Indonesian Rainforests Are Being Preserved At Incredible Rates Following Palm Oil Moratorium

Tropical rainforests are found everywhere, but in some countries, these fertile areas are slowly being depleted. The poor animals have lost their homes because of greed and the extreme desire for progress. It’s a sad fact that continues to plague the world time and again.

Then, there are actually those that take action. There are people who are aware of the importance of these rainforests and how the biome is vital to the ecology’s balance. While progress is good, there must be a limit to how much of nature man can actually touch.

It is a fact that Indonesia holds one-third of the world’s total tropical rainforests. This has been considered home to several people as well as a variety of birds, leopards, rhinos, tigers, and gibbons. These creatures have traipsed and played among the lush canopies. Hence, several folks have recently banded together to protect and help those living in these crucial places. Every creature deserves to thrive and they have finally found a way.

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How was Indonesia able to protect its rainforest? The indigenous tribes, orangutans, and so many more now have earned a seat at the table. They are all under the stewardship of Indonesian President Joko Widodo who was elected in 2014.

Since Widodo administration, there has been a significant improvement with the areas in the country. He has shepherded land-use reforms and reestablished logging moratorium. And at this point, he has achieved four straight years of declines in terms of deforestation. This steady work finally culminated in 2020 when Indonesia managed to achieve its lowest forest-loss rates since the people started to closely monitor it. Right now, a total of 75 percent drop year-over-year has been made.


The country has actually been the largest producer of palm oil. They had opened their doors for years been to companies open for business. They welcomed those looking to open a plantation. However, a moratorium on new permits for plantations made permanent in 2019 under the president has combined with record-low prices for the commodity to slow its once unabating forward movement.

Half of the square-mileage of Indonesia’s 17,500 islands is now covered in forests, peatlands, swamps, and mangroves. In those wonderful environments are many truly amazing and iconic animals. All of them have depended on the surrounding forests for survival. Among the creatures are the orangutan on Sumatra, the Komodo dragon on Komodo, the rhinos on Java, the starlings on Bali, the dwarf buffalo on Sulawesi, and the Sunda clouded leopard on Kalimantan.

Now, there are also policies set in place to return 30 million acres (12M hectares) to Indigenous governance. There are also forest fire mitigation strategies, increased penalties and enforcement of environmental laws, and many other efforts that are designed to provide hope to the nation who also wants to protect its habitat, restore its remaining forests, and reduce emissions. These regulations have all been aligned with the agreements made to the Paris Accord.


Ruandha Agung Suhardiman, director general of planning at the ministry, spoke to Mongabay about this and said, “This [drop in deforestation] shows that various efforts done by the Ministry Environment and Forestry lately have produced significant results. Their impact on reducing deforestation is tremendous.”

This has been considered a positive change in terms of forestation practices. The efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by just its local, but the Norwegian government as well. The first installment of a €1 billion reward arrived in the country after almost a decade upon signing an agreement that stated how it would compensate government agencies if they could find ways to reduce forest loss.

Oyvind Eggen, a director at Rainforest Foundation Norway, told Reuters, “It is a big deal because it reflects the fact that Indonesia has turned (a corner), and that is great news for all of us,”

 

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