I'nesia rainforests disappearing faster than Brazil's
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The rate of rainforest deforestation in Indonesia now exceeds that of Brazil, a new study shows.
According to a report published on Sunday in British science journal Nature Climate Change, the total area lost to deforestation in Indonesia increases by almost 50,000 hectares on average every year,while tree clearing in Brazil has actually slowed.
A May 2011 moratorium on logging contracts in a 65-million-hectare forest area has also been unsuccessful, writes scientist Belinda Margono in the report.
Deforestation destroyed more than six million hectares of Indonesian forest – an area the size of Croatia – from 2000 to 2012.
“The increasing loss of forests has serious consequences for climate change and efforts to preserve biodiversity,” Marono writes.
“The extensive deforestation of primary forests elevates the production of greenhouse gases and the loss of biodiversity.”
