November 21, 2009
JAKARTA (AFP) - Hundreds of Greenpeace activists rallied Saturday in support of a commitment by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation.
About 200 people rallied in the capital displaying banners that said "Enough, stop destroying our forests" and "Stop talking, start acting".
"We urge SBY to keep his promise in reducing emissions, especially from deforestation," Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi said, referring the president by his initials.
"He promised to reduce emissions of up to 41 percent," Indradi said.
Yudhoyono said at the G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh in September that Indonesia had decided on a national climate
change action plan that would reduce its emissions by 26 percent by 2020.
Yudhoyono added that Indonesia could reduce emissions by as much as 41 percent with international assistance.
"We also want to support the act from our fellow activists in Riau province... to stop the destruction of peatlands in the area,"
Indradi said.
Riau, on Sumatra island, is where most of the deforestation is taking place in Indonesia.
Rampant deforestation, which makes ways for palm oil and acacia plantation areas, makes Indonesia the world's third-largest
greenhouse gas emitters, according to some estimates.
