Indonesia cites deforestation decline

Indonesia, home to a third of the world’s rainforests, has seen its annual deforestation drop by 8.4%, attributing the fall to better control of fires and stricter permitting for tree clearance.
According to its latest available data, Indonesia recorded 104,000 hectares 256,990 acres of deforested area from July 2021 to June 2022, down from 113,500 hectares in the year prior to that, according to government figures, which did not include numbers for the current year.
With the world’s third biggest rainforest area after Brazil and Congo, Indonesia comes under close scrutiny from environmentalists and famously backtracked from a global pledge by more than 130 countries to end deforestation by 2030, calling it inappropriate and unfair.
It advocates replanting programmes instead.
Indonesia is also the top global producer of palm oil, which has been linked to land clearance. More forest land is expected to be taken as the government seeks to lure big-ticket investment to its nickel and electric vehicle sectors.