Indonesia Forest Overview

Indonesia is composed of 13,667 islands--five main islands (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya), two major archipelagos (Nusa Tenggara and Maluku Islands), and sixty smaller archipelagos. The islands are mountainous with some peaks reaching 3,800 meters above sea level in western islands and as high as 5,000 meters in Irian Jaya. The climate ranges from tropical, hot, humid to a more moderate climate in the highlands.

Indonesia is also rich in biodiversity. Indonesia forests cover approximately 60 percent of the land, which includes 10 percent of all tropical forests in the world.

Indonesia is home to:

* 11 percent of the world's flowering plants,
* 12 percent of the world's mammals,
* 15 percent of all amphibians and reptiles,
* 17 percent of all birds, and
* 37 percent of the world's fish.

Some of the animals that live in the forests of Indonesia include: the Sumatran tiger, Komodo dragon, babi rusa, anoa, Macacanigra, and the Badak Jaw.

In addition to the wildlife, Indonesia's forests are also vital to the country's economy. Indonesia was once the premier exporter of plywood in the world. Local villages derive their main incomes from forest products (i.e., rattan), which are also exported.

Three main commercial sectors of Indonesia include rice-growing in the valleys and plains of Sumatra, Java, and Bali; the largely coastal commercial sector; and more marginal upland forest farming communities which exist by means of subsistence swidden agriculture. Sixty-nine percent of Indonesia's population lives in rural areas. Rice dominates production but cassava, corn, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and fruits are important, as are estate crops such as sugar, coffee, peanuts, soybeans, rubber, oil palm, and coconuts. Indonesia also produces steel, aluminum and cement, and exports oil.

Threats to the Forests
Indonesia's biodiverse forests are facing severe threats of deforestation, soil degradation, and massive forest fires resulting from intensive commercial and illegal logging, plantation development and slash and burn practices. In the mid-1980s, the government developed forestry management plans to promote conservation and better management practices; however, these plans were never implemented. At the same time, banks were financing the over-capacity of forest industry beyond the supply of wood-- wood that could have come from sustainable managed sources.

Why Does the USDA Forest Service Work in Indonesia?
The threats to Indonesia's vast and biodiverse forests affect both global and local environments and economies. Just a few years ago severe forest fires throughout Indonesia led to extremely hazardous air pollution conditions in Indonesia's cities and towns, creating health problems for many residents, as well as threatening lives and damaging forest resources. USDA Forest Service fire specialists were brought in during the fires to help the Indonesia Department of Forestry manage the fires and develop a better system for fire response and control.

In response to the situation, the Southeast Asia Environment Initiative and the East Asia and Pacific Environmental Initiative provided funding in 1998 and 1999 for the USDA Forest Service to assist and strengthen fire management in Southeast Asia with a primary emphasis on Indonesia. Consequently, the Strengthening Fire Management Program has been instrumental in creating a cadre of Indonesians who are capable of responding to and managing future catastrophic fires.

Commercial and illegal logging is also a major threat to forest resources. In response, the USDA Forest Service International Programs--in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and others-- is assisting in activities that help adopt reduced impact harvesting techniques and practices throughout the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission.