Indonesian President Joko Widodo reaffirmed his commitment to climate leadership this week byrenewingIndonesia’snational forest moratorium, which prohibits new licenses to clear key forest areas. While theenvironmental benefitsare well-recognized, the move should also be hailed as a win for businesses and local producers.

Thanks to its large swaths of land, tropical climate, abundant labor and proximity to major markets, Indonesia iswell-placedto cash in on the growing global demand for commodities like palm oil, timber, sugar, rice, pulp and paper. The potential profits from these products are sometimes seen as conflicting with efforts like the forest moratorium. But research and experience show that the policy may actually boost current and future economic prosperity.

保存森林以增强商品生产

Forest and commodity-based exports are important economic drivers for Indonesia,contributing $21 billion到国家GDP并雇用了近400万人。在2008年（可获得数据的最新一年）棕榈油（印尼最大的农业出口出口）中，棕榈油的外汇产生了124亿美元，大约10亿美元的出口税。

However, commodities production often grows at the expense of primary forests and peatlands. Agricultural expansion accounts fortwo-thirds印度尼西亚森林砍伐，尽管树覆盖损失has slowed recently，印度尼西亚仍然平均每年损失约50万公顷（超过一百万英亩）的初级森林。

因此，印度尼西亚的森林用光了。如果基于森林和商品的行业继续专注于清理森林扩大，它们可能会阻碍自己的长期增长。相反，生产商应改善他们如何管理现有的农业土地并投资于零供供应方法的扩张方法。通过保护原主要森林和泥炭地，暂停将鼓励这些行业进行改变，以确保其持续的成功。

生产更多的同时清除少

通过限制敏感森林中的新优惠，暂停可能有助于限制不可持续的扩张，而刺激公司更有效，有效地使用现有的农田。在巴西的亚马逊上，这已经有效了moratorium on soy expansion大大降低了与大豆相关的森林砍伐的速度（请参见下图）。在巴西暂停之前，有30％的大豆扩张引起了森林砍伐。然后，只有1％did. Crucially,soy production doubledacross the region during the same period as farmers increased yields and planted on previously cleared lands.

Source: Macedo et al.
Source: Macedo et al.

Indonesia’s major agricultural sectors have the same potential. For palm oil, WRI research确定4.5 million hectares (11 million acres) of degraded land in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) alone that is potentially suitable for sustainable production based on economic and environmental factors (legal and social viability would need to be determined through field assessments). Selective breeding of oil palms can also produce plants that yield8-12吨每公顷粗棕榈油（每英亩约4-5吨），高于行业平均水平大约4吨每公顷（每英亩大约2吨）。同时获得资本，良好的种植材料和其他农艺实践can boost小农户的收益率。

保护景观保护利润

Preserving forest landscapes is critical for smallholders’ economic vitality. Healthy forests provide many ecosystem services, including the provision of raw materials, soil fertility, nutrient cycling and flood and erosion control. Protecting these services will extend the productivity of agricultural lands and ensure that smallholder producers have a long-term source of income.

确保长期进入国际市场

As pressure mounts globally to address climate issues and demand rises for sustainable products, over 250 corporations have made零福雷斯特承诺, with more companies expected to follow.

Ninety-six percentof global oil palm production now falls under a no-deforestation commitment. The热带森林联盟召集了47个政府，公司和民间社会团体，以从棕榈油，大豆，牛肉，纸张以及纸浆供应链中取消热带森林砍伐。这印度尼西亚棕榈油承诺将全球五分之三的全球油棕精炼能力放在类似的承诺下。

Globally, the share of commodity markets that accepts only sustainable products is growing. Buyers in the EU and North America, regions that emphasize zero-deforestation,进口20％在印度尼西亚的商品中，尽管亚洲和其他地方对可持续采购产品的需求正在增长。暂停提供了一个拥抱这一势头的机会，并避免被零供供应链排除在外。

Eliminating forest-resource extraction and agricultural expansion into primary forests could increase Indonesia’s competitive advantage for meeting this demand. Strict adherence to a strong, well-monitored moratorium could remove deforestation from supply chains, making it easier for producers to meet criteria regarding land-use change as laid out by certification programs like theRSPO和FSC。In turn, Indonesia producers may enjoy a more streamlined process—which can otherwise be time-consuming and expensive for companies and especially smallholders—to reach buyers who require certification.

Environment and Economy: Friends not Foes

Economic prosperity doesn’t have to compete with policies designed to protect forests and stop climate change. Well designed, strongly enforced policies can help countries meet their climate goals在实现可持续经济增长的同时。暂停是一个很好的例子。对于印度尼西亚，减少排放并建立了在林业和商品行业中长期经济活力的系统，可以在利润和森林保护之间找到愉快的中间立场。