An environmental organisation has welcomed Indonesia's three year moratorium on new palm oil developments but says more needs to be done, with many already in operation in places like Papua province.
Forest clearance and oil palm plantation in Bairaman, Papua New Guinea. Photo: Global Witness
Mighty Earth's director for South East Asia Phil Aikman said while the presidential instruction carried some weight it was not legally binding and only applied to areas controlled by the central government.
Mr Aikman said this meant a lot of existing palm oil operations who have already got their permits would continue to operate.
He also said the three year duration was not long enough to have any significant impact on reducing deforestation.
"We cannot afford in the world to keep going down a road of deforestation otherwise we won't meet the Paris Agreement.
"The Paris Agreement basically means that we need to have rapid cuts in emissions from fossil fuels but we also need to see rapid cuts in emissions from deforestation and fires etc, etc. And the timeline to achieve that is very short.
"You know we are talking big cuts within the next decade."
