At a ceremony in the provincial capital Pekanbaru, Riau Governor
Wan Abu Bakar announced the temporary ban, 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 have been 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).
Other contacts: Arief Wicaksono, Political Advisor, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, tel: +62 8159704400 Zulfahrni, Forests Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, tel: +62 8126821214Adhityani Arga, Media Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, tel: +62 81398099977Greenpeace International press office, tel: +31 (0)6 2900 1141; +31 (0)20 718 2096
Notes: To find out how forest destruction for palm oil is destroying the climate see: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/palm-oil-cooking-the-climate