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Indonesia Fastest Forest Clearer In World

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  Quote Spartakus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Indonesia Fastest Forest Clearer In World
    Posted: 05-May-2007 at 15:14
Indonesia Fastest Forest Clearer In World

A lowland rainforest in Sumatra island. Environmental group Greenpeace said thursday Indonesia had the highest deforestation rate in the world between 2000 and 2005 with almost two million hectares destroyed annually.Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) May 03, 2007
Indonesia had the highest deforestation rate in the world between 2000 and 2005 with almost two million hectares destroyed annually, environmental group Greenpeace said Thursday. Indonesia had lost more than 72 percent of its intact ancient forests and much of the rest is threatened by commercial logging and clearance for palm oil plantations, Greenpeace also said in a statement.

The group said Guinness World Records had approved its proposal that Indonesia's destruction be included in its 2008 record book to be published in September. "Of the 44 countries which collectively account for 90 percent of the world's forests, the country which pursues the highest annual rate of deforestation is Indonesia," Greenpeace said the citation would read.

Indonesia had "1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) of forest destroyed each year between 2000-2005, a rate of two percent annually or 51 square kilometres (20 square miles) destroyed every day," the group said. Greenpeace accused the government of failing to crackdown on illegal logging because of rampant lawlessness and corruption in its forestry sector.

Several devastating floods and landslides have been blamed on deforestation, most recently in the north of Sumatra island, where more than 400,000 people were forced to flee flash floods in December.

Source: Agence France-Presse

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Indonesia_Fastest_Forest_Clearer_In_World_999.html

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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-May-2007 at 20:36
I did not even notice this topic for a while - sorry Sparty!

Yes indeed, the deforestation of South East Asia's rainforest is very alarming, far more so than that of Brazil's Amazon. "51km squared of forest is destroyed each day [in Indonesia alone]" is a frightening statistic.

The rainforest has a fantastic biodiversity of animals, but with this comes a lack of abundance of each species. Consequently, the clearing of forests can have a very severe effect on the biodiversity. Rather than abundant populations living over a wide range, some species are secluded to niche areas. If these disappear, the whole ecosystem ceases to function properly. Orangutans are the obvious victims, especially with the clearing of forest for palm oil [plantations], however, thousands of plant, insect, reptile/amphibian, bird, fungi and mammal species face immediate threats of extinction if strategies are not developed to promote ecological sustainability.

I don't think the process is going to slow down any time soon. I would imagine that it will alleviate, mainly because a lot of Indonesia's economy is dependent on primary industries and resources associated with the rainforest.

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  Quote Kamikaze 738 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-May-2007 at 22:48
Indonesia is also one of the most density populated counties in the world and with that amount of people needs the demand of more space and jobs. That could have been a conflict that produce deforestation because of the need of space and the occupation of a job for the raising population. Its unlike Brazil because the country is much bigger with relative population while Indonesia is like 5 times as small with an equal amount of population and that is definitely causing major problems to the country and to the earth globally.
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-May-2007 at 04:40
Definitely. If you look at Brazil's population density, it is in stark contrast to that of Indonesia. Brazil's is 22/km squared, compared to Indonesia's 134/km squared. I am not saying that the Amazon is of no concern, that is far from the case - it is just that the largely ignored rainforest of South East Asia is at an even more immediate risk...
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  Quote Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-May-2007 at 08:15
I have a solution.
 
What we could do is bulldoze a large area of rural Europe. Demilosh the towns and villages, prime farmland, powerstations and businesses, and plant millions of square miles of forest.
 
Of course this may lead to overcrowding in cities, inflation, high prices on farm products and power supllies, as well as mass unemployment......
 
 
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-May-2007 at 08:21
Furthermore, there are the problems associated with climate. The resources exploited in the rainforest are endemic to tropical regions of rather wet and hot climates, plus other tropical physical/chemical factors which contribute to the biome content. Planting a huge deciduous/seasonal/boreal forest in the middle of Europe might solve the timber problem, but for fruits, medicines, palm oil, rubber.etc, the rainforest will always have to be returned to. To add to this are the resulting issues that you mentioned. Oh by the way Paul, nice location, 'Aruba'! Cool
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  Quote pekau Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-May-2007 at 15:22
I heard that there were some gold scandal in Indonesia. Could mining have any siginificant effect on the destruction of forests?
     
   
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-May-2007 at 19:27
I think you are talking about the Bre-X companies scandal in Indonesia, relating to the discovery of gold deposits in Busang. Indonesia is believed to be a rich source of gold, and some deposits such as the Bre-X one have proved this.
Other minerals, gems.etc are found in the rainforest (well, beneath the forest floor...), but mining does not have an overly significant contribution to deforestation.
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