Muslim Clerics To Help Fight Illegal Logging

Jakarta, Indonesia, July 21, 2011 -- The Forestry Ministry is turning to 5,000 Muslim preachers in its latest move to fight illegal logging in local communities, according to the Jakarta Post.

“Our forests don’t go up in flames on their own, but are intentionally burned because there is this tradition of burning the land after harvest and before planting, which has now also affected forest areas,” Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said Sunday in Yogyakarta at the national working meeting of the propagation assembly of  Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah.

The minister called on the Muslim scholars to support the campaign against forest burning, as well as to promote forest preservation and reforestation efforts.

The 5,000 Muslim preachers are being recruited from a number of Muslim organizations. They will be trained and paid about $234 per month.