Hoax 9 : The development of Oil Palm Plantations in Indonesia has Reduced the Amount of Forests in the Country To Be Less Than its Minimum Ecological Requirement, like in Other Countries.
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Has the development of oil palm plantations in Indonesia reduced the amount of forest in the country to be less than its minimum ecological requirement ?
Facts
Based on international forestry data (FAO, 2013), the portion of Indonesian forest remains much better than that of other countries, or from the standpoint of the ecological requirement (see table below).
Table : Share of forest and agricultural land compared to total land area in various countries
| Region | Percentage of Total Forest | Percentage of Land Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protected Forest | Primary Forest | Agriculture | Total Forest | |
| World | 3.8 | 35.7 | 37.6 | 31.1 |
| Asia | 2.3 | 18.6 | 53.0 | 19.1 |
| Europe | 4.7 | 26.2 | 21.4 | 45.5 |
| West Europe | 7.8 | 0.2 | 50.0 | 30.6 |
| Africa | 2.3 | 9.6 | 39.2 | 22.9 |
| South America | 6.3 | 59.4 | 30.7 | 40.5 |
| North America | 3.5 | 39.2 | 25.3 | 32.9 |
| US | 5.0 | 24.8 | 44.1 | 40.5 |
| Indonesia | 7.4 | 50.0 | 29.6 | 52.5 |
Source: FAO Statistical Yearbook: World Food and Agriculture
In general, the minimum ecological requirement of forest to total land area as adopted in Regulation No. 41/1999 on Forestry and Regulation No. 20/2007 on Spatial Planning is a proportion of 30 percent. The proportion of forest area in Indonesia in 2013 was about 52 percent of total land area. Of the Indonesian forest area, about 50 percent constituted primary virgin forest.
The Indonesian forest proportion is still better than the forest proportions in India, China and European countries. It is even better than the forests in the US, both in terms of forest proportion to the total land area and the quality of forest, namely the primary forest portion.
Based on this data, it is not true that the forest proportions in Indonesia are under the ecological threshold. On the contrary, forests in Indonesia remain better compared to forest conditions in big countries and advanced nations.