Clear-burning native forest in Kapuas, Kalimantan. Courtesy Reuters.
Deforestation and forest degradation make up the second biggest cause of global warming. Together they produce some 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Indonesia, deforestation and forest degradation are the biggest national greenhouse gas emitters, which is why the UN has pledged more than $100 million of funding to help stop the felling. By Jeremy Torr.
Jakarta, September 2020. With massive wildfires raging in both hemispheres, the issue of man-made deforestation is becoming ever more critical. In many less-developed countries – like Brazil, Guatemala and Indonesia – this is often driven by the push to cultivate managed agriculture such as soy beans, beef, palm oil and others. It is basically driven by the need for most small local communities to make a living.
“… most of these (deforesting) people have been forced off their own land; for example, in Guatemala rainforest land was cleared for coffee and sugar plantations,” says the Rainforest Information Centre. “The people then move into rainforest areas … in order to sustain themselves and their families.”
To help counter this situation, the UN has put together a $103.8 million grant under its Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) Green Climate Fund (GCF) program to help Indonesia counter the effects of deforestation. Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that this would be put towards the ongoing control of wildfires in peatlands across the nation. "Controlling forest fires is an important part in reducing deforestation," she said.
It is obvious Indonesia has a big job on its hands. Fires, often set to clear land for palm oil plantations, saw some 137,000ha of land cleared between January and July 2019. As Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil – which is often harvested from plantations established in what was until recently virgin rainforest – there is huge commercial pressure to maintain the illegal developments.
Indigenous firefighters battle a forest fire. Courtesy Pedro Paulo Xerente, Fundação Nacional do Índio.
Nonetheless, the Indonesian government is aiming to cut this rape to help slash carbon emissions by almost 30% before 2030. In the past five years, the government has allocated on average nearly 90 trillion rupiah ($6.14 billion) a year from the state budget for climate change spending, although 2020 spending has dropped to around 80 trillion rupiah due partly to coronavirus-driven issues.
Some conservation groups like the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) are also questioning the Indonesian government’s commitment to on-the-ground changes in policy. The $103.8 million grant is based on 20 million tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide emissions over recent years; something that many are wary of confirming. Indeed, deforestation in Indonesia has recently spiked under the cover of Covid-19 lockdown and the Indonesian government is seeking to roll back existing regulations to stimulate the post-lockdown economy.
The WRM goes further. “The GCF Board … should reject in particular two requests for so-called “Results-Based Payments” for reduced deforestation in Indonesia years ago,” it says in a letter to the GCF. “The Indonesian government supposedly reduced emissions from deforestation during the period 2014-2016, but it … shamefully continues to continue to heavily engage in and promote large-scale deforestation.”
Education can do better than cash. Courtesy UNICEF.
The letter of complaint was signed by 85 civil society groups, including 15 from Indonesia, and signals that simply pouring money onto a blazing forest will not stop the burning. A concerted effort to educate and communicate will better help stop the clearances agrees rainforest preservation group Mongabay.
“Education is one of the most important ingredients in saving the rainforests. Unfortunately, environmental education is not a high priority in many countries with tropical rainforests,” it says.
However, as at press time, Indonesia had still not specified how the GCF money would be spent. "Controlling forest fires is (vitally) important," repeated minister Nurbaya Bakar, but refrained from indicating exactly where the UN money would be used. Mongabay reasserts it should go on education; “ … education can provide the next generation with lessons not learned in the past: that rainforests are worth saving,” it says.
Maybe education - of businesses as well as dispossessed people - would be the best way to spend that $100million from GCF. We shall wait and see.