RI prepares pilot project for Norway deal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/29/2010 10:36 AM

The government is determining which province will be the host of a pilot project for the implementation of the Indonesian-Norway forestry deal, says a minister.

“We will choose one of five provinces that are eligible to host the pilot project,” Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa told journalists on Wednesday after a meeting at the ministry. He was accompanied by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

The five provinces under consideration are Papua, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Jambi and Riau. Hatta said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would decide which province would be chosen to host the pilot project under the agreement.

“We will choose one. It will be directly decided by the President,” he said, without further detail.

Zulkifli said all five provinces had the potential to host the pilot project. “We have selected [the five] from the country’s provinces. All five provinces have potential,” he said.

The Indonesian and Norwegian governments signed an agreement on May 26 to reduce Indonesia’s carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as part of the REDD+ scheme. The agreement requires Indonesia to stop conversions of primary forests and peatlands into oil palm plantations for two years. In return, Norway will provide a compensation of US$1 billion (Rp 9 trillion) for the moratorium.

Hatta said the government was preparing a measuring, reporting and verifying mechanism (MRV) for the project.

“We have prepared our MRV to ascertain if the project will be able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions during the implementation of the agreement, to support our national interests. We need such a MRV. It is still being prepared. I hope it can be completed in October,” he said. (ebf)

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