1st business person: This isn't illegal logging, I've got an official permit!!!
2nd business person: My mine excavation is legitimate, it was signed by an authorised official!!!
3rd business person: Extreme weather's to blame!!!
4th business person: Those trying to sue us, are definitely those trying to grab our concessions!!!
Trend Asia says the disappearance of millions of hectares of forest in Sumatra is linked to the issuance of forest use permits over the past decade. This was revealed following the massive hydrological disaster that hit Sumatra in late November claiming nearly 900 lives.
Trend Asia Campaign Manager for Bioenergy Amalya Reza said that in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, some 3,678,411 hectares of natural forest were lost during the 10 years of former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration.
North Sumatra recorded the largest deforestation with 1,608,827 hectares, followed by West Sumatra with 1,049,833 hectares and Aceh with 1,019,749 hectares.
Reza noted that 31 Forest Utilisation Business Permits (PBPH) were issued covering the three provinces totalling 1,019,287 hectares, which coincided with a significant growth in deforestation.
Trend Asia recorded an increase in deforestation from 414,295 hectares in 2021 to 635,481 hectares in 2022, an increase of almost 54 percent within a year after the PBPH permits were issued.
Reza also linked forest damage to the growing risk of floods and landslides in Sumatra. In a previous report published in collaboration with the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) and Clean Indonesia in 2021, some 704 mining concessions were found located in flood-prone areas covering 1,491,263 hectares, as well as 187 other concessions in landslide-prone areas.
According to Reza, the ongoing disaster cannot be blamed solely to extreme weather, but was caused by an accumulation of policies that disregard ecosystem sustainability.
She noted that the surge in extractive industry permits was a result of several government policies such as the revision of the Mineral and Coal Mining Law (UU Minerba) and the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (UU Cipta Kerja), which relaxed environmental safeguards and requirements for investors.
[Abridged from a December 6 Tempo article titled "Sumatra floods: 31 forest use business permits issued in 10 years".]
