The forest moratorium in Indonesia, which started since the issuance of Presidential Instruction No. 10 of 2011, is soon to end with no certainty regarding its future or continuation. Civil society members who are part of the Civil Society Coalition for the Rescue of Indonesian Forests and Global Climate, including HuMa, have been advocating for the continuation of the post-moratorium based on Presidential Instruction 10/2011, which had a validity period of only two years. In commemorating the one-year mark of the moratorium in May 2012, the Coalition launched the Achievement-Based Moratorium document as a policy proposal to the government to extend and strengthen the moratorium with measurable achievement indicators instead of a limited time period.

The Achievement-Based Moratorium document can be downloaded from the following link:

Moratorium-Based-Achievement (2012)

In the past six months and even before, when the moratorium policy itself was still being formulated, discussions on the moratorium and environmental preservation in general have been continuously attacked by the discourse of national interests versus foreign interests, where those advocating and supporting the moratorium are labeled as foreign puppets and destroyers of the nation’s economy (refer to Media Discourse Analysis on Moratorium Issues, HuMa 2011). This discourse is strongly voiced by stakeholders in large-scale forestry, plantation, and mining businesses whose interests are threatened by the enforcement of a strong moratorium, which includes comprehensive law enforcement in the forestry sector, including problematic permits.

The article “Pancasila-Based Forest Moratorium” reveals social and legal arguments emphasizing the urgency of a moratorium not based on time but on achievements, surpassing the current moratorium mandated by Presidential Instruction No. 10/2011, which implementation is still plagued by various issues. Essentially, this article serves as a reminder that amidst the fact that natural resources, especially forests, are NOT being maximized for the people’s prosperity, a forest moratorium is a constitutional act that is pro-Pancasila and actually reflects Indonesia’s true national interests, not the narrow business interests of a few parties manipulated to appear as public interests.

The document can be downloaded here:

Pancasila-Based Moratorium 2011 HuMa