JAKARTA Deforestation associated with palm oil in the region covering Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea has declined for the second straight year, a new analysis shows, dropping to its lowest level since 2017. The decline bucks concerns that palm oil deforestation would experience a surge last year, following the 2020 downturn, on the […]
JAKARTA Deforestation for new oil palm plantations in Indonesia has decreased over the past decade, strengthening the case that palm oil doesn’t have to be associated with the destruction of forests, according to a new analysis. The findings from the environmental NGO Auriga came from comparing forest cover in 2000 with 2019 in areas […]
A million hectares of Papuan forest licensed for clearing, report shows
Natural forests spanning 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) in Indonesia’s Papua region have been slated for conversion, mostly for oil palm plantations, according to a new report by a coalition of NGOs.
For now, more than 99% of the forests are still standing, but activists warn they will be vulnerable after a moratorium on new oil palm plantations expires at the end of the year.
The deforestation of these natural forests could be devastating for the Indigenous communities and rich wildlife and plants of this biodiverse region.
JAKARTA “Birds might fall as they’re not strong since there’s no more trees standing.”
Papua deforestation highlights eastward shift of Indonesia forest clearing
Deforestation is increasing in forest-rich regions in Indonesia, even as the government claims the national average has gone down, a new report shows.
The NGOs behind the report attribute the decline in the national deforestation rate to the fact that there’s virtually no forest left to clear in parts of Sumatra and Borneo.
Instead, deforestation has moved east, largely to the Papua region, home to nearly two-fifths of Indonesia’s remaining rainforest an area the size of Florida where companies are clearing land for oil palm and pulpwood plantations and mines.