Forestry minister backs extension of forest moratorium

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that he backed the proposal to extend the forest moratorium which would expire in May 20 this year in order to help preserve the natural forests.

The minister said that he in principle agreed to extend the moratorium, which was imposed two years ago to help reduce emission from deforestation. ?But, we need to wait for the Presidential decree in order to formally extend the moratorium,? he said in Jakarta after officially openeing the Fifth Indogreen Forestry Expo 2013 in Jakarta on Thursday.

Zulkifli said that he would support the renewal of the moratorium because it would not cause a slowdown in the economic growth as many people feared, but it instead effectively helped preserve the natural forests.

The Indonesian government imposed a two-year moratorium on clearing forest in May 2011 under a US$1 billion climate deal with Norway aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation.

Under the Presidential decree issued in May 2011, the issuance of any new license for conversion of primary forests and peat lands is no longer allowed. The decree was issued as part of the bilateral agreement outlined in a letter of intent (LoI) between the governments of Indonesia and Norway.

However, despite the moratorium the number of forest concession permits issued by the forestry ministry continued to increase.

According to the secretary general of the forestry ministry, the number of concession permits rose to 294 in 2012 from 292 in 2011. The size of forests for forest concession permits also increased to 23.9 million hectares in 2012 from 23.14 million hectares in 2011.

No explanation is given why the two additional concession permits were issued when the moratorium was still in effect. (*)