Jakarta—The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) believes that the government’s plan to clear 20 million hectares of forest for food security, energy, and water needs will cause huge losses to the environment and people’s lives, especially those around forest areas.
Walhi’s Forest and Plantation Campaign Manager, Uli Arta Siagian, in her statement Thursday, January 2, said that this plan was nothing more than an effort to legalise deforestation, which would broadly impact the balance of the ecosystem.
“This is a step towards a real ecological disaster. Large-scale deforestation will release massive carbon emissions, accelerate climate change, and increase the risk of crop failure and zoonotic diseases,” said Uli.
According to Uli, the plan to transfer forest functions also has the potential to cause widespread agrarian conflicts. “People living around forest areas will be the main victims. They are threatened with eviction, while conflicts over cultivated land can trigger violence and criminalisation against indigenous peoples and small farmers,” she said.
Walhi also noted that concession licenses in the forestry sector have encumbered more than 33 million hectares of forests in Indonesia. In addition, 4.5 million hectares of mining concessions are directly adjacent to forest areas, and 7.3 million hectares of forest have been released, mostly for oil palm plantations.
“This plan will worsen environmental conditions and trigger deepening social inequality. The remaining forests are our last stronghold in maintaining the sustainability of the ecosystem,” Uli added.
Meanwhile, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni defended the plan as a strategic step to strengthen national food and energy security.
“We have identified 20 million hectares of forest that can be optimally utilised to create food, energy and water reserves,” Raja Juli told a press conference at the Presidential Palace Complex on Monday, December 30.
He also stressed that the program will support food self-sufficiency through upland rice cultivation on dry land and planting palm trees for bioethanol as an alternative fuel.
“This is part of the national strategy to reduce dependence on food and energy imports,” he said.
However, Walhi believes that the government’s food and energy security narrative is only an excuse to hand over land to large corporations. “This is not about the people. It’s about enlarging business space for large corporations operating in the food and energy sectors,” Uli said.
Uli also reminded us that climate change is already having serious impacts on Indonesia, from droughts to flash floods.
“Instead of accelerating deforestation, the government should strengthen the protection of existing forests and encourage sustainability-based development,” he concluded. (Hartatik)
