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SBY Signs Decree on 2-Year Deforestation Moratorium
Fidelis E Satriastanti | May 19, 2011

An area of rainforest in a South Sumatran national park, left, and a nearby deforested peatland with two trees still standing. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a decree banning the conversion of forests for two years. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad) An area of rainforest in a South Sumatran national park, left, and a nearby deforested peatland with two trees still standing. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a decree banning the conversion of forests for two years. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)
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Comments

KafilYamin
8:13pm May 27, 2011

This is a joke! 2-year moratorium won't make anything better. A degraded forest area needs at least 30 years to recover!

I think this is just a corny move to please some critics.

konyol1
10:29am May 20, 2011

Why only 2 years? Probably because it is a significant change in policy, based partly on a bilateral agreement which requires the other party to fulfill certain commitments. 2 years gives enough time for both sides to show their bona fides without locking in an untested policy indefinitely. The Indonesian government should be warmly commended for its political courage in taking this step. Look forward to seeing it implemented properly.

jchay
10:23am May 20, 2011

Thanks Norway for supporting Mr SBY in his quest and ambition to be the UN Secretary General.

taha
9:38am May 20, 2011

Not good for Indonesia especially in terms of economy.

Many sea transport of goods required by ordinarry people but cost keep increasing because wooden vessel not easily available now. Cost of transporting goods between islands becoming more expensive due to less wooden vessels available. Using steel vessel is very expensive for local use. Very soon all goods produce locally will be expensive. Many small businesses already affected. Now less job for people at sea. Is this good for the economy? SBY please reconsider.

SonyLaksono
8:34am May 20, 2011

@devine.

Because by that time the 'protected half' will already have to be accessed again, because the rest is already gone.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finally signed a two-year moratorium on the conversion into logging concessions of almost half of the total forest cover in Indonesia.

The moratorium is part of a bilateral agreement with Norway  in which Indonesia will receive $1 billion to launch activities under the United Nations-backed Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD Plus) program.

Agus Purnomo, a presidential adviser on climate change, said the moratorium applied to all peatlands and primary forests that had not been reserved for any purpose and for which no permits had been issued.

Agus said 64 million hectares of Indonesia’s 130 million hectares of total forest cover was protected by the moratorium, which took effect after Yudhoyono signed the decree on Thursday.

The adviser said that although existing laws already protected primary forests, the decree was needed to reinforce anti-logging measures.

“This is to make [the law] stronger. Primary forests, if touched, will mean violating the decree and there will be legal consequences,” Agus said.

The moratorium had originally been expected to take effect on Jan. 1, but it was delayed pending the decree’s signing.

The plan received a push from Norway, which sent a letter to the national government saying peatland and primary forests should not be logged.

However, Agus said logging could still continue in secondary forests, those regrown after being damaged by fires or logging.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said in March that even before a decree was signed, a moratorium had already been in place.

“We’ve banned the clearing of peatland and primary forests since the start of the year,” Gusti said. “We’ve already stopped issuing permits. The decree is only to provide legal certainty.”

Elfian Effendi, executive director of Greenomics, a forestry advocacy group, welcomed Yudhoyono’s decision.

“At this stage, we need to look at the political attitude of the president, who has given attention to forestry issues, even though the substance of the decree may not be perfect,” he said.

“We have to admit that not all leaders of country would want to take that step.”

Bustar Maitar, the head of Greenpeace’s forests campaign, also welcomed the decree, but he said the state should prove it can fully enforce the ban.

“We expect a meaningful moratorium which will protect Indonesian forests,” Bustar said on Thursday. “This should include the protection of all remaining natural forests, full protection of peatlands and a review of existing concession permits.”