Green groups slam new way of regulating oil palm plantations in Indonesia

JAKARTA - Environmentalists have slammed a move by the Indonesian government to let a three-year moratorium on new permits for oil plantations to lapse, describing the move as a setback to efforts to curb deforestation and for the country to achieve its climate goals.

The moratorium ended on Sept 19 and a senior official at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Dr Musdhalifah Machmud, has said that henceforth, a new omnibus Job Creation Law would be used to deal with issues around sustainable palm oil production.