Joint Press Releases

Jakarta, May 4, 2017 – At least 2.7 million hectares of primary natural forest and peat land, equivalent to 5 times the area of ​​Bali Island, disappeared for six years implementing policies to postpone new licenses and improve governance of primary natural forests and peatlands. In the same period, every year 28% of hotspots destroyed protected forest areas on the Moratorium map.

This is an alarming finding from the implementation of the Moratorium policy revealed by the Civil Society Coalition to Save Indonesian Forests and Global Climate today in Jakarta. The findings show that during the six-year policy run, there has been a reduction in the area’s width of the delay in the new permit covering an area of ​​2,701,938 hectares. The irony is that the area is not known where it has been converted.

“The logic of forest and peat protection policies in this Moratorium should increase the size of forests and peatlands, but on the contrary it decreases with unclear reasons and processes. The lack of transparency is a major factor in this policy is not effective, “said Linda Rosalina from Forest Watch Indonesia.

For more than two decades, environmental disasters due to the destruction of forests have had a serious impact on people’s lives. Forest and peatland fires in the last quarter of 2015 were the worst in history. The Government of Indonesia has committed to improving forest and peat land governance by issuing INPRES Number 10 of 2011 concerning Delays in Granting New Licenses and Improving Primary Natural Forest Management and Peatlands that are valid for 2 years. This policy was extended with the issuance of INPRES Number 6 of 2013 and later extended again by INPRES Number 8 of 2015 without any strengthening of the substance of protection.

“In practice, even though it has been implemented for 6 years, the policy has not been able to overcome problems related to the governance of primary natural forests and peatlands. The policy is implemented partially and has not had a significant impact on efforts to save the remaining natural forests and peat, “said Yustina Murdiningrum of the Epistema Institute.

Zainuri Hasyim from Kaoem Telapak also emphasized that during 2015 there were 69,044 hotspots nationally. Around 31 percent or 21,552 hotspots are found in areas that are declared protected in the Indicative Map for the Delay of Giving New Permits (PIPPIB). While the average distribution of hotspots in the PIPPIB region from 2011 to 2016 is around 28.5% of the distribution of national hotspots. Even the trend of hotspots tends to increase.

Meanwhile from PIPPIB Revision I up to Revision XI, forest cover within PIPPIB has decreased to an area of ​​831,053 hectares. This means that the policy has not been able to stop deforestation even within the moratorium area (PIPPIB) itself. Another thing is that there is still a community managed area in a social forestry scheme that is included in the PIPPIB area. This has the potential to disrupt the current and future management permits that will hinder the achievement of social forestry targets.

“There are still functions and allocations of forest areas in various regions to smooth the megaproject. This will threaten not only the forest and peat itself but also the rights of indigenous and local communities, “said Yoseph Watopa from Yali Papua.

This policy has not been able to overcome deforestation and various problems of governance of primary natural forests and peatlands. Why?

  1. As a non-legislative document, INPRES does not have legal consequences if it is not implemented;
  2. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources were not involved in INPRES No. 10 of 2011, INPRES No.6 of 2013 and INPRES No. 8 of 2015. The expansion of plantations and mines which erode the forest area should be the reason for including the two ministries as the party receiving this instruction;
  3. This policy still excludes secondary forests with good cover from protection so that most of the coverage is protected and conservation forests which are actually already protected by law;
  4. Making various exceptions which weakens the purpose of postponing the granting of new permits. For example, excluding forests that have obtained prinsip principle permits ’, exclusion of land needed for vital development projects, does not prohibit the extension of licenses for forest exploitation and / or use of forest areas as long as the business permit is still valid;
  5. The lack of transparency and openness of public information about the management of forests and other natural resources, for example there is no openness of the forest map and the process of revision of the PIPPIB has not yet been opened;
  6. The difference in interpretation of the peatland category between the local government and the KLHK technical implementation unit so that the peatland which should be included in the PIPPIB is actually issued at the next PIPPIB revision.

The existence of forests is very important for the sustainability of the Indonesian economy and becomes the last fortress to mitigate environmental disasters and the global climate. Realizing this, the Civil Society Coalition for the Rescue of Indonesian Forests and Global Climate gave full support to the President of Indonesia to continue the commitment to protect forests and peat ecosystems with a stronger legal basis (Presidential Regulation).

For this reason, the President was urged to be able to jointly take other stakeholders in strategic actions, in the form of:

  1. Compiling Indonesia’s Road Map Towards Deforestation in 2020;
  2. Making the Indonesian Action Plan Towards Deforestation in 2020;
    Monitor the implementation of the Action Plan Toward
  3. Deforestation-Free Indonesia in 2020;
  4. Speed ​​up the issuance of the One Map Policy;
  5. Conduct integrated licensing evaluation;
  6. Conduct law enforcement and alternative dispute resolution.
  7. “These six strategic steps are positive and strong indicators that can be measured from the Government of Indonesia to the world as a form of commitment to stop the rate of destruction of tropical rainforests such as President Jokowi’s promise at Paris 2015,” said Teguh Surya from the Sustainable Madani Foundation.

Contact:

Linda Rosalina (FWI), +6285710886024
Yustina Murdiningrum (Epistema Institute), +6282226540885
Zainuri Hasyim (Kaoem Telapak), +62 811-754-409
Yoseph Watopa (Yali Papua), +6281344835232
Teguh Surya (Yayasan Madani Berkelaniutan), +6281915191979

Coalition of Indonesian Civil Society to Save Indonesian Forests and Global Climate

Madani I Kaoem I FWI I Epistema I JKPP I Heritage I WRI Indonesia Greenpeace Indonesia I JPIK I Sawit Watch I Action Partnership! for Gender I Walhi Central Kalimantan I Paradisea I YCMM I HuMA I DebtWatch I Yayasan Merah Putih I WARSI I Silva Papua I YALI Papua I PTPPMA Papua I KpSHK I Lembang Nusa Kalimantan Barat I ELSAM

The Policy Analysis Moratorium paper can be downloaded through the following link: Kertas Kebijakan Moratorium