UKP4 proposes extension of forest moratorium

Head of the Presidential Work Unit for Development Control and Monitoring (UKP4) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said that his agency has officially proposed for the extension of the moratorium on primary forests and peat-land conversion in order to further slow deforestation rate, Kompas reported on Thursday.

?The extension of the moratorium will be decided by the President. But we have officially asked for its extension,? Kuntoro said during a national workshop on Primary Forests and Peatland in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Kuntoro said that the two-year moratorium which was imposed on May, 2011 as part of a US$1 billion climate deal with Norway aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation, will end on May, 20 this year.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan has previously said that he also supported the extension of the moratorium. ?But, we need to wait for the Presidential decree in order to formally extend the moratorium,? he said.

According to him, the moratorium has helped slow the deforestation rate to 450 hectares per year during 2010-2011 from 3.5 million hectares per year in the period of 1999-2002. (*)