Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Environmentalists predicted doom on Thursday saying Indonesia's environment would likely remain the primary target of exploitation due to the government's desperate need to lift itself out of the protracted economic crisis.

As a result, reform in the environmental sector remained stagnant with no clear or genuine policies on long-term conservation, environmentalists from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said.

ICEL, in its year-end review, said officials still saw environmental protection as a cost burden rather than an investment, the returns on which could be beneficial.

"We did not see any effort to mainstream environment (protection) in center policy. Not with the government nor the legislature," ICEL executive director Wiwiek Awiati said.

ICEL focused its report on deforestation, running at a rate of 1.6 million hectares of rain forest per year due to illegal logging, forest fires and mining activities.

In the case of illegal logging, the country not only lost its most valuable resources, it also caused financial losses of Rp 30.4 trillion every year, the report said.

ICEL revealed in its report that the Gunung Leuser National Park, straddled between Aceh and North Sumatra, for instance, could produce a total economic value of US$17.6 million over 30 years if it was carefully maintained.

However, the value would plummet to $11.7 million for the same period if it was further exploited.

State Minister of Environment Nabiel Makarim has proposed a debt-for-nature-swap scheme which may help reduce the country's huge foreign debts but this has yet to materialize due to the government's lack of political will.

ICEL's founder Mas Achmad Santosa, now a senior researcher with the watchdog, underlined the lack of an integrated action plan on environmental issues, especially in anticipation of the upcoming forest fire season next year as the El Nino-fueled dry winds repeated its five-year cycle.

He said that many culprits of environmental destruction still could walk free, while none of the criminals which have been brought to trial had actually received adequate punishment.

Although there have been regulations issued to put an end to illegal logging, ICEL said that officials and law enforcement institutions did not implement them as environmental offenses were still rampant.

Santosa urged the government to bring a member of the People's Consultative Assembly, Abdul Rasyid, to trial for his alleged involvement in illegal logging in Kalimantan.

"President Megawati Soekarnoputri has to become a leader who takes firm action against any person who exploits regional autonomy and the natural resources for easy money."