LHK Minister: The President's Message Is Clear, There Must Be A Balance

President Jokowi and Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya (Photo from BPMI Doc)

JAKARTA - Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK) Siti Nurbaya reaffirmed President Joko Widodo's message. Every development carried out by the government must be in line with policies to reduce deforestation and emissions.

"The President's message is clear. There must be a balance. President Jokowi also emphasized that every Ministry in building anything must pay attention to the environment and its impacts. That message has been realized in the field work steps that have been ongoing for some time," said Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya in Glasgow , last week.

In the last 6-7 years, Indonesia has clearly demonstrated its commitment in the form of real work in the field, especially in reducing deforestation and reducing emissions.

In 2020, the deforestation rate dropped drastically to only 115.2 thousand ha. This year's deforestation rate is the lowest deforestation rate in the last 20 years.

Forest and land fires (karhutla) can also be reduced by 82 percent in 2020, when the world is experiencing extreme weather which causes countries such as America, Canada, and others to experience forest and land fires.

"We are grateful that in 2019 and 2020, Indonesia was able to avoid the duet of the forest fires and corona smoke disasters, given the extreme weather that is hitting the world," said Minister Siti.

Other government policies include a moratorium on primary forest and peat covering an area of 66 million ha, structuring regulations, controlling and restoring peatlands of approximately 3.4 million ha.

In addition, optimization of unproductive lands, law enforcement, restoration, forest rehabilitation for plant enrichment and increased carbon sequestration are also carried out.

"Since 2019 the President has increased replanting 10 times, and forest management is sustainable," said Minister Siti.

Controlling plantation forests in about 14 million plantation forests by, among others, reduce impact logging methods and social forestry management for small farmers. Until 2021, approximately 4.7 million ha have been distributed to the community, and it is projected that by completion it will reach 12.7 million ha.