Environmental Groups: Norway-Indonesia Forest Moratorium "Disaster For Forests, Indigenous People"

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – Environmentalists said Friday a long-awaited moratorium on logging in Indonesia, part of a $1-billion climate deal with Norway, is a "disaster" for forests and will do little to fight global warming. Indonesia banned logging in primary forests and peatlands for two years on Thursday under a deal announced in Oslo in 2010 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation while protecting rich biodiversity.

But environmentalists doubted whether the long-awaited moratorium would save any significant forests that were not already protected, or make any reductions to the massive archipelago's carbon footprint. "We are very disappointed. We're concerned because it only covers primary forests and peatlands," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said.

He said the moratorium should also protect woodlands defined as "natural forests," but these had been left at the mercy of the logging companies.

Chris Lang, author of the REDD-monitor blog which tracks efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, said the moratorium was a "disaster for Indonesia's forests, indigenous peoples, and local communities." He said the moratorium decree announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono late Thursday -- five months after it was due to be in place -- contained "gaping loopholes".

EDIT

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/319469/logging-moratorium