The southeast Asian country is where 10-15 per cent of all known plants, mammals and birds on the planet are found
Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest
Indonesia announced its plans to protect as much as 15 million hectares of rainforest at the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, hosted by the Norwegian Government. This is a 10-fold expansion of the current area protected under forest.
The work is supported by the Bezos Earth Fund and would help the country meet commitments under both the 2015 Paris Agreement and the new Global Biodiversity Framework. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Indonesia and the Bezos Earth Fund at the meeting.
Significantly, around 3.5 million hectares of this rainforest will be assigned to Indigenous communities. Involving the community is a departure from the current situation where indigenous communities have borne the brunt of establishment of palm oil plantations on their land.
Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, with a variety of endangered wildlife and plants. The southeast Asian country is also home to 10-15 per cent of all known plants, mammals and birds on the planet.
The latest move supports the Government of Indonesia’s Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink 2030 agenda put in place in 2022. Under FOLU, the country hopes to manage the forest in such a way that it no longer contributes to the release of greenhouse gas emissions and instead turns into a carbon sink.
“Indonesia is hugely proud of its ambitious FOLU Net Sink 2030 plan and our achievements to date, and this MoU will provide a platform to work with a variety of new partners from across the private and philanthropic sectors as well as adat and local communities to jointly address the challenges of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation and take tangible actions toward achieving our shared climate goals,” said Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya.
However, a recent Greenpeace Indonesia’s report suggests that instead of absorbing emissions, the strategy could instead lead to deforestation and the destruction of natural forests as the strategy promotes industrial plantations. This can exacerbate conflicts with Indigenous and local communities, the report suggests.
A major part of the forest which falls under the 15 million hectares announced now is currently designated as ‘production forest’. Under the project funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, the government also plans to establish new national parks in key biodiversity areas covering at least 2.5 million hectares.
The country also plans to restore 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations back to forests. A task force was formed to identify the oil palm plantations on protected land and close them. It is worth noting that as much as half of the palm plantations are in forests. There are also reports that deforestation for oil palm plantations has increased during 2022-2023 in Indonesia after a near decade long decline in forest loss according to an analysis.
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