Indonesia signs two-year deforestation moratorium

Indonesia signs two-year deforestation moratorium

2011-05-19 23:53:13 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday signed a decree declaring a two-year moratorium on new logging concessions in the country. 

The Jakarta Globe reported that the moratorium on new concessions in peatland and primary forests is part of a bilateral agreement with Norway. Indonesia will receive $1 billion in funding for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD-plus) activities. 

The moratorium was expected to begin on January 1, but was delayed pending the signing of the presidential decree. Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, however, has previously said that the moratorium had been in effect all year. 

"We've banned clearing of peatland and primary forests since the start of the year," Gusti said in March, as cited by the Jakarta Globe. "We've already stopped issuing permits. The decree is only to provide legal certainty."  

Indonesia is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has one of the fastest rates of forest clearing. 

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