At a ceremony in the provincial capital Pekanbaru, Riau Governor Wan Abu Bakar announced a temporary ban on the destruction of its forests and peatlands, which will remain in place until a law is agreed. The move follows Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s pledge at the G-8 Summit in July to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation by 50 percent by 2009.

“The moratorium is an important first step and an opportunity for the local government, forest communities and other stakeholders to improve forest governance,” said Arief Wicaksono, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s Political Advisor.

Indonesia ranks third in global greenhouse gas emissions after the United States and China, largely as a result of deforestation. Much of the peatlands and forests are being cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is a major commodity used in food, cosmetics and biofuels.

Some 25 percent of Indonesia’s palm oil plantations are in the tiny province of Riau and there are plans to expand these by 200 percent. This would have devastating consequences for Riau’s peatlands, which store 14.6 billion tonnes of carbon – equal to one year’s global greenhouse emissions.

“The Indonesian government should declare a national moratorium on forest conversion in Indonesia to bring a halt to the vicious cycle of peatland drainage, forest fires and resulting biodiversity loss due to forest destruction.” said Zulfahmi, Greenpeace Southeast Asia  Forest campaigner based in Sumatra.

A separate proposal to halt the conversion of South East Asian forests for palm oil production is to be considered in November at the annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Source: GreenPeace