Norway leads the way
US$1 billion for Indonesian logging moratorium
Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has announced a two-year moratorium on new logging concessions, part of a deal with Norway in which Indonesia will receive up to $US1 billion if it adheres to a letter of intent signed by the two countries reports Friday Offcuts.
The initiative was warmly welcomed by environmentalists. It will put curbs on Indonesian’s lucrative palm oil industry and could delay or slow plans for the creation of a huge agricultural estate in Papua province.
Indonesia is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with 80 per cent of those emissions due to deforestation. The rapid expansion of the palm oil sector and granting of millions of hectares in new logging concessions in recent years have accelerated deforestation, including in peatlands. Under the Oslo plan, those concessions will still be able to be logged, but new areas will not be opened up.
Norway will pay the Indonesian government in instalments, and closely monitor whether the forest areas are protected. Norway’s Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said: ‘If there is no reduced deforestation we will not pay; if there is reduced deforestation we will pay.’