Indonesia has a total of 162 million hectares forest,
the second largest tropical forest area of the world after Brazil, that covers
84 percent of its total land area, according to data from the World Wide Fund
(WWF).
Minister Kaban said that 59 million hectares out of
the 162 million hectares forest was damaged.
"The tragedy in Sinjai (South Sulawesi) is an
indication for the nation that the good forest is only in Kalimantan and Papua
(islands)," said Kaban.
The minister said that the big island of Sulawesi and
Maluku as well as Java are also sensitive from flood and landslide as their
forest coverage is less than minimum requirement.
"Sulawesi, Maluku and Java islands are vulnerable, if
rains come down for three hours, the accident like in Sinjai will take place,"
he said.
"Now there must be an awareness not to disturb the
rest of the forest areas," he said.
Indonesia, which is located in tropical areas, often
suffers from landslide due to rampant deforestation. Enditem
