Our Forests for Climate tour reaches Indonesia

The Esperanza arrived in Jayapura, in the Indonesian province of Papua, to an energetic welcome. A troupe of traditional dancers and local dignitaries (including the mayor of Jayapura) gave their support to our campaign.

"Forests for Climate" isn't only the tag for this tour - it's also the name of a landmark proposal Greenpeace has developed for an international funding mechanism to protect tropical forests.

Find out how protecting forests saves the global climate

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Our Indonesian tour follows a successful six-week tour of neighbouring Papua New Guinea. We'll start with the provinces of Papua and West Papua, which represent the last frontier of intact ancient forests in the country. Over the next six weeks, the Esperanza will tour the archipelago to document the threats to forests of Papua and Sumatra and expose the companies and politicians responsible. We'll also talk about the solutions that can permanently protect the remaining forests.

The undiscovered forest

Papua is one half of the remote and mountainous New Guinea island. It includes the largest area of remaining forest in Indonesia. This really is the last frontier, as the forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan (on the island of Borneo) are largely gone or degraded. The region is home to hundreds of distinct tribes and clans with a corresponding range of cultural diversity. For biodiversity it is second to none, with animals and plants new to science being recorded on a regular basis.

Meet the wildlife of the Paradise Forests

We now also realise that these forests are vitally important when it comes to climate change. The trees and soil act as huge carbon stores and cutting them down releases that carbon in the form of greenhouse gases. Indonesia is the third largest greenhouse emitter on the planet, largely due to clearing the forest for palm oil plantations.

This 5-minute video explains how palm oil plantations are cooking the planet:

The solution

A moratorium on all deforestation across Indonesia will provide the breathing space needed to work on plans to safeguard the forests' future. The Indonesian government should place the moratorium but it also needs the palm oil industry to provide ministers the space to do so.

Greenpeace has been working with companies such as Unilever to build a coalition in favour of an immediate moratorium on forest conversion for palm oil and insisting their palm oil suppliers do not clear further forests.

The effects of climate change are impacting around the world. Time is running out to prevent the worst predictions becoming true. We still have time if we act now.