Down to Earth No. 61, May 2004
The government of President Megawati has caved in to pressure from international mining companies to allow open-pit mining in protected forests, paving the way for yet more forest destruction and marginalisation of forest-dependent communities.
The go-ahead for mining in protected forests came on March 11, with a new Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perpu) No. 1/2004 on Changes to Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forestry. The regulation adds two extra paragraphs (83A and 83B) to the 1999 law.