The Minister of Forestry should cancel the concession permit of PT Diamond Raya Timber and the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute must revoke its certificate of sustainable production forest management.” This demand was tabled in 2002 by the coordinating team of the Forest-Dependent Communities Development Program covering seven villages within PT Diamond Raya Timber’s concession area.

Heiko Liedeker, Executive Director of the Forest Stewardship Council, disagreed with the proposition: “Diamond Raya Timber is understood to be one of the most progressive concessions in Indonesia, but there is no pretence that it is perfect.”

These statements exemplify the controversy surrounding the certification of Diamond Raya’s forest management practices. Several parties have contested the company’s certification since the concession first received a stamp of approval from the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute in 1999, while others laud Diamond Raya for its positive efforts toward forest management. The tension reflects the spectrum of management philosophies, ranging from preservationist perspectives to beliefs that forest conservation must necessarily encompass strong human interaction — including logging.

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