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Declining deforestation in Indonesia: Anomaly or sustainable trend?
According to data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the country saw a decline in the deforestation rate in 2017, with 480,000 hectares of forest lost, a figure slightly lower than previous years.
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Morning mist is seen above the rainforests of Central Kalimantan — a source of clean air, a regulator of the climate and home to thousands of plant and animal species including the now critically endangered Bornean orangutan. (Greenpeace/Ulet Ifansasti)
Environmentalists were elated in mid-February when news broke that the Indonesian and Norwegian governments had come to an agreement that the later would pay the former for reducing its carbon emissions.
The agreement was part of the countries’ cooperation under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme that was signed in 2010. Norway has also been working with several other countries under similar schemes, such as Brazil, Guyana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Almost a decade after the signing of the US$1 billion pledge with Indonesia to help protect the latter’s tropical forests, Norway agreed to make the first payment after Indonesia reported a drop in the deforestation rate in 2017, according to a statement from the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta on Feb. 16.
According to data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the country saw a decline in the deforestation rate in 2017, with 480,000 hectares of forest lost, a figure slightly lower than previous years. The decrease is believed to have prevented the release of about 4.8 million tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
