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"The next generation of Indonesians will not see the forest, if the government does not take drastic measures," said Bustar Maitar, responsible for organization Greenpeace Indonesia for forest. Between 2000 and 2005, Indonesia has suffered the fastest deforestare in the world, surface cleared in every hour represents the equivalent of 300 football fields, said Greenpeace. Indonesia already has lost nearly 72 percent of its forests, and those remaining are threatened by cutting trees for wood to use in commercial purposes and to make way for agricultural land, especially plantations of palm trees.
The process of deforestation started slowly but, once started, it became almost impossible to stop. Between 1950 and 1960, the forest state was still good, almost 70 percent of secular forests were intact. Intense deforestation began in the 1970's, when Indonesia became the largest exporter of wood in the world, with foreign investors.
Besides the demand for wood and plywood, oil palm is another cause of deforestation. Indonesia, the second global supplier of palm oil after Malaysia, manages to keep pace with demand for oil for cooking and cosmetics by cutting the forests. Corporations such as Nestlé, Procter and Gamble and Unilever maintain high demand for palm oil, according to a Greenpeace report.
The greatest irony is that palm oil is used as a diesel alternative, which it should be more environmentally friendly than other fuels. But this fuel production quickly pollutes the environment, contributing to the Indonesian occupation in the top three countries with the highest emissions of greenhouse gases, after China and the United States. Indonesia, although it occupies only 0.1 percent of the Earth surface, is responsible for 4% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
Although corruption slows the punishment of those who practice illegal logging, progress became apparent. "In the last two years, almost half of the wood processing companies have been forced to close as a result of lack of raw materials," reports an article in The Financial Times. Even the smallest reforms matters, such as restrictions placed Indonesian vessels to penetrate in foreign ports, where carrying wood illegally obtained.