JAKARTA, March 31 (Reuters) – Forest loss in Indonesia is set to increase by 66% by 2025, the highest rate in eight years due to weak environmental protection and a strong appetite for self-sufficiency in food and energy, an environmental group said on Tuesday.
The archipelago, made up of thousands of islands, has some of the world’s densest forests and biodiversity, but relies heavily on mining and oil palm plantations to support its $1.4 billion economy, the largest in Southeast Asia.
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Auriga Nusantara, a think tank focused on forests and biodiversity in Indonesia, used high-quality satellite images as well as field trips to visit 49,000 hectares of forest across sixteen provinces.
It found that a total of 433,751 hectares (4,338 square kilometers) of forest were purchased last year, which is a remarkable pace from 261,575 hectares in 2024, said Timer Manurung, chairman of Auriga.
“The increase in deforestation in 2025 is really painful, bringing Indonesia back to the time when… (it) was the highest,” he said, noting that the highest rate of deforestation before 2025 was in 2016, when more than a million hectares were removed.
SEEDS FOR FOOD SECURITY AND ENERGY TO REDUCE FOREST LOSS
Manurung identified the Food Security program of President Prabowo Subianto as one of the most contributing factors. The program aims to boost local production of key agricultural products such as rice and reduce Indonesia’s dependence on imports.
The government allocated 20.6 million hectares of forest areas for programs related to food, energy and water by 2025, of which 43% were natural forests. More than 78,000 acres of “food storage forest” were purchased last year, an area the size of New York City, according to Auriga’s figures.
As it clears parts of the island of Borneo to make way for rice fields, Indonesia declared last year that it had achieved self-sufficiency in rice production.
“They are betting, they are speculating… it is peat land and it is not suitable for rice,” Manurung said.
Prabowo’s bioenergy push has also had a major impact, with areas converted to industrial forests to produce biomass and another 37,910 hectares cleared within Indonesia’s vast oil palm reserves.
Another 41,162 hectares of forests were converted to coal, gold and nickel, Manurung said.
Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry told Reuters it would strengthen measures to control deforestation.
“The government continues to review all strategic programs regularly and ensure that their implementation does not neglect forest protection,” it said in a statement.
BORNEO, SUMATRA AND PAPUA WERE HARD HARD
Among Indonesia’s islands, Borneo saw the fastest decline in forest cover last year, with Sumatra and Papua in second and third place. East Kalimantan, where Indonesia’s new capital was planned, was the hardest hit province.
The government must improve regulations to ensure that natural forests are better protected, and should also expand conservation areas outside the forest areas, Manurung said.
“This is a warning that should speed up remedial measures, especially since the upcoming dry season brought by El Nino may cause a greater risk of forest and land fires,” he said.
Report by Ananda Teresia and Bernadette Christina; Edited by David Stanway
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