Rattan is well and good, but Indonesia has swung into the global fast lane. This means that the disaster of the recent fires and smog, far from being a unique or capricious event, is all too commonplace. In political-economic terms, there are three basic kinds of forests. Marginal forest, steeper, more remote, less fertile. It's entirely relative.
Gainful employment is prized in a developing country.
Greens are ridiculed for demanding what is merely right, in the face of what is clearly expedient. Sure, they're told, everybody likes forests. However, careful consideration of the moral question of ownership will allow us to cut through this paradox. They must ensure the maintenance of forests for future generations of human users, and for the natural balance itself. This is not negotiable, because their right to the fruits of their labor cannot allow them to deny others the opportunity to labor at all.