Jakarta Globe, Josua Gantan, May 02, 2014
Jakarta. In November 2013, a group of researchers who partnered with Google and NASA noted that there was an alarming increase in the rate of deforestation in Indonesia. Through satellite mapping technologies, the researchers found that the rate of deforestation in Indonesia had doubled between 2000 and 2012.
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| The rate of deforestation has doubled since the start of the century, according to one group of researchers. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal) |
Jakarta. In November 2013, a group of researchers who partnered with Google and NASA noted that there was an alarming increase in the rate of deforestation in Indonesia. Through satellite mapping technologies, the researchers found that the rate of deforestation in Indonesia had doubled between 2000 and 2012.
Indeed, the
deforestation rate in Indonesia has increased from about 10,000 square
kilometers per year in 2000-03, to nearly 20,000 square kilometers per year
between by 2011-12.
The group
of scientists who conducted the study consisted of researchers from 15
universities, led by Matthew Hansen, a professor of geographical science from
the University of Maryland. Their observations were published in the journal
Science last year.
The issue
of deforestation in Indonesia has grown more serious than ever before. The
environmental damage that deforestation has caused and continues to cause in
Indonesia has given rise to more frequent floods, permanent land subsidence and
the demise of endangered animals. Increased deforestation also contributes to
rising temperatures in the archipelago.
“The
argument is always … we need economic development. But the damage, the costs,
are generally ignored. Indonesia stands to lose,” Erik Meijaard, a researcher
with the organization People and Nature Consulting International, said in
Jakarta on Wednesday.
Deforestation
in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, has given rise
to the higher frequency of flooding in the region, which impacts the people who
live there.
“The floods
are getting more severe. Every year 500,000 people in Kalimantan are displaced
by floods,” Meijaard said.
He added
there was also a steep increase in temperatures in places where the forest had
been cleared away.
“[When] you
degrade the forest, your average temperature rises by 10 degrees,” Meijaard
said.
He said
that as a result of rising temperatures due to the deforestation, agricultural
yields in the region were lower.
Meijaard
said the consulting firm he represented had interviewed more than 8,000 people
from villages across Kalimantan to try to understand how deforestation was
affecting them.
One major
problem is the subsidence and severe degradation of land, as floods and the
absence of vegetation to hold the topsoil in place leads to erosion.
“I’m
baffled. People tell me that Indonesia can lose 10 percent of its land if it
keeps developing its peat at today’s rate,” Meijaard said.
The
clearing of forests and peatlands through slash-and-burn methods to make way
for agricultural land has regularly generated choking haze that has spread as
far as Singapore and Malaysia and prompted international outrage and
condemnation.
The burning
of trees and beat swamps also releases millions of tons of carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas, exacerbating the effects of global warming and climate change.
International
gathering
The
Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) will on Monday
and Tuesday host the Forests Asia Summit in Jakarta, one of the biggest
gatherings of its kind in recent years, bringing together government officials,
business executives, civil society leaders, development experts and the world’s
top scientists.
CIFOR says
the meeting will allow participants “to share knowledge on how the region can
accelerate the shift toward a green economy by better managing its forests and
landscapes.”
As an
archipelago, Indonesia’s biodiversity is unique. Islands like the Galapagos
have distinct species, and Indonesia is the same in this respect, boasting
animal and plant species that are found nowhere else on Earth.
Among these
is the orangutan, which today faces the threat of extinction as its forest
habitats in Sumatra and Kalimantan are razed by palm oil and pulp and paper
companies.
Ian
Singleton from the Orangutan Project, an organization working to conserve the
endangered ape, says deforestation in Indonesia is responsible for the deaths
of countless endangered species such as the orangutan, the Sumatran elephants,
the tiger and the Sumatran rhino.
He said the
process of converting natural forests to oil palm plantations through
slash-and-burn clearing had proven deadly for the animals.
“Almost
nothing survives the conversion process. Not even the smallest lizards,”
Singleton said.
He showed
photographs of dead orangutans, their limbs disfigured, and said they were
victims of Indonesia’s relentless deforestation drive.
With the
country’s natural forests dwindling, iconic species like the orangutan and the
Sumatran tiger also risk disappearing from the face of the Earth,
conservationists warn.
Bali and
Java were once home to their own tiger sub-species, but hunting and the
clearing of forests led to their extinction. The Sumatran tiger, the last
sub-species of the big cat remaining in Indonesia, numbers only around 400 in
the wild, but continues to be driven out of its natural habitat.
Singleton
also showed photos of chained orangutans, kept as pets. Despite the poor
conditions in which many are kept, including running the risk of exposure to
infectious diseases from humans, Singleton says these are the “lucky ones”
because they are still alive.
He says
many of the people and companies involved in the clearing of forests and
killing of orangutans — seen as pests by oil palm farmers — have little regard
for the country’s laws on environmental and wildlife conservation.
He argues
that law enforcement in this respect is deficient, pointing out that the few
offenders who are caught never go to court to face charges.
“Despite
all the coverage, it hasn’t made one bit of difference. Nobody has been
prosecuted. Loose law enforcement is business as usual,” Singleton said.
BeritaSatu
Media Holdings, with which Jakarta Globe is affiliated, is a media partner of
the Forests Asia Summit.
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