President Jokowi's directive to implement a moratorium on palm oil and mining was immediately followed up by the Minister of Environment and Forestry. On Tuesday night (19/4/2016), the Minister of Environment and Forestry, Dr. Siti Nurbaya invited the Wali Nanggroe Aceh, Malik Mahmud AL Haytar and the Governor of Aceh, Zaini Abdullah to discuss forestry issues in Aceh, especially in relation to the Leuser Ecosystem Area (KEL) and the Aceh Spatial Plan (RTRWA).

The Minister of Environment and Forestry in his opening remarks said that in relation to climate change, strategic areas such as the Leuser Ecosystem Area need to be managed by considering various perspectives, starting from local, national, regional and global perspectives.

In the meeting that lasted more than four hours at the KLHK office, the Minister of Environment and Forestry explained President Joko Widodo's directive to implement a moratorium on palm oil and mining, which was announced at the National Movement to Save Plants and Animals in the Seribu Islands (14/4/2016).

The Minister of Environment and Forestry said that President Joko Widodo's directive to impose a moratorium on palm oil and mining expansion was a real commitment from the President, especially as an effort by the Indonesian government to increase the productivity of its own natural resources and provide real evidence of Indonesia's contribution in responding to climate change issues.

On that occasion, the Minister of Environment and Forestry, Wali Nanggroe and the Governor of Aceh stated that they would immediately impose a moratorium on palm oil and mining in the Leuser Ecosystem Area and conduct a review of all palm oil and mining permits operating in the Leuser Ecosystem in order to study environmental capacity, community economy, wildlife habitat, and land allocation in the Leuser Ecosystem Area.

During the review period, a temporary halt was carried out on all land clearing operations by palm oil and mining companies located in the Leuser Ecosystem Area.

The meeting was technically facilitated by Greenomics Indonesia, especially in providing technical views on various issues related to the protection of the Leuser Ecosystem Area, both in terms of field perspective and spatially.

The working meeting on Aceh forestry was also attended by Echelon 1 and 2 officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and ranks from the Aceh Government. (Hms)

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