Indonesia’s plan to clear rainforests half the size of Switzerland for sugarcane plantations isn’t just an agricultural gamble, experts warn — it’s a potential environmental catastrophe.
A new report by Jakarta-based think tank the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) found that the government’s so-called food estate program will drive a significant spike in global carbon emissions from massive forest loss.
The project involves clearing 2 million hectares of forests, wetlands and grasslands in Merauke district in the country’s eastern Papua region, on the border with Papua New Guinea, to make way for…