"One of the causes of deforestation in Indonesia is the clearing of land to make way for palm oil plantations," Muhammad Ichwan, an activist of JPIK, an Indonesian NGO, noted in a press release here on Monday.
On the basis of the 2020 data of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), palm oil plantations in forest areas currently span 3,443,508 hectares.
Ichwan believes this is a quite large figure and could pose a serious threat to primary forests in Indonesia.
"Since the 2019-2020 period, 158 cases of illegal logging activities were handled by legal enforcers," he pointed out.
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On the basis of these facts, the JPIK estimated that the current threat of the rate of deforestation will continue to increase.
Ichwan also opined that the issuance of Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister's Regulation, Permen-LHK No. 24 of 2020 on Food Estate, will open up space for massive land clearing, including in protected forests, thereby leading to an estimated potential loss of one million cubic meters of logs.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Forestry Planning and Environmental Management of the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Forestry, however, recently noted that deforestation in Indonesia had decreased by 75.03 percent during the 2019-2020 period.
In a statement issued on March 3, 2021, the ministry stated that during the 2018-2019 period, the area of deforestation had totaled 462.46 thousand hectares, while during the 2019-2020 period, it had declined to 115.46 thousand hectares. Related news: Deforestation threatens orangutan population
Translator: Destyan HS, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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