Indonesia pledges to protect peatlands to fight climate change, haze

[WorldNews]

By Coco Liu HONG KONG (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Environmental activists hailed on Tuesday Indonesia's ban on converting peatlands into plantations but said enforcement was critical to reducing annual fires that shroud parts of Southeast Asia in choking haze. Indonesia announced on Monday that companies were banned from turning peatlands into palm oil and other types of plantations, and must restore peatlands they have degraded. When peatlands are drained or cleared by fire to make way for plantations, the carbon is released into the atmosphere.

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