Fathin Ungku

SINGAPORE (Reuters – Indonesian forest fires that ravaged nearly double the area reported in official reports were exposed by a new study. The findings raise concerns about transparency from government regarding deforestation.

This country in Southeast Asia has one of the most extensive rainforests other than the Amazon (NASDAQ) or Congo. To accommodate the pulp, paper, and palm industries, it has razed vast swathes.

The fires in 2019 blanketed Indonesia and the region with haze, causing 900,000 people to report respiratory illnesses and costing $5.2 billion in losses, the World Bank said https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-environment-idUSKBN1YF0FJ.

According to the Earth System Science Data journal, November’s study found that 3.2 million hectares (7.7million acres) of land were destroyed in 2019. This is more than the area reported by the Forestry Ministry at 1.6 million.

David Gaveau, one of the study authors told Reuters, “We saw a bigger area damaged than we thought because our ground-breaking technology allowed us to detect larger burns.”

“We used more satellite data, machine-learning and Google (NASDAQ)’s supercomputers.”

The study, however, found that Indonesian deforestation rates have fallen in accordance with the official data. However, Gaveau stated that its calculations are different.

Gaveau reported his first findings in December 2019. The Indonesian authorities stated that his research wasn’t credible because it had not been peer-reviewed at the time.

Gaveau claimed he had sent latest peer-reviewed findings the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

Reuters reached the official responsible for forest fires in the ministry but he did not immediately reply to our requests.

The ministry previously stated it is determined to reduce deforestation but cannot stop it completely as land must be cleared for development.

Instead, it aims to achieve a “carbon net sink” https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/indonesia-says-wants-reduce-deforestation-not-completely-end-it-2021-11-05 in its forestry sector by 2030, meaning that the sector will absorb more greenhouse gas emissions than it emits.

Wahyu perdana is an environmental activist at WALHI. He urged government officials to make deforestation information transparent.

Perdana stated that “weak transparency” will impact…law enforcement. It will be difficult to stop deforestation if there is weak law enforcement.

Asep Komarudin, Greenpeace Indonesia’s forest campaigner, also stated that transparency is important in order to prevent potential problems with international funds transfers for countries forest nations as part of global climate accords.