Why Start in Indonesia?

Indonesia’s rate of deforestation is the highest in the world and Indonesia is second only to Brazil in terms of hectares of forests being destroyed each year. The forests of Borneo and Sumatra comprise the third largest tropical forest area in the world after Brazil and the Congo. Every year, Indonesia loses close to 2 million hectares of its forest to logging and fires, a rate of forest destruction that is higher than in other developing areas of the world. Aside from the destruction of pristine forests with their incredible biodiversity, the emissions of Carbon Dioxide CO2 from land-use changes and logging in Indonesia are the highest in the world. As a result, Indonesia now ranks as the 3rd highest green house gas emitting country in the world.

It is estimated that without urgent intervention, all lowland rainforests in Borneo, Indonesia, and hence the local communities within them, could be destroyed by 2011. Preliminary assessments also estimate that 30% of the Leuser in Sumatra’s Aceh Province is under threat from deforestation. This will lead to rapid expansion of logging operations into hillside or mountain forests with even more destruction of biodiversity and important watersheds. Given the size and current existing carbon sequestration services that Sumatra and Borneo’s forests provide, the ramifications of such a future could adversely affect civilizations worldwide.