Jakarta, Ekuatorial – Only a month being issued, green activist on Thursday (23/10) demanded to revise government regulation on peatland fearing that it would just only bring more destruction.
On Sept 16, then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono finally signed the-highly-anticipated Government Regulation (PP) on Peatland Protection and Management. However, green activists have been heavily protesting on the draft as they considered it to be halfhearted in protecting the country’s peatland.
Teguh Surya, forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, said the regulation could be implemented but it would need to revise some of it clauses, particularly on its transitional clause. “There are articles too confusing and contradictory. Some articles are banning drainage of peatland, meanwhile, other articles allowed it,” said Surya at a discussion in Jakarta.
“So, there should be a revision on the regulation, especially on transitional clause,” he added. One of the transitional clauses, he said, allowed business permits issued before the regulation to continue until expiration dates. “This is very risky because it’s already against the law to issue permits over peatland so why they are given the chance until its expiration date. It’ll just damaging our peat,” he said firmly.
Furthermore, he said that there was no database on peatland cover in the country. “It is important for public to know the country’s peat cover and how much they have been changed [into other uses]. If we ran out of peat, so what’s the use is this regulation,” he said.
He also questioned on business people’s claim to have used environmentally friendly technology to manage peas as peat fires were still going on for 17 years.
In the same event, Arief Yuwono, deputy for environmental damage control and climate change at the ministry of environment, said that the regulation was a tough negotiation, particularly on the transitional clause. “We have tried to mediate between business and environment,” said Yuwono. But, he said that the regulation was important because peatland must be protected.
The new regulation stipulated peatland which must be protected are 30 percent from the total peat hydrological unit, three meters deep or more, contain specific or endemic germplasm and endangered species, and peats which have been included at the regional spatial planning. Meanwhile, peat with no more than 0.4 meters of water level are allowed to be cultivated. Januar Hakam
Read also :
One Map policy not sufficient for Indonesia’s peatland, experts say