Moratorium on forest clearings may be extended: Indonesian minister

Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 13 May 15;

SINGAPORE: The suspension on clearing of forests for plantations and mining activities, which expires on Wednesday (May 13), may be extended, according to Indonesia's Deputy Minister for Environment Degradation Control and Climate Change Arief Yuwono.

Speaking at an environment forum in Singapore on Wednesday, Mr Arief said the government is working on the final draft of the moratorium and this will be issued soon. He added that one focus of the moratorium is on law enforcement.

The moratorium was launched in 2011 by former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and extended by him again in 2013.

The moratorium is a two-year commitment to protect primary forest and peatland covering more than 60 million hectares of land, including those in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

- CNA/rw

Indonesia committed to tackle environmental challenges
ALBERT WAI Today Online 13 May 15;

SINGAPORE — The Joko Widodo administration is committed to addressing environmental and climate change challenges, said Indonesian Deputy Minister for Environmental Degradation Control and Climate Change Arief Yuwono today (May 13), as he announced that Indonesia would look to extend a two-year forest clearing ban and offer to host a regional coordinating centre for managing transboundary haze pollution.

At the sidelines of the Second Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources held at Ritz-Carlton Millenia Hotel where he delivered a keynote address, Mr Yuwono told reporters that the Indonesian government is working on a new draft moratorium, which may extend the ban on clearing of forests for a further two years. But despite an existing moratorium expiring today, no new licences for forest clearing activities will be issued in the meantime.

When asked by TODAY on the concrete steps undertaken by Indonesia to operationalise the haze monitoring system under the ambit of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution recently ratified by all 10 member states, Mr Yuwono highlighted that Indonesia has offered to host a regional coordinating centre to monitor forest fires and haze. Besides Indonesia, Malaysia has also expressed an interest to host the centre.

The deputy minister also said that Indonesia was in the midst of preparing its pledge for the new post-2020 global climate change regime. Indonesia is likely to meet the pledge submission deadline of October to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat.