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Indonesia remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting the environment, despite international differences over the issue, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed on Friday, but a comprehensive national plan to reduce emissions remains out of reach.

“We realize we have to take steps to save the environment with our own resources and funding,” Yudhoyono said at the opening of a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace. “With help from developed countries, we can increase our target. But even without having crunched the numbers, we can’t be negligent in protecting the environment.”

He added that Indonesia should have a concrete plan in place that could be monitored.

“This is so we can tell the world that we understand the role we must play for the sake of the environment, and are willing to play it,” he said.

Yudhoyono said several international meetings to discuss the solution had not ended as desired. These included the summits in Kyoto, during which developed countries agreed to reach emissions targets by 2012, and in Copenhagen last year, where no major binding agreement was reached.

“Developed and developing countries are waiting for one another to take the first step,” he said. “But we can’t negotiate with the climate and the Earth. I’m afraid the upcoming Mexico conference will end much the same way as Copenhagen.”

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said part of the effort to protect the country’s environment and reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent was a massive reforestation drive.

“During the flurry over regional autonomy between 1997 and its peak in 2002, there was massive clearing of land of up to 3.5 million hectares a year,” Zulkifli said. “The current rate of deforestation is around 700,000 hectares a year.”

He claimed massive illegal logging was now concentrated in Papua, with the timber exported directly.

Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Yudhoyono had ordered the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to probe the light sentences given to those convicted of illegal logging.

“Of 92 illegal logging suspects tried at court, 49 were acquitted, 24 were sentenced to less than a year in prison and 19 were sentenced to between one and two years,” Tifatul said.

“The president has also advised governors and district heads to be more judicious when granting logging and mining concessions,” he added.

The issue of deforestation arose at Wednesday’s meeting between Vice President Boediono and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.

Boediono had highlighted three key problems in the country’s fight against the threat — fire, limited funding and capacity for reforestation and weak law enforcement.

Norway has reportedly offered technical guidance on monitoring and surveillance to prevent deforestation.

Giorgio Budi Indarto, coordinator of the Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice, said any commitment on the government’s part should move beyond mere lip service.

“The reality on the ground is that even with more commitments, there’s more environmental destruction,” he said.



Additional reporting by Fidelis Satriastanti