The mass destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands for palm oil and paper is the main reason why Indonesia is the world's third largest emitter of climate changing greenhouse gases. Greenpeace is campaigning for an immediate moratorium on forest and peatland destruction in Indonesia, and for zero deforestation by 2015.
Indonesia is a treasure chest of biodiversity; it is home to between 10 and 15 per cent of all known species of plants, mammals and birds. Orang-utans, elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, more than 1,500 species of birds and thousands of plant species are all a part of the country's natural legacy.
But many of these unique forest-dwelling animals, including the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger, are endangered.
It's not just these wonders of our natural world that are disappearing. The lives of millions of Indonesians who depend on the forests for food, shelter and livelihoods are changing beyond recognition as the forest disappears.
This destruction also threatens our wider world; peatlands are perhaps the world’s most critical carbon stores, and Indonesia's peatlands are vast, storing about 35 billion tonnes of carbon. When these peatlands are drained, burned and replaced by acacia, eucaylptus or palm oil plantations, carbon dioxide is released.
Indonesia's irreplaceable rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands are being destroyed to make the disposable consumer products we find in our shops - paper for our glossy magazines, toilet paper and packaging and palm oil for products like toothpaste and chocolate.
Greenpeace is campaigning for an immediate moratorium on the destruction of Indonesia's forests and peatlands, for a meaningful international deal (and funds) to protect them, for a new green development pathway and for zero deforestation in Indonesia by 2015 (and globally by 2020).
To achieve this, we investigate the global supply chain that turns forests in Indonesia into consumer products around the world, and we expose the companies that are destroying forests. Over the past few years, our campaigns and pressure from our supporters have led Nestlé, Unilever and other corporate giants to cancel vast contracts with notorious rainforest destroying suppliers like Sinar Mas.
We are also working alongside Indonesian civil society and NGOs who, recognising that Indonesia's low carbon development goals need not depend on deforestation, are campaigning for a better future for Indonesians, their forests, biodiversity and the global climate.
Today, Indonesia stands at a crossroads; will it choose to allow industry to relentlessly and unnecessarily expand into natural rainforests and carbon rich peatlands, or to announce a moratorium on all existing rainforest and peatlands, with the help of the international community?
Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/?accept=e069d9a4dbfc93d0129c7a69618c2116
