Indonesia Gears to Curb Commercial Deforestation

Jakarta, Indonesia | May 28, 2010 by D-8 Secretariat

Indonesia is seriously fighting climate change, most recently by pledging to cut emissions at least 26 percent by 2020. (Photo: Presi Mandari/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images)

Indonesia has declared a two-year moratorium on clearing natural forests as part of a billion-dollar deal aimed at reviving efforts to fight climate change after the collapse of global talks in Copenhagen last year.

The deal, signed Wednesday at a climate conference in Oslo, is open to other countries and would tie the $1 billion in funding to “verified emissions reductions” as part of the United Nations-backed effort known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD. Under the plan, rich countries help pay for the preservation of forests in developing countries.

REDD projects are widely seen as among the most promising avenues for fighting climate change ever since nations failed to reach an agreement on climate change in Copenhagen last December. Indonesia’s part in this deal involves banning new permits for the conversion of virgin forest and carbon-rich peat lands, though analysts say any new laws limiting commercial clearing could prove difficult to enforce.

The clearing of forests for commercial uses has helped make Indonesia the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind the United States and China, according to some estimates. The country has major timber and paper industries and is the world’s leading producer of palm oil.

“Indonesia understands the necessity of doing its part to face the urgent global challenge of combating climate change,” said Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“As a developing country, and an archipelago of 17,000 islands, our people face the brunt of impact of climate change,” he said.

Mr. Yudhoyono has staked some of his international prestige on fighting climate change, most recently by pledging to cut emissions at least 26 percent by 2020.

”Indonesia is really able to maintain its tropical forests, meaning that we maintain the lungs of the world,” Mr. Yudhoyono said, according to the official Antara news agency.

”It is not merely Indonesia but also the rest of the world which will enjoy the fruit.”

Indonesia is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with 80 per cent of those emissions due to deforestation.

The deal, starting with pilot projects, would provide capital for projects that would help deter deforestation by increasing yields on existing cropland or by steering development to “degraded” land. Norway will pay Indonesia in installments, but will closely monitor whether the forest areas are actually protected.

”If there is no reduced deforestation, we will not pay. If there is reduced deforestation, we will pay,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Indonesia has a pervasive problem with illegal logging, an activity that Dr Yudhoyono has flagged he will be cracking down on as part of a broader anti-corruption push.

”We congratulate President SBY on his commitment in Oslo,” said Bustar Maitar, forests campaigner with Greenpeace Indonesia.

”This is a very large step and shows he is committed to stopping forest deforestation and climate change.”

According to Greenpeace, forests covering the equivalent of 300 football grounds are eradicated every hour in Indonesia, which along with Malaysia produces 80 per cent of the world’s palm oil. Palm oil is used for cosmetics, fuel and as vegetable oil in many foods such as chocolate bars and crisps.

While the agreement appears to threaten plans for the agricultural estate in Papua where there are large swampland forests, presidential climate adviser Agus Purnomo indicated it would still go ahead, telling the Indonesian media, Jakarta Globe, that ”we will work it out so that there will be no peatlands converted”.

News Source: New York Times, The Age, D-8 Media.

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