JAKARTA – Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) revealed that the forests in Gorontalo Province are threatened by deforestation. This situation is related to the government’s plan to accelerate energy transition projects in Indonesia by using bioenergy products in the form of wood pellets.
According to FWI data, the remaining natural forest in Gorontalo is approximately 693,795 hectares, covering 57 percent of the land area. The deforestation trend from 2017 to 2023 has reached 35,770.36 hectares. Meanwhile, as much as ten forest concession permits covering 282,100 hectares are being prepared for bioenergy projects in Gorontalo.
“Moreover, Gorontalo is one of the largest exporters of wood pellets in Indonesia,” said FWI Campaigner, Anggi Prayoga, during the Roundtable of CSO and Media Upholding Transparency: The Role of Media in Monitoring Energy Projects and Deforestation in Gorontalo, in Jakarta on Thursday (26/9/2024).
Anggi explained that wood pellet exports from Gorontalo primarily target Japan and South Korea. PT Biomassa Jaya Abadi, he said, is the only exporter recorded as the largest primary wood processing industry into wood pellets in Gorontalo. PT BJA, he mentioned, sources its raw wood material from two palm oil transformation companies, which are the Inti Global Laksana (IGL) and Banyan Tumbuh Lestari (BTL).
“From the investigation done by FWI’s team, BJA uses raw materials sourced from natural forest wood, not from plantation forest wood,” he stated.
Based on data from PT Equality Indonesia, during the period between February to December 2023, PT BJA exported as much as 95,253,282 kg of wood pellets valued at USD 12,990,019. In the following year, the export of wood pellet has increase. From February to August 2024, the export volume reached 124,980,503 kg with an export value of USD 17,052,675. PT Equality Indonesia is a certification body that provides the Legal Wood Certification (S-LK) to PT BJA.
Trend Asia Campaigner Amalya Reza Oktaviani explained that according to data compiled by Trend Asia, Indonesia ranks seventh as the largest wood pellet exporter in the world with 1,804 shipments. Meanwhile, Ukraine holds the first position with 78,509 shipments. In fact, over the past two years, the volume and value of Indonesia’s wood pellet exports have shown an upward trend. In 2021, the export volume reached 367,942,425 kg with an export value of USD 36,320,863. A significant increase occurred in 2022 with the export volume reaching 508,650,056 kg and an export value of USD 62,913,917.
“Demand for industrial wood pellets reached 14 million tons in 2017. In the next ten years, it is predicted that demand will double to 36 million tons,” she said. On the other hand, raw materials for bioenergy are expected to come from forests in developing countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brazil.
Currently, Amalya stated, bioenergy is the largest supplier of renewable energy globally, contributing for as much as 55 percent to it. This includes contributing 6 percent for the global energy supply. This increase, she predicted, will affect the rate of deforestation of the forests of developing countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brazil.
“Bioenergy usage increased by an average of 3 percent per year from 2010 to 2022, and the trend is increasing,” she explained.
Executive Director of the Independent Forest Monitoring Network (JPIK) Muhammad Ichwan revealed that based on field findings, violations occur in the form of falsifying transport documents of wood from forests to wood processing industries. In the downstream sector, especially for export purposes, falsifying HS Code types involves non-producer exporters and customs brokers. Ichwan stated that these findings indicate companies have been cheating by hiding the actual type of wood to be exported.
“Using the flag of companies that do not have V-Legal but still export processed wood. The modus operandi involves cooperation with customs brokerage company (PPJK), while the mechanism for issuing V-Legal still has loopholes,” he revealed.
Indonesian Forestry and Environment Expert from the Working Group on Forest Finance (IWGFF), Marius Gunawan, explained that illegal wood pellet exports are conducted using fake documents to show the legality of the raw materials. This includes manipulating product values to evade taxes and customs duties. Illegal exports, Marius stated, are carried out through unofficial channels to avoid official customs routes. One of these is through Gorontalo, with export points to South Korea.
“Illegal export crimes in the context of wood pellets will also open the door to other crimes. This is something we must be cautious about,” he said.
Professor at the Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), Sudarsono Soedomo explained that currently, non-forested areas in Indonesia has reach 35 million hectares. Meanwhile, the government’s capacity for reforestation is only 30,000 hectares per year.
“To be successful in rehabilitating 100 percent, it will take more than 1,000 years,” he explained.
Academician from the Indonesia Defence University (Unhan), retired Admiral Suyono Thamrin, explained that every export activity opens the opportunity for transshipment on the way to the destination country. Transshipment is the process of transferring cargo or goods from one ship to another. However, legal export processes involve stopping at one port to another (port to port).
“Then at the port, the commodity documents, the ship, crew, and taxes or customs duties are checked,” he concluded.
The Press Release document can be downloaded at the link below: