Indonesia to maintain deforestation moratorium

Indonesia 11 Apr 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan has reiterated the country`s commitment to continuing the implementation of moratorium of new licenses logging concessions for primary forests and peat lands.

Minister Hasan expressed the commitment when speaking in the tenth United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) held in Istanbul, Turkey, April 8-9, 2013, the forestry ministry said in a statement here on Thursday.

During the 2009-2013 period, Indonesia has managed to reach averaged economic growth rate at 6.3 percent annually, despite the implementation of the moratorium.

Indonesia has also managed to cut the deforestation rate from the average of 3.5 million hectares during the 1999-2002 period to 450 ha during 2010-2011, through various forestry policies such as the movement of One Billion Indonesian Trees for the World.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the Presidential Instruction No. 10/2011 on Moratorium on New Logging Concessions for Primary Forests and Peat lands in May 2011.

On the sidelines of the UNFF, the Indonesian ministry held meetings among others with the US deputy secretary of state to discuss the bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the US.

Minister Hasan also met WRI Director Nigel Sizer on April 9, 2013 during the launch of Global Forest Watch.

The UNFF meeting was officially opened by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and participated in by 250 ministers from 197 nations.

In October 2000, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), in its Resolution 2000/35 established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), a subsidiary body with the main objective to promote "the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end" based on the Rio Declaration, the Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the outcome of the IPF/IFF Processes and other key milestones of international forest policy.
(Tx.F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH