The tropical forests in western Uganda, home to a dwindling population of endangered chimpanzees, are disappearing at some of the fastest rates on Earth as local people chop down trees for charcoal and to clear space for subsistence farming.

In follow-up surveys, the researchers found that landowners who signed up also started patrolling their forests more frequently, preventing outsiders from cutting their trees for firewood. Yet some deforestation still continued in these villages, suggesting that the payments alone were not enough to stop all habitat loss.

A mangrove forest once surrounded this village on Java’s northern coast. That was before the woods were clear-cut to make way for shrimp and fish farms. The new industry improved the local economy; residents could finally afford the pilgrimage to Mecca.

In Indonesia and beyond, mangrove deforestation is proceeding quickly. Many tropical coastal settlements are in danger. “Mangrove areas disappear at the rate of approximately 1 percent per year globally, with estimates as high as 2-8 percent per year in Indonesia,” said Daniel Murdiyarso, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a thinktank headquartered outside Jakarta. In less than 50 years, the planet has lost more than a quarter of its mangroves, and at this rate they could all but disappear in 80 years.

Badan Pengelola Dana Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit (BPDP-KS) sudah berusia dua tahun. Para petani kecil masih memberi catatan (rapor) merah buat badan ini, terutama soal alokasi anggaran dan target penyaluran dana sawit. Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) pun menilai dana berjalan tak sesuai mandat UU Perkebunan Nomor 39 Tahun 2014.

Herry Purnomo, peneliti Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) menyebutkan, BPDP belum memiliki kapasitas mencapai pekebun rakyat. “Mengembalikan tujuan dari pengelolaan BPDP-KS ke UU dan konstitusi, bahwa penggunaan dana itu bukan untuk korporasi, tapi peningkatan kapasitas pekebun sawit dan peningkatan perkebunan sawit.”

Pemerintah Daerah (Pemda) masih menunggu realisasi dana penanaman ulang kelapa sawit (replanting) dari Badan Pengelola Dana Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit (BPDP KS). Pasalnya, hingga saat ini, belum ada realisasi dana replanting yang disediakan oleh Badan Layanan Umum (BLU) naungan Kementerian Keuangan tersebut.

Untuk memperbaiki kondisi tersebut, Ilmuwan Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Herry Purnomo mengatakan, diperlukan audit independen atas sistem dan dana yang digelontorkan oleh BPDP Sawit. Pasalnya, jika tak diaudit, masyarakat tak mengetahui apakah dana yang digelontorkan bersifat adil atau tidak.

Pada 2008, kebun sawit sekitar tiga hektar terbakar. Api dari perkebunan tetangga. Kebun Nur di kelilingi lahan tidur dan perkebunan sawit skala besar. Pada 2010, lahan satu hektar tanam jelutung dan jadi lokasi penelitian ilmuwan Jepang bersama dengan peneliti Universitas Riau. Sejak itu, lahan tak pernah terbakar. Gambut tetap basah. Pada 2013, kebakaran cukup besar kembali terjadi di Tanjung Leban. ”Perkebunan karet kami terbakar.” Lahan sempat lapang karena bimbang mau tanam apa. Lalu 2014, Pusat Studi Bencana Universitas Riau, berkunjung ke perkebunan Nur. Saat itu, bekas lahan terbakar masih semak-semak. PSB Unri menganjurkan menanam komoditas asli gambut.

Sejak Februari 2017, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) bekerja sama dengan Universitas Riau dan masyarakat meneliti kondisi lahan gambut di daerah itu masing-masing satu hektar. ”Penelitian ini jangka panjang, berlangsung selama tiga sampai lima tahun, dengan memantau parameter di tiga plot pengamatan berbeda. Penghitungan karbon ini bisa bermanfaat secara global,” kata Daniel Murdiyarso, peneliti utama CIFOR di Desa Tanjung Leban, Riau.

A little over a month ago, Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry sought to extend a moratorium on issuing new licenses for using forest and peatland in the country for two years.

Agriculture is, therefore, the leading cause of global deforestation, with 24% of the land used for livestock and 29% for crops. The report provides some details of the 29% chunk of deforestation due to agricultural crops, highlighting the crops with the highest contributions – soybean (19%), maize (11%), oil palm (8% %), rice (6%) and sugarcane (5%).

This article also published on Huffington Post India

Palm oil and paper lobby groups have asked Indonesia’s highest court to strike down rules holding plantation firms strictly liable for fires that occur on their land. The judicial review, filed last month by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) and the Indonesian Association of Forestry Concessionaires (APHI), has prompted a backlash from critics who say it threatens the environment and indigenous peoples’ rights.

In some cases, the exception is abused. A report by the Center for International Forestry Research, a thinktank headquartered outside Jakarta, described how local elites organize farmers to burn land for sale to a variety of large and small buyers.

Deforestation has historically been the price of development, but the world is now going through a forest transition; since 2015, there has been net global reforestation.

Data from Indonesia, the Congo Basin and Brazil show that, in general, forests managed by local people will only deliver benefits when this doesn’t conflict with short-term economic interests. Current efforts, then, can be seen as seeking to conserve the forests of the past. But what we need is to transition to future forested landscapes that will meet the needs of the 9.5 billion resource-hungry people expected to populate the world by 2050, as well as conserve biodiversity and ecosystem processes.