T

he Environment and Forestry Ministry'€™s deputy for environmental damage control and climate change, Arief Yuwono, said the government may issue another presidential instruction (Inpres) to extend a moratorium on new forest permits.

Despite calls to issue a regulation that carries more weight as a stronger deterrent to agroforestry companies, he said the ministry considered an Inpres strong enough to enforce a logging ban.

'€œNo regulation stands alone, and the current Inpres has been strong enough in curbing deforestation,'€ he said on Monday.

Arief said the draft of the new Inpres was being reviewed by the Cabinet Secretariat.

Environmental activists and observers have called on the government to issue a stronger regulation to curb deforestation.

Greenpeace Indonesia has called on President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to extend the logging moratorium, which expires on Wednesday, in order to save forests.

Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi said that in a matter of hours, the moratorium would come to an end, posing new threats to forests, such as logging and forest conversion.

Yuyun said that on top of the President'€™s promise to extend the moratorium, the government should also strengthen it.

'€œ[By] beefing up the moratorium, the President would show his strong commitment to saving the remaining 93.6 million hectares of forests nationwide. If the government fails to do so, it will be a setback and put the forests under serious threat,'€ he said.