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Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · Indonesia · 2011–2019

Indonesia's forest moratorium: ministry cited 38% less clearing, Greenpeace disputed it

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Indonesia's government said its 2011 to 2018 forest moratorium cut clearing in covered areas by 38%, a claim that Greenpeace's satellite analysis did not support. A matched study found no effect in peat forest, so the effect on carbon and biodiversity is not settled in the sources reviewed.

What?
The ministry said deforestation in covered areas fell 38% in 2011 to 2018, while Greenpeace's satellite analysis found annual loss rose. Mongabay
Where?
Indonesia Mongabay
When?
2011 to 2019; Mongabay report August 2019; matched study 2022 Mongabay
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A forest-clearing ban in covered areas. Mongabay reported that a Walhi official said degraded primary forest could be licensed again once it became secondary. Mongabay
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Mongabay reported in August 2019 that Indonesia's forest-clearing ban had been made permanent, and quoted Greenpeace calling it an example of government propaganda.

The ministry said deforestation in covered areas fell 38% in 2011 to 2018 compared with the previous seven years.

Greenpeace's satellite analysis found annual loss in the same areas rose from 970 to 1,370 square kilometres, and that 45,000 square kilometres had been removed from the map.

A 2022 matched study found forest cover up to 0.65% higher in dry forest and no effect in peat forest between 2011 and 2018.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Indonesia banned log exports in 1985 to build a plywood industry, and the Apkindo cartel controlled more than 70% of world tropical plywood exports in the 1980s.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the moratorium covered about 66 million hectares of primary forest and peatland.
    • None on record Reported without a source link: the moratorium excluded already logged secondary forest.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: who gained economically from the ban, and its effect on carbon emissions.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Researchers

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
    Peatland
    Wetland where layers of partly decayed plant matter build up over centuries and store large amounts of carbon.
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