Indonesia: Ban on logging largest hi-emmission generating peatbogs is lifted

Indonesia has lifted a yearlong moratorium on the use of peatland
forests by palm oil companies, a senior Agriculture Ministry official
said Wednesday, angering environmental groups who say the decision
will contribute to global warming.

Get full text; support writer, producer of the words:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/18/asia/AS-Indonesia-Peatland-Forests.php

This issue also covered here: Poor Spatial Planning jeopardizes
forests

The government will start issuing permits — which have been withheld
since December 2007 — immediately in areas that meet certain criteria
on the depth of the peat, mineral quality and other issues, said Ahmad
Manggabarani, without elaborating.

Indonesia is the third-highest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the United States, largely because much of the palm oil on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is planted on carbon-rich peatland that must be drained first, releasing millions more tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Manggabarani said the decision to start reissuing permits was based on the desire to increase productivity of palm oil, which is used for cooking,
cosmetics and as a cleaner-burning biofuel. The country is already the
world’s top producer of the commodity. “We are disappointed,” said
Bustar Maitar, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner. “We had
hoped after a year, the freeze would be permanent.”

Get full text; support writer, producer of the words:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/18/asia/AS-Indonesia-Peatland-Forests.php