INDONESIA HALTS NEW LOGGING PERMITS
Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesia's new Minister of Environment and Forestry, has announced a moratorium on the issuance of all new logging permits, noting that the moratorium will be in place until the process for issuing the permits has been found to be "fair, accurate, clear and accountable, which means that the procedure is clear and the result is certain." The ministry has indicated it expects the moratorium to last four to six months. Conservation groups praised the decision as evidence that the government is interested in reforming the nation's notoriously corrupt forestry sector, but emphasized that the success of the action will depend on how rigorously the moratorium is enforced and the quality and extent of industry reforms implemented during this time period. For the full story, see: http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1120-eshelman-indonesia-logging-moratorium.html#sthash.gVaaDU4v.dpbs.