The Covid-19 pandemic that hit the world impact human’s activities, including forest monitoring activities. Forest monitoring activities are hampered due to the Big Scale Social Limitation (PSBB) in Indonesia. Regular meetings that held often, face-to-face, must shift to the virtual method. It includes the National Meeting conducted by the Independent Forest Monitoring Network (JPIK) on 21 January 2021.
Moreover, Indonesia is not only facing the Covid-19 pandemic but also busy with the deliberation of the Job Creation Omnibus Law Draft Bill (RUU CK) which have been passed as Law No.11 the Year 2020 on Job Creation. In this 16th edition of “The Monitor”, the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) highlights the impact of the Job Creation Law on the Indonesian forest.
The pandemic also impacts the surveillance activities by the Certification Agency (LS). Therefore, to adapt to the current situation, the audit processes conducted virtually, known as the Remote Audit.
On the other side, monitoring activities must be continued to ensure that the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) is imposed. In 2019, before the pandemic, JURnaL Celebes along with JPIK members in 5 provinces monitored 26 forestry companies. Monitoring on forest conditions related to the deforestation rates also conducted by the Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) to look at the deforestation potential after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rampant illegal logging in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic presented in another chapter of this newsletter. It showed that the pandemic does not result in decreased illegal logging in Indonesia. Monitoring conducted by JPIK in 8 provinces namely Aceh, Riau, Bengkulu, South Sumatera, Banten, East Java, North Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan from 2019 – 2020, has confirmed that the illegal logging practices are still rampant, even during the pandemic.
Lastly, this newsletter also highlights the women’s roles in monitoring, written by a woman investigator. It tells timber distribution monitoring from the woman’s perspective, and challenges faced during the monitoring activities.
Download Newsletter 16th edition “The Monitor” :
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