18
August 2008 - Riau, Indonesia — In a rare
piece of good news for Indonesia's forest,
a regional governor has announced an interim
ban on deforestation in Riau, one of the
areas currently worst affected by rapid
deforestation. The ban, especially if made
permanent, is also good news for the climate.
In 2007 we highlighted
how Indonesia's forests are the fastest
disappearing on Earth and how the subsequent
burning of peatlands is releasing huge amounts
of carbon. Now that work has paid off with
the province of Riau pledging an interim
halt the destruction of its forests - a
move that will prevent billions of tonnes
of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
Indonesia's forests
are being cleared for palm oil plantations,
timber and paper products. Beneath much
of this forest are thick layers of peat
that lock up billions of tones of carbon.
Once the forest is cleared the peat swamp
is drained and often burned to make the
soil more suitable for palm oil plantations.
Burning of the forest and peat results in
massive emissions of greenhouse gases, making
Indonesia the world's third largest climate
polluter.
Riau Province has huge
areas of forest covered peatlands. It has
been experiencing rapid clearance for palm
oil plantations. In 2007, our forest defender
camp helped expose this devastation. Now
the Riau Governor has announced the temporary
ban on deforestation, which will remain
in place until a national law is agreed.
"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.
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.
National ban needed
now
However to ensure their
G-8 pledge is more than just nice words,
the Indonesian Government needs to quickly
ban deforestation nationally.
"The Indonesian
government should declare a national moratorium
on forest conversion 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.
Rising global demand
for palm oil is driving the rapid expansion
of palm oil plantations. Several major multinational
companies dominate the palm oil market.
Following our campaign
in April, Unilever, the world's biggest
user of palm oil announced its support for
a moratorium on further deforestation for
palm oil. Only decisive action from both
the biggest users of palm oil and the Indonesian
Government can halt the deforestation and
cut Indonesia's massive annual emissions.
That's exactly what
we are campaigning for now. A win would
not only be massively significant for protecting
what remains of Indonesia's diverse rainforest
but also a vital step in tackling climate
change.
