It has been announced that the Indonesian Forestry Ministry is drafting a decree that will include palm oil plantations in the forest sector to comply with international standards in reducing carbon emissions. Hikmat Soeriatanuwijava a Greenpeace Indonesia media campaigner warned that the policy involving converting palm oil plantations into forest could lead to massive forest conversion. However, the ministry strongly denies this.
“By definition, oil palm plantations will be defined as forest, but its management will be under the Agriculture Ministry,” Tachrir Fathoni head of research and development at the ministry, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Mr Fathoni argued that its neighbour Malaysia and the world’s second biggest palm oil producer after Indonesia had included palm oil plantations in its forest sector for years and suffered no massive forest conversion. In return Malaysia can reap financial incentives from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of carbon trade. They are able to do this as the UN only categorized trees at a certain height as forest trees without identifying their species.
“It is to anticipate the implementation of the REDD scheme,” he said.
The deforestation rate in Indonesia is the highest on the planet with more than 1 million hectares cleared every year due to illegal logging and forest conversion on a grand scale (including palm oil plantations). Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) will allow Indonesia to receive financial benefits by stopping this trend. Environmental activists have said that poor environmental management of oil palm plantations in Indonesia has led to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Indonesian Agricultural Ministry, who manages the sector disagrees and insists that the palm oil industry does not affect the rate of deforestation. Agricultural Minister Suswono claims that the palm oil plantations utilise critical or marginal land into productive land and cover only 7 million hectares or 6% of the country’s total forest area.
Last year the Agricultural Ministry issued a decree that allow palm oil plantations to be developed in Indonesia’s peat land. On hearing this, the Greenomics Indonesia urged the Forestry Ministry to focus on managing industrial forest concessions (HTI) and forest concession holders.
“The ministry’s much-promoted sustainable forest management also remains in question. The Forestry Ministry should focus on its main core business,” Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi told the Post.
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April 4th, 2010 at 3:37 PM
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