A new report by Greenomics Indonesia documents how the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate threatens peatland and forest in Papua province, Indonesia. The moratorium on new forest concessions, part of the US$1 billion Indonesia-Norway REDD deal has no effect whatsoever in limiting the destruction.
Greenomics Indonesia’s report reveals that 400,000 hectares of land, including 350,000 hectares of peatland have been removed from the Moratorium Indicative Map when it was revised on 22 November 2011. More than 200,000 hectares of primary forests remain under threat from MIFEE’s oil palm plantations. The report, “Peatland and forest at serious risk from Merauke food and energy estate development”, can be downloaded here (pdf file, 669 kB).
Greenomics Indonesia’s report compares the Moratorium Indicative map issued on 17 June 2011 with the revision issued on 22 November 2011. The maps clearly show the overlap of MIFEE concessions with peatland or primary forest. In total, Greenomics Indonesia calculates that 406,718 hectares originally included in the moratorium were excised from the revised version of the Moratorium Indicative Map:
The two-year moratorium was introduced in May 2011, several months after the deadline agreed between Norway and Indonesia. During the discussions about the moratorium, several loopholes were inserted, one of which excludes rice and sugar cane concessions.
Clusters VI, VII and IX illustrated on the map above are partly allocated for rice cultivation. But some of the land in these clusters is allocated for livestock production, and growing corn and sago. These land-uses are not excluded from the moratorium.
In total there are 10 MIFEE clusters (or concession areas) covering an area of 1.2 million hectares. More than 200,000 hectares of primary forest are within the MIFEE concession areas. Greenomics Indonesia looks at two MIFEE clusters (IV and X) that are allocated for oil palm concessions. An area of 63,487 hectares of primary forest is indicated on the moratorium maps as primary forest within these two concessions. Greenomics Indonesia points out that,