A number of environmental communities and organizations participated in ‘Melawan Asap’ (Fighting against Smoke) action and made speech along their protest in the front of Zapin Monument and Riau Governor Office, Pekanbaru, on Monday (10/3). On this seventeenth ‘anniversary’ of Riau fires and smog disaster, they demanded immediate and serious handling from the central government and the provincial government of Riau.

PEKANBARU (EoF News)—Jikalahari, environmental organization’s network to save natural forest in Riau, sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week to order the police and prosecutors office to prosecute 14 timber companies which allegedly committing environmental destruction.

The Jakarta Globe -- Oslo. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced on Wednesday that Indonesia would stop issuing new concessions for peatlands and natural forests for two years, effectively imposing a temporary halt on deforestation.

(THE JAKARTA POST/ 9 April 2010) -- Several environmental NGOs met Thursday to compile data on illegal logging activities at the request of the President, who has ordered sterner action against the environmental threat. The NGOs included Greenpeace Indonesia, WWF Indonesia, Forest Watch Indonesia, Sawit Watch Indonesia, Conservation International, Tropenbos Indonesia, the Nature Conservancy and the Center for International Forestry Research.

(The Jakarta Post, 8 April 2010)-- For the second time this week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed concern over illegal logging, ordering the presidential taskforce to probe the practice, which is among the causes of deforestation.

(The Jakarta Globe, 6 April 2010) -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told his ministers on Monday to pay more attention to illegal logging and deforestation, saying the recent natural disasters that had struck the country were the result of environmental destruction.

Today Indonesia officially welcomes President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono to lead the country in overcoming its challenges during the next five years. One of the biggest challenges for the re-elected President is climate change.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged forestry sector companies to run their business fairly by preventing natural forest from ecological damage. The President said in Palembang, South Sumatra, last weekend that governors and regents should be responsible for preventing forest fires as well as haze in their respective areas, Media Indonesia Online reported