TEMPO Interactive, Samarinda: The Samarinda Municipal Government, East Kalimantan, will not issue permits for coal mining this year. The regional secretary of the Samarinda Municipal Government, Fadly Illa, said that government will re-evaluate the 44 already issued permits. “There will be no issuance of new permits in 2009. But it will be possible to extend the approved permits,” he said, Wednesday (21/1).

The expansion of plantations supplying the raw materials for biofuels should not come at the expense of food production, an international conference on biofuel was told on Thursday. Connie Lo, a senior consultant at Nexant Asia, said that the use of nonfood feedstocks for biofuel production would improve both food and energy security. Among the most suitable sources of biofuels were jatropha or physic nut, a hardy plant that is drought- and pest-resistant; sweet sorghum; and marine algae.

Indonesia will be unlikely to boost or even maintain its exports of footwear, textiles and ceramics this year as a result of a wave of investment postponements and difficulties in securing financing for buying new equipment, industry associations say.

The government on Wednesday denied allegations that it is imposing non-tariff trade barriers by restricting imports of major goods to five ports and requiring translations of imported food labels. Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Indonesia’s regulations were “consistent” with World Trade Organization rules and were designed to ensure legal imports and restrict smuggling.

The clearing of Indonesia's rainforest for palm oil plantations is having profound effects – threatening endangered species, upending the lives of indigenous people, and releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide, writes Tom Knudson from Yale Environment 360, part of the Guardian Environment Network As a child, Matt Aman grew up in the lush tropical lowland rain forest of Sumatra. Tigers padded through the underbrush, rarely seen and silent as shadows.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Mining investment in Indonesia may drop below $1 billion this year and there may be no fresh projects as metal prices fall and miners await details from a new mining bill, a senior industry official said on Wednesday. Mining investment rose to $1.6 billion in 2008, up from $1.2 billion in 2007, data from the energy and mines ministry show.