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The causes

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A logging truck carries timber along a deep road that cuts through
ancient forest in Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea (September 2005).

A logging truck carries timber along a deep road through ancient forest in Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea (September 2005).

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Destruction of the Paradise Forests is down to greedy companies and governments that turn a blind eye.

The astounding destruction in the Paradise Forests is caused by:

illegal and destructive logging
resulting forests fires and peatland burning
land clearing for oil palm plantations and agriculture

Illegal and destructive logging

The world’s grasping consumer demand for cheap timber products – such as plywood, lumber, furniture and paper – drives the greedy corporations that profit by logging the Paradise Forests. Around the world, governments allow imports of illegal timber from the Paradise Forests, feeding demand and ensuring ready markets for logging companies. Within the region, corruption and bribery among companies and government officials is rife.

While the logging companies and corrupt governments profit from illegal and destructive logging, landowners suffer abuse and loss of their forest for sustenance and their own ecologically sustainable industries.

Hear voices from the forest

Palm oil plantations

Worldwide demand for palm oil is growing and Indonesia's forests are being cleared for palm oil plantations. Beneath much of this forest are thick layers of peat that lock up billions of tones of carbon. Once the forest is cleared the peat swamp is drained and often burned to make the soil more suitable for plantation. Burning the forest and peat results in massive emissions of greenhouse gases, making Indonesia the world's third largest climate polluter.

Indonesia's peatlands only cover 0.1 per cent of the land on Earth, but thanks in part to the activities of the palm oil industry they contribute 4 per cent to global emissions. If expansion of the palm oil industry continues unabated, that figure can only rise.