A senior official at Indonesia's environment ministry said on Thursday that the extension of forest business moratorium demonstrates the government's strong commitment to forest conservancy.

"The second phase of moratorium would strengthen what we already accomplished (in the first phase) and correct what should be improved," Arif Yuwono, environment damage and climate change deputy at the environment ministry, said on the sidelines of a seminar discussing forest and peatland preservation held here.

"The second phase of the moratorium indicates that government has stepped forward towards better forest management," he said in response to Presidential Decree No. 6/2013 issued on Monday, extending the forest business moratorium which was applied last year till May 20 this year.

The moratorium was part of the government's aim to reduce carbon emission by 26 percent with the country's own efforts and by 41 percent with foreign help by 2020, a target set at the G20 Summit in 2009.

Arif said that in the extended moratorium period, the government should take transparent and innovative moves to address problems lingering in the management of forest and peatland.

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