Indonesia

Indonesia is a treasure chest of biodiversity; it is home to between 10 and 15 per cent of all known species of plants, mammals and birds. Orang-utans, elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, more than 1,500 species of birds and thousands of plant species are all a part of the country's natural legacy.

The mass destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands for palm oil and paper threatens this and is the main reason why Indonesia is one of the world's largest emitters of climate changing greenhouse gases.

The lives of millions of Indonesians who depend on the forests for food, shelter and livelihoods are also changing beyond recognition as the forest disappears.

This destruction also threatens our wider world; peatlands are perhaps the world's most critical carbon stores, and Indonesia's peatlands are vast, storing about 35 billion tonnes of carbon. When these peatlands are drained, burned and replaced by plantations, carbon dioxide is released and the conditions are set for devastating forest fires, which were responsible, for instance, for Singapore's 'haze wave' in 2013

The latest updates

 

How rogue palm oil producers are getting away with forest destruction

Blog entry by Wirendro Sumargo | 25 April, 2013 8 comments

It always amazes me how the actions – or rather inaction – of high-level meetings in far-off cities can so seriously impact forests in my own country. Today, an organisation with the declared aim of ensuring environmentally...

A Dirty Business

Publication | 25 April, 2013 at 6:00

This crime file reveals the ongoing rogue activities of one of Indonesia's largest palm oil producers, the Darmex Agro group – generally known as "Duta Palma" – whose illegal and destructive operations were first exposed by Greenpeace...

APRIL, you can’t fool everyone

Blog entry by Bustar Maitar | 12 April, 2013 1 comment

Some companies just don’t get the hint.  You might claim to be sustainable, you might boast of your membership to corporate sustainability groups, and you might bandy around the United Nations to shore up your “green” credentials. ...

International Day of Forests

Slideshow | 21 March, 2013

Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer shows the way

Blog entry by Bustar Maitar | 13 March, 2013

In February 2011 Golden Agri Resources, Indonesia’s largest producer of palm oil, launched an ambitious Forest Conservation Policy. After years of campaigning by Greenpeace and pressure from some of the largest buyers of palm oil for...

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