Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban, speaking in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, said that the level of forest destruction had reached "serious" levels, Kompas online reported.

To offset the destruction, the government was planning a forestry replanting program that would cover an area of three million hectares annually, focusing on the country's main river basins, he reportedly said.

To offset the destruction, the government had a forestry replanting program in place, but it only covered an area of three million hectares annually, focusing on the country's main river basins, he reportedly said.

One step to combat illegal logging would be to revoke the authority of governors and district heads to issue forest concession rights, he said, adding that the government was also intensifying surveillance of timber traffic.

A study in August by Indonesia Corruption Watch and non-government group Greenomics Indonesia found that legitimate forestry companies are contributing to illegal logging and other deforestation in Indonesia.

They said poor practices by forestry firms have led to squatting and illegal logging in authorised concessions and sometimes to excessive logging by the firms themselves.

Rapid deforestation has had devastating environmental consequences for both Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region, causing floods and landslides and shrouding nearby countries with haze from illegal fires set to clear land.

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