Minister of Forestry and Environment, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, confirmed that President Joko Widodo has issued a moratorium on forest clearing for activities such as palm plantations and logging.
“The president signed an instruction on stopping new permits and improving primary forest and peatland governance,” the minister announced in a statement on Thursday 8th August 2019.
The moratorium, which covers around 66million hectares of primary forest and peatland, was first introduced in 2011 and has been renewed regularly as part of the efforts to reduce emissions from fires caused by deforestation. From now on, no new permits will be issued based on the presidential instruction.
The decision comes after the government declared an emergency in six provinces spanning the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Smoke from outbreaks of forest fires have started in the regions and have caused acute respiratory infections amongst other problems.
Source: Channel News Asia
Image: Business Green