The Jakarta Post 18 Dec 15;
The government released on Thursday the ninth edition of its forest-clearance moratorium map, adding another 71,099 hectares.
The extra land brings the total area covered by the current moratorium to 65.08 million ha, after the ministry added concessions the permits for which had been revoked following the recent forest fires.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said the public could expect more drastic changes in the next edition of the map, which is updated every six months, following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to stop issuing new permits for peatland cultivation for monoculture, restore damaged peatland and review all current peatland licenses.
“I expect there will be lots of changes in the next six months,” she said during the publication of the map at her office in Central Jakarta.
Greenomics executive director Vanda Mutia Dewi applauded Siti’s comment, saying that a better map, which encompassed a greater area, would be expected after Jokowi’s instruction.
Apart from a better map, Siti said the government was also preparing the revision of government regulation (PP) No. 71/2014 on the protection and management of peatland.
“We are revising the PP with new policies. For example, an area that has been burned can be confiscated by us. Even in peatland areas that have been granted permits, there should be no land clearing activities anymore,” she said. “So the changes in the 10th revision of the map will be more significant.”
