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

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Sad, scared, alone. The baby orangutan orphaned by the plantation industry

Blog entry by Zamzami | 13 November, 2015 3 comments

For half an hour Otan wouldn't let go. Only eight months old, he already had a vice-like grip, his nails digging so deep they left half-moon imprints in the skin of his carer. If there were trees, Otan would be swinging freely from...

4 ways to STOP Indonesia's forest fires

Blog entry | 2 November, 2015 8 comments

A brief spell of rainfall in Indonesia has minimised the number of fire hotspots that have been broadcasting toxic smoke across the country...for now. Here are four ways to #StoptheHaze…once and for all. 13-yr old sister holds...

"I'm tired of being made sick by this smoke"

Blog entry | 28 October, 2015

22 year old Indonesian student, Rahmi Carolina has spent her entire life living with the haze. Each year, as the fires rage and grow more intense, so does she. So she's using social media and doing something about it. Elementary...

The generation living under Indonesia's deadly forest fires

Blog entry by Zamzami | 7 October, 2015 1 comment

The impacts of Indonesia’s forest fires are being felt most amongst Indonesia’s young, turning them into the “haze generation”. I flew from Jakarta and landed in the city of Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, in...

Choked in smoke - living in the thick of Indonesia’s haze

Blog entry | 11 September, 2015 2 comments

Smoke caused by forest fires and peatland destruction, is covering about 80% of Sumatra, Indonesia. And it seems like no matter how far you try to escape, the smoke follows. My wife and daughter should be at our home in...

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