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

 

Wilmar's palm oil promise: One year later

Blog entry by Suzanne Kroger | 5 December, 2014 1 comment

One year ago this week, Wilmar International, the world's biggest trader of palm oil, announced an ambitious No Deforestation, No Peat land, No Exploitation policy. A few months earlier Greenpeace had released evidence of Wilmar...

Saving peatland with the President

Blog entry by Longgena Ginting | 27 November, 2014 3 comments

Today we made history in the protection of Indonesian peatlands. I’ve just got back from a monitoring trip to Sumatra’s devastated peatland forests with Indonesia’s new president Jokowi, where the president witnessed firsthand ongoing...

Momentum builds for No Deforestation palm oil

Blog entry by Suzanne Kroger | 25 November, 2014 4 comments

By now you know the problem: a rapidly expanding palm oil industry, eating up forests, draining carbon-rich peatlands, and sparking conflict with local people and workers. But if you had to guess at what is turning out to be a key...

Forests need laws, not loopholes

Blog entry by Kumi Naidoo | 25 September, 2014 3 comments

Sitting in the towering United Nation's building on New York's east side, it might be hard for world leaders to picture a destroyed forest, but I know just how depressing the site is. In Indonesia, and elsewhere, we've seen vast tracks...

Palm oil companies say they'll put forest destruction on hold. But what happens next?

Blog entry by Annisa Rahmawati | 25 September, 2014

Some of the world’s biggest palm oil companies have suspended their forest destruction. Is this a ceasefire or the end of their war on forests? We refuse to stand by while palm oil companies turn forests to plantations. We started...

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