POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya says that efforts have been taken, in accordance with legal measures, to scale down the level of palm oil expansion proposed by regents/mayors and governors in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
According to the minister, since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took office until 2019, 38.2% of the total area proposed for palm oil expansion, based on location permits from the regents and recommendation letters from the governors of the two provinces, has been cut.
"The figure of 38.2% comes from the total area finally approved of 172,430 hectares, compared to the area of 279,049 hectares initially proposed for palm oil expansion by the two provincial governments. This means that an area of 106,619 hectares did not get approved," Minister Nurbaya explained at the ministry building (Apr 9).
"Of the 10 units of state forest releases granted to palm oil companies during my ongoing tenure, 9 of these units - spanning an area of 143,613 hectares - obtained principle approval from the previous minister, the process for which continued legally after I took over," she further detailed.
As Minister Nurbaya pointed out, this means that during her time in office, only one single unit of state forest area whose principle approval was issued in her tenure has been released for palm oil development.
This release, which was signed by the Head of BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board), was based on a recommendation letter from the Governor of Papua and a location permit from the relevant regent.
“The only one single unit of state forest released for palm oil plantation development during my ongoing tenure was for an area of 28,817 hectares, or 2.5% of the total state forest area released for palm oil expansion from 2004-2019,” she asserted.
The chart below shows the level of total proposed palm oil expansion from regents and the two governors in the provinces of Papua and West Papua along with Minister Nurbaya's scaling down of this expansion by 38.2% from 2015 to 2019.
Minister Nurbaya emphasized that this scaling down of total proposed palm oil expansion was undertaken with reference to legal measures, including ground-based demarcation agreements.
All palm oil companies that submit proposals for state forest area releases to the country's forestry minister are legally required to include a location permit from the relevant regent/mayor.
In addition, a recommendation letter from the relevant governor must also be obtained, along with a plantation business permit.
Scaling down prior to Jokowi presidency
From 2005-2014, during the administration of Soesilo "SBY" Bambang Yudhoyono, total palm oil expansion proposed by the regents/mayors and two governors of Papua and West Papua amounted to nearly 1.2 million hectares.
Of this total area, 18.5% - an area of 220,998 hectares - was scaled down by the two forestry ministers during the SBY presidency. In other words, 974,576 hectares were approved for palm oil expansion, equivalent to over 13 times the size of Singapore.
The following chart demonstrates the level of total proposed palm oil plantation expansion from regents/mayors and the two governors in Papua and West Papua which was scaled down by the forestry ministry during the SBY administration.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Feb 17), the deforestation in Papua and West Papua has almost entirely taken place in state forest areas released prior to Jokowi's presidency.
Real impact from Jokowi’s order
In announcing a drastic reduction in deforestation in Indonesia during 2018/2019-2019/2020, as covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 3), Minister Nurbaya explained that the level of deforestation in the two provinces in that period was just 7.4% of the nationwide deforestation of 115 thousand hectares.
"Thanks to President Jokowi's palm oil moratorium order, regents/mayors and governors are not allowed to issue new location permits and recommendations to palm oil companies for areas of good forest cover, especially in the provinces of Papua and West Papua," she said.
“So it's very clear that this palm oil moratorium order has had a real impact in the two provinces, in the sense that new location permits from regents/mayors and recommendation letters from the governors have been stopped,” she added.
Minister Nurbaya reiterated that Indonesia continues to make efforts to lower emissions through measures aimed at reducing the country's deforestation rate to a certain level, albeit not to the level of zero deforestation. In fact, Indonesia's deforestation rate in 2018/2019 - 2019/2020 was the lowest in the country's history.
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POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya says that efforts have been taken, in accordance with legal measures, to scale down the level of palm oil expansion proposed by regents/mayors and governors in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
According to the minister, since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took office until 2019, 38.2% of the total area proposed for palm oil expansion, based on location permits from the regents and recommendation letters from the governors of the two provinces, has been cut.
"The figure of 38.2% comes from the total area finally approved of 172,430 hectares, compared to the area of 279,049 hectares initially proposed for palm oil expansion by the two provincial governments. This means that an area of 106,619 hectares did not get approved," Minister Nurbaya explained at the ministry building (Apr 9).
"Of the 10 units of state forest releases granted to palm oil companies during my ongoing tenure, 9 of these units - spanning an area of 143,613 hectares - obtained principle approval from the previous minister, the process for which continued legally after I took over," she further detailed.
As Minister Nurbaya pointed out, this means that during her time in office, only one single unit of state forest area whose principle approval was issued in her tenure has been released for palm oil development.
This release, which was signed by the Head of BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board), was based on a recommendation letter from the Governor of Papua and a location permit from the relevant regent.
“The only one single unit of state forest released for palm oil plantation development during my ongoing tenure was for an area of 28,817 hectares, or 2.5% of the total state forest area released for palm oil expansion from 2004-2019,” she asserted.
The chart below shows the level of total proposed palm oil expansion from regents and the two governors in the provinces of Papua and West Papua along with Minister Nurbaya's scaling down of this expansion by 38.2% from 2015 to 2019.
Minister Nurbaya emphasized that this scaling down of total proposed palm oil expansion was undertaken with reference to legal measures, including ground-based demarcation agreements.
All palm oil companies that submit proposals for state forest area releases to the country's forestry minister are legally required to include a location permit from the relevant regent/mayor.
In addition, a recommendation letter from the relevant governor must also be obtained, along with a plantation business permit.
Scaling down prior to Jokowi presidency
From 2005-2014, during the administration of Soesilo "SBY" Bambang Yudhoyono, total palm oil expansion proposed by the regents/mayors and two governors of Papua and West Papua amounted to nearly 1.2 million hectares.
Of this total area, 18.5% - an area of 220,998 hectares - was scaled down by the two forestry ministers during the SBY presidency. In other words, 974,576 hectares were approved for palm oil expansion, equivalent to over 13 times the size of Singapore.
The following chart demonstrates the level of total proposed palm oil plantation expansion from regents/mayors and the two governors in Papua and West Papua which was scaled down by the forestry ministry during the SBY administration.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Feb 17), the deforestation in Papua and West Papua has almost entirely taken place in state forest areas released prior to Jokowi's presidency.
Real impact from Jokowi’s order
In announcing a drastic reduction in deforestation in Indonesia during 2018/2019-2019/2020, as covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Mar 3), Minister Nurbaya explained that the level of deforestation in the two provinces in that period was just 7.4% of the nationwide deforestation of 115 thousand hectares.
"Thanks to President Jokowi's palm oil moratorium order, regents/mayors and governors are not allowed to issue new location permits and recommendations to palm oil companies for areas of good forest cover, especially in the provinces of Papua and West Papua," she said.
“So it's very clear that this palm oil moratorium order has had a real impact in the two provinces, in the sense that new location permits from regents/mayors and recommendation letters from the governors have been stopped,” she added.
Minister Nurbaya reiterated that Indonesia continues to make efforts to lower emissions through measures aimed at reducing the country's deforestation rate to a certain level, albeit not to the level of zero deforestation. In fact, Indonesia's deforestation rate in 2018/2019 - 2019/2020 was the lowest in the country's history.
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