S. Kalimantan authority imposes moratorium on mining activities

The local authorities of Hulu Sungai Selatan and Hulu Sungai Tengah regencies in South Kalimantan have imposed a moratorium on mining activities in the two regencies in a bid to help halt the destruction of forest areas, Media Indonesia reported on Thursday.

South Kalimantan governor Rudy Ariffin said on Wednesday that he supported the moratorium imposed by the two regencies, saying the temporary of halt of the mining activities was needed to give the local governments enough time to put the mining sector in order.

?The forest areas in South Kalimantan have been severely damaged,? he said.

According to the local forestry office, the critical land has reached 600,000 hectares in the province due to the exploitation of forest areas. Of the 1.6 million hectares of forests in the province, about 1.4 million hectares have been converted into productive areas, including 658,742 hectares into mining areas 84,779 hectares into plantations, 383,683 hectares into industrial forests. (*)