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Indonesian Forest Fact Sheet
The forests of Indonesia, along with the thousands of animals and plants that live there, are facing grave danger as they are destroyed at an alarming rate due to massive illegal logging and clearing for palm oil plantations. These tropical forests are of global importance, ranked second in terms of size to those of Brazil and covering over 406,000 square miles. The rapid deterioration of tropical forests is causing an incalculable loss in terms of biodiversity and is pushing species such as the orangutan ever closer to extinction.
Indonesia’s Forests Are Disappearing at an Alarming Rate
Indonesia’s forests represent 10% of the world’s remaining tropical rainforests and cover about 260 million acres. According to the European League, by 2001 Indonesia has lost 99 million acres of forest in the last 32 years, which is equivalent to the combined size of Germany and the Netherlands. The current rate of forest loss is about 6.2 million acres a year, but the rate is accelerating.
Plant and Animal Populations Are Also Decreasing Rapidly
Indonesia is one of the five most species-diverse countries in the world, home to 12% of all mammal species, 16% of all reptile and amphibian species, and 17% of all bird species. It also contains 33% of insect species, 24% of fungi species, and 10% of higher plant species. Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), site of Camp Leakey, is home to more than 220 bird species, at least 17 reptile species, and 29 mammal species.
Poachers were killing proboscis monkeys along the river
en route to Camp Leakey until OFI began patrolling the area.
Behind Malaysia and the United States, Indonesia has the third highest number of threatened species with 772. It has the highest number of threatened mammal species, however, with
147 - an increase of seven species since the year 2000. According to a recent article in the conservation journal Oryx, 1000 orangutans are lost in Sumatra each year; in Borneo, the number is probably even higher.
Illegal Logging Largely to Blame for Forest Depletion
A study done in 2000 by the Indonesia-United Kingdom Tropical Forest Management Programme concluded that 73% of logging done in Indonesia was illegal. While Indonesia’s forest ministry official harvest figures are just under 882 million cubic feet per year, the combined log consumption capacity of plywood, sawn wood, and pulp and paper industries is 2.6 billion cubic feet per year, which means that industries obtain between one-half and
two-thirds of their logs from illegal or unsustainable sources. Illegal logging produces 1.8 billion cubic feet of logs annually, resulting in state financial losses of approximately $3.37 billion. The value of timber stolen from TPNP alone is $8 million each year.
Illegal loggers working in the forest in Lamandau.
Increased Demand for Palm Oil Causes Conversion of Forests
Because of its versatility, world demand for palm oil has increased by 32% over the last five years with the advent of the rapidly expanding food and industrial manufacturing industries, growing at a rate of 7% each year. In fact, palm oil is the world’s best-selling vegetable oil, representing 40% of the total global trade in edible oils. Indonesia accounts for 31% of the world’s production of palm oil, and is expected to be responsible for 41% by 2005. The aim of the former Suharto government was to create a total of 13.5 million acres of palm oil plantations by 2000 - by 1999 the figure had reached 7.4 million, which is nearly five times the size of Bali.
The sudden increase in palm oil use has led to the clearing of Indonesia's tropical forests to create monoculture palm oil plantations. Studies in Malaysia and Indonesia have shown that between 80 and 100% of the species of fauna inhabiting tropical rainforests cannot survive in oil palm monocultures (Wakker 2000). In 1999, nearly 800,000 acres of forest were converted for palm oil. Global demand is expected to increase by 50% in the next five years, primarily because palm oil profits are assured by cheap labor, low-priced land, a lack of effective environmental controls, easy availability of finance and support, and a short growth cycle.
Demand for Paper Production Increases, Leading to More Logging
As much as 40% of the wood used by Indonesian pulp producers between 1995 and 1999 came from illegal sources. Massive expansion in plywood, pulp, and paper production in the last two decades has brought demand for wood fiber to exceed the legal supply by 1.2-1.4 billion cubic feet per year. Pulp and paper subsectors have expanded by nearly 700% since 1987.
Timber and Plantation Companies Burn Forests to Clear Land
Approximately 22 million acres of land were damaged by the 1997 and 1998 fires in Indonesia largely caused by timber and palm oil plantation companies clearing land. According to Remote Sensing Solutions GMBH, the 0.80 to 2.57 billion tons of carbon released during that time was the biggest ever measured, corresponding to 13 to 40 percent of the annual global production by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. The estimated financial consequences of the fires were over $3 billion from losses in timber, agriculture, and non-timber products, plus the loss of hydrological and soil conservation services as well as biodiversity benefits. Haze from the fires cost an additional $1.4 billion for health treatment and lost tourism revenues.
Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) Works Towards Research, Conservation, and Education
OFI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat. Founded by Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas and Dr. Gary Shapiro in 1986, OFI operates Camp Leakey, an orangutan research area within Tanjung Puting National Park. OFI also runs the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine Facility in Pangkalan Bun, which is home to 200 displaced orphan orangutans, and co-manages the Lamandau Nature Reserve, where rehabilitated orangutans are being released into the wild. OFI partners with the Orangutan Conservation Forum, a consortium of groups that is working to counter the primary threats to orangutan survival throughout Indonesia. Through its field programs, OFI also provides employment for over 220 local Indonesians in the vicinity of Tanjung Puting National Park and the Lamandau Nature Reserve.
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