Forests in Indonesia and Finland

According to a new research paper, Indonesia has lost one quarter of its old-growth forest since 1990, with its intact forest area (natural forest undisturbed by human activity) declining by 45%. Nearly half of Indonesia’s deforested land had no detectable land use five years after clearing.

This was caused by fires, long assumed to be Indonesia’s principal idle land driver, and by deliberate mechanical clearing, an understudied phenomenon despite its large deforestation footprint. When idle areas were converted to productive uses, the majority were planted with oil palms, which covered 28% of Indonesia’s deforested land by 2020.

Oil palms were the only major land use for which lagged conversion was the norm; other major drivers such as smallholder agriculture were typically established immediately after clearing.

This can be compared to boreal forestry in Finland, where practically all clear-cut forests are regenerated within a couple of years—mostly within one year—using local tree species selected based on their soil requirements. Forest fires do occur but are quickly extinguished, so the burned areas very rarely exceed one hundred hectares. Even then, they are regenerated very soon.

The amount of wood in Finnish forests has increased continuously since the 1960s, despite the country’s strong forest industry, which contributes almost one-fifth of its export value. At the same time, the area of protected forests has increased year after year, and there are currently 73 old-growth forest reserves established on state-owned lands.

The lesson to be learned is that forests can be used efficiently in two ways: sustainably or destructively. But what should we do to make the first option so attractive that it would be practiced everywhere?

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto aligned Indonesia on the wrong side of world history
A new justification is needed for environmental activists
They want to wipe out from Finland what is good for Africa