International Forest Day; Indonesia`s Forests in the Spotlight

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Currently, Indonesia is among the countries with the highest deforestation rates in the world, reaching approximately 680,000 ha per year. Opening and burning peat land, especially in Indonesia, resulted in loss of biodiversity that are quite large The peat land burning also produced greenhouse gas emissions which ranked third highest in the world, according to an official statement of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, today.

Today, on International Forest Day, the world refocus their attention on the level of deforestation and land degradation Indonesia, which is already quite alarming. Half of the land in Indonesia is consisted of forest. This put Indonesia as one of the countries with the most important tropical forest in the world, which is significantly large enough to supply oxygen on our planet. Indonesia's forests also play an important role in the country's current increasingly vulnerable state to climate change.

"There is no way we can win the battle against climate change without redoubling our efforts to reduce deforestation in Indonesia," said FAO's Chief Representative in Indonesia, Mark Smulders.

In 2009, the Indonesian government had promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent independently and 41 percent with international support in 2020. The Government of Indonesia reiterated the promise this week in a meeting between officials of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and representatives of international institutions.

PGB