POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - As much as 35% of Indonesia's land territory consists of areas lying within the country's primary forest and peatland permanent moratorium map. This map covers over 66 million hectares, equivalent to more than 1.7 times the area of Norway, twice the size of the UK, or larger than France.
Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya reaffirmed this in an open letter (Oct 15) addressing the concerns of global investors with regard to the newly-passed job creation bill, in which the permanent moratorium map remains one of the government’s long-term policy tools.
The open letter implicitly refutes the claim that the forests of Sumatra in three provinces (Jambi, Riau and South Sumatra) will be completely lost in 20 years because of the job creation bill.
As reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Oct 1), Minister Nurbaya also emphasized the scale of the permanent moratorium map - which was signed in early August last year by President Joko Widodo - in her speech at the recent UN biodiversity summit, adding that the permanent moratorium protects numerous flagship species.
Among the flagship species inhabiting the areas covered by Indonesia’s permanent moratorium map are Sumatran orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos, as well as Tapanuli orangutans and Bornean orangutans.
The total area covered by the permanent moratorium and home to these flagship species in Sumatra and Kalimantan amounts to more than 27.31 million hectares, or around 9 times the size of Belgium.
The image below shows the permanent moratorium map (delineated in light green), while the graph indicates the expanse of this map in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan which are home to all of the aforementioned flagship species.
Meanwhile, the Javan rhino, another flagship species which is found in Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java - also part of the permanent moratorium map, continues to grow in population every year.
Claim on Papuan forests invalidated
The open letter, by pointing out the extent of the permanent moratorium map in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, also invalidates the claim that Papuan forests will disappear too due to the Omnibus Law.
The permanent moratorium map incorporates and protects over 66% of the area of Papua province, home to extensive primary forests and peatlands, while more than 40% of neighbouring West Papua province is likewise safeguarded by the map, as previously explained by Minister Nurbaya and reported by FORESTHINTS. NEWS (Sep 28).
As such, an immense range of biodiversity in the the two province’s rich forests, spanning an area larger than the UK, is safe and protected by the permanent moratorium map.
Other areas similarly protected
Outside of the permanent moratorium map, there are also millions of hectares of forests and peatlands in forestry concessions for protection purposes, including existing ecosystem restoration (ER) concessions and production forests which are reserved for further ER permits.
Moreover, in both her open letter and her speech at the UN Biodiversity Summit, Minister Nurbaya also explained that in excess of 1.3 million hectares, or over 18 times the size of Singapore, of potential high conservation value (HCV) areas lie in existing palm oil concessions, the majority of which are in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Protecting potential HCV areas in existing palm oil concessions from Aceh to Papua - which host an abundance of key wildlife habitat and great biodiversity – also forms part of President Widodo’s palm oil expansion moratorium order.
On top of Indonesia's efforts with respect to the permanent moratorium map, Minister Nurbaya also stressed that a significant portion of the country's marine territory, covering an area almost as big as the UK, has been set aside as protected areas.
All in all, Indonesia’s vast, far-reaching permanent moratorium map will ensure that the country remains one of the most biodiversity-rich nations on earth, as consistently pointed out by Minister Nurbaya on various occasions.
RELATED STORIES
POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - As much as 35% of Indonesia's land territory consists of areas lying within the country's primary forest and peatland permanent moratorium map. This map covers over 66 million hectares, equivalent to more than 1.7 times the area of Norway, twice the size of the UK, or larger than France.
Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya reaffirmed this in an open letter (Oct 15) addressing the concerns of global investors with regard to the newly-passed job creation bill, in which the permanent moratorium map remains one of the government’s long-term policy tools.
The open letter implicitly refutes the claim that the forests of Sumatra in three provinces (Jambi, Riau and South Sumatra) will be completely lost in 20 years because of the job creation bill.
As reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Oct 1), Minister Nurbaya also emphasized the scale of the permanent moratorium map - which was signed in early August last year by President Joko Widodo - in her speech at the recent UN biodiversity summit, adding that the permanent moratorium protects numerous flagship species.
Among the flagship species inhabiting the areas covered by Indonesia’s permanent moratorium map are Sumatran orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos, as well as Tapanuli orangutans and Bornean orangutans.
The total area covered by the permanent moratorium and home to these flagship species in Sumatra and Kalimantan amounts to more than 27.31 million hectares, or around 9 times the size of Belgium.
The image below shows the permanent moratorium map (delineated in light green), while the graph indicates the expanse of this map in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan which are home to all of the aforementioned flagship species.
Meanwhile, the Javan rhino, another flagship species which is found in Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java - also part of the permanent moratorium map, continues to grow in population every year.
Claim on Papuan forests invalidated
The open letter, by pointing out the extent of the permanent moratorium map in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, also invalidates the claim that Papuan forests will disappear too due to the Omnibus Law.
The permanent moratorium map incorporates and protects over 66% of the area of Papua province, home to extensive primary forests and peatlands, while more than 40% of neighbouring West Papua province is likewise safeguarded by the map, as previously explained by Minister Nurbaya and reported by FORESTHINTS. NEWS (Sep 28).
As such, an immense range of biodiversity in the the two province’s rich forests, spanning an area larger than the UK, is safe and protected by the permanent moratorium map.
Other areas similarly protected
Outside of the permanent moratorium map, there are also millions of hectares of forests and peatlands in forestry concessions for protection purposes, including existing ecosystem restoration (ER) concessions and production forests which are reserved for further ER permits.
Moreover, in both her open letter and her speech at the UN Biodiversity Summit, Minister Nurbaya also explained that in excess of 1.3 million hectares, or over 18 times the size of Singapore, of potential high conservation value (HCV) areas lie in existing palm oil concessions, the majority of which are in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Protecting potential HCV areas in existing palm oil concessions from Aceh to Papua - which host an abundance of key wildlife habitat and great biodiversity – also forms part of President Widodo’s palm oil expansion moratorium order.
On top of Indonesia's efforts with respect to the permanent moratorium map, Minister Nurbaya also stressed that a significant portion of the country's marine territory, covering an area almost as big as the UK, has been set aside as protected areas.
All in all, Indonesia’s vast, far-reaching permanent moratorium map will ensure that the country remains one of the most biodiversity-rich nations on earth, as consistently pointed out by Minister Nurbaya on various occasions.
RELATED STORIES
