Deforestation in Indonesia spiked last year, but resources analyst sees better overall trend

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — From trees felled in protected national parks to massive swaths of jungle razed for palm oil and paper plantations, Indonesia had a 27% uptick in primary forest loss in 2023 from the previous year, according to a World Resources Institute analysis of deforestation data. But the loss is still seen as historically low compared to the 2010s, it said.

“Deforestation has been declining from six or so years ago, when there were peak rates,” said Rod Taylor, global director of the forests program at WRI. “It’s good news and commendable for Indonesia.”

But others saw cause for concern in the uptick, and tied some of the more recent deforestation to the world’s appetite for mining Indonesia’s vast deposits of nickel, which is critical for the green energy transition.

The latest data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery laboratory was shared on Global Forest Watch — a platform run by WRI that provides data, technology and tools for monitoring the world’s forests.

A vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, with a variety of endangered wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants and giant forest flowers. Some live nowhere else.

Since 1950, more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of Indonesian rainforest — an area twice the size of Germany — have been logged, burned or degraded for development of palm oil, paper and rubber plantations, nickel mining and other commodities, according to Global Forest Watch. Indonesia is the biggest producer of palm oil, one of the largest exporters of coal and a top producer of pulp for paper. It also exports oil and gas, rubber, tin and other