Rita A.Widiadana and Wasti Atmodjo, Nusa Dua – The governors of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Papua and West Papua committed to significantly reducing deforestation in their areas at a climate change conference in Bali on Thursday.

In a declaration issued during the Governors Roundtable on Climate Change here at the Westin Resort in Nusa Dua, Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu and West Papua Governor Abraham O. Atururi agreed to a joint policy of environmentally friendly, sustainable economic development of greenhouse emissions and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.

The meeting was jointly organized by the World Bank, the Australian government, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and a number of other organizations.

"We are realizing our special position as stewards of the largest natural forests in Indonesia," the governors declared. Aceh and Papua are autonomous provinces with significant forest cover that until recently remained relatively untouched due to years of political conflict.

Aceh has around 3,127,134 hectares of forest land, while the total forest area of Papua and West Papua stands at 42,224,840 hectares and covers approximately 95 percent of the total land area. However, during the last two years, these provinces have experienced significant increases in deforestation.

In Aceh, illegal logging has grown to satisfy the increased timber demand following the 2004 tsunami, while in Papua, deforestation has long been driven by illegal logging and by a surge in the conversion of forests into palm oil plantations caused by rising global demand for biofuel.

Deforestation was the main reason Indonesia is ranked as the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses after the United States and China.

"By focusing on reducing emissions from deforestation, our provinces call for guidance from the central government and the support of the international community through carbon financing mechanisms and the transfer of technology that will protect our forests and provide income to local communities," the governors said.

Irwandi said Aceh would implement a temporary moratorium on all logging in May.Through this moratorium, Aceh will have breathing time to review the current status of its forest, including forest cover, concessions and sustainable production capacity," he said.

The moratorium will allow the province to design a proper forest development and management strategy and implement stronger and more effective law enforcement.

"This policy clearly sends a message to the international community that we are willing to stop deforestation. However, the province expects new revenues from trade, not only aid, in environmental services," Irwandi said.

Meanwhile, both Suebu and Atuturi committed to prohibiting log exports, which they said had not benefited the local people in past. Papua and West Papua will also revoke the licenses of forest concession holders unless they add value and develop forest industries in the two provinces.

Both provinces are committed to developing a pilot project that encompasses these policies in an area of no less than 500,000 hectares of forested land and to reallocate up to five million hectares of conversion forest for carbon trading.

Frank Momberg, FFI Asia director for program development said the group applauded the three governors' pledges to drastically reduce deforestation. Meanwhile, the Australian government has committed AU$200 million to support practical and immediate action to reduce deforestation, support reforestation and implement sustainable forest management. A significant proportion of the funds are likely to be directed to Indonesia.