Indonesia’s deforestation surged in 2025 as food security, bioenergy expansion and mining drove large-scale forest clearing, raising alarm over weakened protections, biodiversity loss and rising risks of fires.
Forest loss in Indonesia surged by 66 percent in 2025, reaching its highest level in eight years as environmental protections weakened and a major push for food and energy self-sufficiency gathered pace, an environmental group said Tuesday.
The vast archipelago, home to some of the world’s densest forests and richest biodiversity, relies heavily on mining and palm oil plantations to sustain its $1.4 trillion economy, the largest in Southeast Asia.
Auriga Nusantara, a think tank focused on forestry and biodiversity, said it analysed high-resolution satellite imagery alongside field visits covering 49,000 hectares of forest across 16 provinces.
The group found that 433,751 hectares of forest were cleared in 2025, equivalent to 4,338 square kilometres, a sharp rise from 261,575 hectares in 2024. Chairman Timer Manurung described the increase as alarming.
“The surge in deforestation in 2025 is truly distressing, taking Indonesia back to a time when it was at its highest,” he said, noting that the previous peak was in 2016 when more than one million hectares were cleared.
Manurung pointed to President Prabowo Subianto’s food security programme as a key driver. The initiative aims to boost domestic production of staple crops such as rice and cut reliance on imports.
Under the programme, the government allocated 20.6 million hectares of forest land for food, energy and water-related projects in 2025. Of this, 43 percent consisted of natural forest.
Auriga estimates that more than 78,000 hectares of designated “food reserve forest” were cleared last year, an area roughly the size of New York City.
Indonesia has cleared parts of Borneo to develop rice fields and said last year it had achieved self-sufficiency in rice production. But Manurung warned that such efforts may be misguided.
“They are gambling, they are speculating. It is peat land and not suitable for rice,” he said.
The country’s bioenergy expansion has also contributed to forest loss. Large areas were converted into industrial forest plantations to produce biomass, while 37,910 hectares were cleared within oil palm concessions.
Mining activities further added to the damage, with 41,162 hectares of forest converted into coal, gold and nickel concessions.
Manurung said current policies reflect a continuation of the approach taken under former president Joko Widodo, including national strategic projects and the Omnibus Law on job creation, which he said weakened environmental safeguards.
Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry said it would tighten oversight.
“The government continues to regularly evaluate all strategic programmes and ensure their implementation does not neglect forest protection,” it said in a statement.
Among the country’s major islands, Borneo recorded the fastest forest loss in 2025, followed by Sumatra and Papua. East Kalimantan, where Indonesia plans to build its new capital, was the worst affected province.
In Sumatra, three provinces hit by floods and landslides last year saw sharp increases in deforestation. Forest loss rose by 426 percent in Aceh, 281 percent in North Sumatra and 1,034 percent in West Sumatra compared with 2024.
Manurung urged stronger regulations to better protect natural forests and called for expanded conservation efforts beyond existing forest zones.
“This serves as a warning that must prompt corrective action, particularly as the upcoming dry season brought on by El Nino is likely to result in a high risk of forest and land fires,” he said.
This article is republished from Reuters.
Reporting by Ananda Teresia and Bernadette Christina
