Friski Riana, Jakarta – Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner M. Iqbal Damanik on Thursday responded to a Tweet from Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya who commented that ending deforestation will not stop the current government's major infrastructure development.
Damanik believes the minister's statement contradicts Indonesia's commitment to put an end to deforestation by 2030.
"It's a contradiction to what the Minister expressed in her Tweet stating that [zero deforestation] will not stop the major development under the President's era," said Damanik to Tempo on November 4.
Another aspect the watchdog objects to is that Minister Nurbaya gave a theoretical example where roads construction will be barred in Kalimantan and Sumatra if zero deforestation is implemented.
"What's been criticized by civilian groups all these times is against large-scale deforestation motivated by industrial mechanisms, such as industrial forest," he said.
Citing the records from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Greenpeace Indonesia said only 17,097 hectares have been used for non-mining development such as toll roads, public roads, telecommunication network, electrical grids, and geothermal. However, 305,070 hectares were used for mining purposes.