Govt may allow protected forests for geothermal power plants

The Forestry Ministry is considering to allow investors to clear protected forests for the location of geothermal power plants, Kontan reported on Wednesday.

Speaking in Jakarta on Tuesday, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that 70 percent of the geothermal potencies in Indonesia were located in forest conservation areas.

However, the Law No. 5/1990 on conservation of natural resources and ecosystem prohibits the use of such protected forests except for research, scientific and education purposes. It means that the development of the geothermal energy in forest conservation areas is prohibited under the law.

The minister said that the government was currently reviewing the existing regulation to allow the use of protected areas for the geothermal power plants, he said. ?It could be done by reviewing the law or to issue a government regulation,? he added.

Meanwhile, Director General for Forest Protection and Conservation Areas Darori said that 40 percent of the world?s geothermal potencies were located in Indonesia. The areas include the Kemojang conservation areas in West Java, and many other locations in outside Java such as in Sumatra and Sulawesi.

He said that the opening of a protected forest for geothermal projects would not damage forest conservation areas because the development of a geothermal mine for power generation would need only a small area.

According to him, the country?s forest conservation areas cover about 30 million hectares. (*)