POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has revealed a dramatic fall in the country’s deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period, down 75.03% compared to deforestation in the 2018/2019 period.
Deforestation of 462.5 thousand hectares took place in the 2018/2019 period, plummeting to just 115.5 thousand hectares in the 2019/2020 period. These figures refer to net deforestation.
“The new figure represents an extremely sharp decline in deforestation nationwide during the pandemic, completely contradicting claims from others about an increase in deforestation during 2020 in Indonesia," Minister Nurbaya said in a virtual discussion held yesterday (Mar 2).
She said that the three-quarters reduction in the deforestation rate from the pre-pandemic period of 2018/2019 keeps Indonesia on its consistent, year-to-year reduced deforestation corridor, which looks set to continue at least until 2024 when the Joko Widodo presidency comes to an end.
“As I have emphasized repeatedly, evidence always speaks more loudly and clearly than words. The 75% decrease in the deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period constitutes evidence, not a perception,” she said.
The following chart shows the plunge in the deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period compared to that in the 2018/2019 period. This, in the view of Minister Nurbaya, provides clear evidence of the trend of declining deforestation in Indonesia, before and during the pandemic.
In fact, according to the minister, the trend of declining deforestation in Indonesia prior to the 2019/2020 period stretches back as far as 2011/2012, as demonstrated in the chart below.
With regard to the level of deforestation in Papua and West Papua, Minister Nurbaya explained that Indonesia’s two most easterly provinces accounted for only 7.4% of the 115.5 thousand hectares deforested during the 2019/2020 period.
A newly-published report by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Feb 15) explains that evidence derived from satellite-based monitoring indicates there had been close to zero deforestation of the 1.26 million hectares of areas with good forest cover, equivalent to over 17 times the size of Singapore, in existing palm oil concessions in these two provinces by the end of January/early February 2021.
Consistency is not easy
The Jokowi Presidency brought about a steady decline in deforestation from 2015 to 2019. This was followed by the huge drop in deforestation in the 2019/2020 period described above, despite the country enduring a recession due to the COVID-19 outbreak - albeit not as deep as that experienced by many other countries.
"Of course there are many factors that keep us confident about being on a sustained path of reduced deforestation as one of the sources of lowering emissions. Efforts remain underway and resources continue to be allocated to control the level of deforestation in Indonesia, at various levels," Minister Nurbaya asserted.
She pointed out the challenges of staying on track to consistently reduce deforestation, especially during the tough economic times caused by the ongoing pandemic.
“I’m fully aware that it is not easy to continue and be consistent with our reduced deforestation efforts, but Indonesia must keep moving forward. Moreover, since 2019, President Jokowi has urged me to take concrete steps to implement environmental restoration as part of the process of economic recovery,” said Minister Nurbaya in closing.
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POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has revealed a dramatic fall in the country’s deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period, down 75.03% compared to deforestation in the 2018/2019 period.
Deforestation of 462.5 thousand hectares took place in the 2018/2019 period, plummeting to just 115.5 thousand hectares in the 2019/2020 period. These figures refer to net deforestation.
“The new figure represents an extremely sharp decline in deforestation nationwide during the pandemic, completely contradicting claims from others about an increase in deforestation during 2020 in Indonesia," Minister Nurbaya said in a virtual discussion held yesterday (Mar 2).
She said that the three-quarters reduction in the deforestation rate from the pre-pandemic period of 2018/2019 keeps Indonesia on its consistent, year-to-year reduced deforestation corridor, which looks set to continue at least until 2024 when the Joko Widodo presidency comes to an end.
“As I have emphasized repeatedly, evidence always speaks more loudly and clearly than words. The 75% decrease in the deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period constitutes evidence, not a perception,” she said.
The following chart shows the plunge in the deforestation rate during the 2019/2020 period compared to that in the 2018/2019 period. This, in the view of Minister Nurbaya, provides clear evidence of the trend of declining deforestation in Indonesia, before and during the pandemic.
In fact, according to the minister, the trend of declining deforestation in Indonesia prior to the 2019/2020 period stretches back as far as 2011/2012, as demonstrated in the chart below.
With regard to the level of deforestation in Papua and West Papua, Minister Nurbaya explained that Indonesia’s two most easterly provinces accounted for only 7.4% of the 115.5 thousand hectares deforested during the 2019/2020 period.
A newly-published report by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Feb 15) explains that evidence derived from satellite-based monitoring indicates there had been close to zero deforestation of the 1.26 million hectares of areas with good forest cover, equivalent to over 17 times the size of Singapore, in existing palm oil concessions in these two provinces by the end of January/early February 2021.
Consistency is not easy
The Jokowi Presidency brought about a steady decline in deforestation from 2015 to 2019. This was followed by the huge drop in deforestation in the 2019/2020 period described above, despite the country enduring a recession due to the COVID-19 outbreak - albeit not as deep as that experienced by many other countries.
"Of course there are many factors that keep us confident about being on a sustained path of reduced deforestation as one of the sources of lowering emissions. Efforts remain underway and resources continue to be allocated to control the level of deforestation in Indonesia, at various levels," Minister Nurbaya asserted.
She pointed out the challenges of staying on track to consistently reduce deforestation, especially during the tough economic times caused by the ongoing pandemic.
“I’m fully aware that it is not easy to continue and be consistent with our reduced deforestation efforts, but Indonesia must keep moving forward. Moreover, since 2019, President Jokowi has urged me to take concrete steps to implement environmental restoration as part of the process of economic recovery,” said Minister Nurbaya in closing.
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