Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 15 Jun 10;
Indonesia has pledged to stop converting more than a half of its forest area as a result of a new moratorium agreement signed with Norway government and domestic regulations linked to spatial planning issues.
The latest Environment Ministry’s analysis recommended that the country protect some 72.5 million hectares of forest and peat land from any conversions for business purposes.
“In accordance with the regulations, Indonesia must protect some 72.5 million hectares of forest and peat land,” Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy minister for environmental damage supervision at the Environment Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday.
She said that the proposal had been submitted to the cabinet meeting.
The analysis was made based on the two-year moratorium policy on the natural forest and peat which followed a forest protection agreement signed by Indonesia and Norway in Oslo earlier this month and the spatial planning policy which requires the government to protect forest area located in mountain’s slopes.
Indonesia is the world’s third largest forest nation with 120 million hectares of natural forest. The country is home to some 20 million hectares of peat.
