Indonesia
The world’s third largest rainforest is in Indonesia. Indonesia has in recent years reduced deforestation to its lowest reported level in 20 years. Since 2010 Indonesia has undertaken important political and institutional reforms that has enabled these results.
In 2022 Indonesia and Norway entered into a new bilateral climate and forest partnership to recognize Indonesia’s impressive results to date and support its ambitious emissions reduction plans. The partnership between Norway and Indonesia involves a result-based contribution from Norway to Indonesia, through the Indonesia’s Environment Fund, to support Indonesia’s implementation of the FOLU Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan.
Deforestation in Indonesia
Deforestation from conversion to palm oil plantations have been reduced in recent years.
Pulp and paper, logging, mining and forest to clear land for commercial use have also historically been drivers of deforestation.
Fighting Deforestation
Indonesia is leading the way in developing the economy and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation at the same time.
The country has pledged to the UN climate convention to reduce its total national emissions by almost one third by 2030.
- Size: 1.919.449 km2 – three times the size of France.
- Capital: Jakarta
- Population: 265 million
- Forested area (2019): 1.2 million km2
- Biodiversity: Indonesia is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries. There is a high number of endemic species- species that live nowhere else in the world- on each island.
In September 2022 Norway and Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking the beginning of a new bilateral climate and forest partnership between our two countries.
Indonesia has become a global leader by reducing its deforestation by almost 90 per cent over the last years to the lowest reported level in 20 years. Nonetheless, Indonesia’s plans for the future are equally ambitious, as the country targets to achieve being net sink in the forestry and other land use (FOLU) sector by 2030.
The FOLU Net Sink Operational Plan
The centerpiece of the Indonesia-Norway partnership going forward is the results based support for Indonesia’s reformed forest policies in the “FOLU Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan”. Indonesia aims to become a net sink in the FOLU sector by reducing emissions from deforestation, forest degradation and carbon-rich peatlands as well as absorbing more carbon through restoration of forests, peatlands and mangroves.
The aim is to reduce deforestation to the extent where forest regrowth annually removes 140 million tons CO2 more than the sector emits from forest and peatland utilization by the end of the decade.
The Partnership supports the “FOLU Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan”: The partnership with Norway is based on political dialogue, technical support and results-based contributions where Norway rewards Indonesia for emission reductions from the FOLU sector. Specifically, Norway will support a portion of national level and third-party verified emission reductions from deforestation and forest degradation for forest years 2016/2017 to 2019/2020 based on the existing MRV protocol and its annex.
Norwegian contribution through Indonesia’s Environment Fund
The first results-based contribution amounted to USD 56 million for verified emission reductions in the “forest year” 2016/2017 (August 2016 through July 2017) was disbursed in October 2022. The second results-based contribution of 50 million USD for verified emission reductions in forest year 2017/2018 was disbursed in December 2023 and the third results-based contribution of 50 million USD for verified emission reductions in forest year 2018/2019 was disbursed in January 2024.
Additional results-based contributions will be disbursed as emission reductions are verified for subsequent years.
Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) will channel disbursements directly to Indonesia’s Environment Fund (Badan Pengelola Dana Lingkungan Hidup/BPDLH), to support Indonesia’s implementation of the “FOLU Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan”.
Norway also supports a number of civil society organizations that work to protect forests and promote indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia as well as the development of public-private partnerships through the Norwegian agency for development cooperation (Norad).
Previously, Norway and Indonesia cooperated under a Letter of Intent (LoI) which was signed in 2010. Here, Norway pledged to contribute up to USD 1 billion for Indonesia’s reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation if Indonesia delivered results in terms of carbon emission reductions from reduced deforestation. An amount of approximately 200 million dollars was disbursed under the Letter of Intent. The bulk of Norway’s support to Indonesia under this period went to support efforts to restore its carbon rich peatlands, fight forest crimes and forest fires, and develop a green economy involving a number of different stakeholders around the country.
Indonesia terminated the Letter of Intent in 2021, and agreed on a new bilateral Memorandum of Understanding in September 2022.
Indonesia is home to over 17.000 islands, including three of the ten largest islands in the world. It is also the world´s 4th largest by population, with close to 270 million people.
One in five Indonesians live in and around the forest. These are people whose livelihood first and foremost comes from the forests and the sea.
The Indonesian forests cover 1.2 million km2, the size of Spain and France combined.
Indonesia hosts some of the largest areas of peatlands and mangroves in the world. The forests, peatlands and mangroves store enormous amounts of carbon, of vital importance to the global climate.
Photo: Nanang Sujana/CIFOR
Indonesia is a mega biodiversity country with thousands of islands and vast forest and ocean areas. The country has one of the largest number of species in the world, including the orangutan.
Other species include the Sumatran tiger, the Javan rhino, the Sumatran elephant and the Birds of Paradise in Papua. All these are endangered due to extensive deforestation.
Yet, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry estimates that more than half of Indonesia’s species are still unknown to science.
Photo: Terry-Sunderland
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