State of the Rainforest 2014

than 3000 plant species are registered in the peat forest of Southeast Asia, among them the economically valuable tropical hardwood species Ramin and Light Red Meranti. 46 When drained or burnt, the peat releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. There are 250 000 km 2 peat land in Southeast Asia, 47 60% of the worlds’ tropical peat swamp forest . 200 000 km 2 is found in Indonesia, and smaller areas in Malaysia and Myanmar. Indonesia – with the largest rainforest area, unique biodiversity, numerous indigenous peoples and a national population of 250 000 million people, impacts the whole region. Indonesia Thick smoke regularly covers large parts of Indonesia, causing smog and poor air quality in cities and towns all through Malaysia and in Singapore. The haze, caused by burning Indonesian tropical forest, visualizes the extremely rapid forest loss in the region. This years’ decision by Singapore to hold the actors causing the fires economically responsible for the consequences, however, may be seen as indication of increasing political will to handle the problem of deforestation. 48 It is hard to find reliable forest statistics in Indonesia, and there are huge variations regarding extent of existing forest and deforestation trends, depending on the source used (see p.86). 49 There is little doubt, however, that Indonesia’s deforestation is among the highest of all rainforest countries. 50 The country’s current annual forest loss is 6,850 km 2 according to FAO, 51 and almost twice as high according to a study by the University of Maryland (UMD). Even if one uses the FAO figures, considered too low by most sources, Indonesia loses more forest than the Brazilian Amazon in spite of the latter being a more than three times bigger forest area. 52 Looking closer, the deforestation on main rainforest islands gives even more reason for concern. In Sumatra, the lowland rainforest is almost gone, and large-scale commercial actors are increasingly targeting the remaining carbon rich swamp and peat forest. Borneo, shared between Indonesia’s Kalimantan (72%), Malaysia and Brunei, has lost 30% of its forest in the last 40 years. 53 Kalimantan has the second largest remaining rainforest area in Indonesia, after the Land of Papua, the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea. 54 Establishment of large scale plantations for cash crops such as oil palm and fast-growing timber species are the main drivers of deforestation in Indonesia, as it has been through the last decades. Logging and mining operations also cause significant deforestation and forest degradation. 55 The loss of tree cover is mainly taking place in natural forest, and according to a 2014 assessment 40% of the loss is occurring within areas where the government has restricted or prohibited clearing. 56 This is a clear indication of a forest management regime characterized by widespread illegal activities and lack of enforcement of political decisions on forest protection. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest exporters of tropical timber, the main

Extent of rainforest and deforestation in South East Asia and Oceania

Annual deforestation rate Percentage

V IETNAM

2,0

FAO

1,5

L AOS

1,0

M YANMAR

P HILIPPINES

0,5

UMD

C AMBODIA

P APUA N EW G UINEA

T HAILAND

0,0

M ALAYSIA

Forest and deforestation extent Thousands square kilometres

500 100 1

1 400

I NDONESIA

Deforestation

Forest cover, 2000 FAO

FAO, 2000-2010 University of Maryland, 2000-2012

University of Maryland (UMD)

Note: Deforestation data for Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are highly uncertain. Data sets from UMD and FAO have signi cant di erences as di erent methods of quantifying forest extend and deforestation are used

Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA; FAO

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STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014