

Nabiel has an interesting story about the other side of logging. In Riau, the activity is a means of living for many locals. Many children in Riau do not want to go to school and prefer stealing wood for money.

In response to criticism, the Indonesian government banned log exports last October in a bid to halt logging. But the law does not seem effective as illegal logging continues unabated as officials have admitted.

Regional autonomy is also feared to speed up deforestation because the regional administrations are authorized to issue permits for logging activities.

Why smuggling?

* higher price of log at international market

* lack of law enforcement at home

* involvement of government officials, security officers.

--Longgena Ginting