World’s Largest Deforestation Project
Indonesia is undertaking the world’s largest deforestation project on the island of Papua. French President Emmanuel Macron has the opportunity to raise the issue during his visit with Indonesian President Prabowo this month.
Read the open letter to President Macron from a global NGO coalition, calling on him to help save Indonesia’s forests.
World leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron, recognise the crucial role of forests. He said in 2023: “Forests are absolutely crucial in combating global warming and biodiversity loss.” As Macron prepares to visit Indonesia in May 2025, NGOs across the world urge Macron to raise the ‘world’s largest deforestation project’ with Indonesian President Prabowo, and highlight that there is another way which protects forests and the people and wildlife that depend on them.
An area bigger than Paris has already been cleared in Papua, Indonesia. The “ Food and Energy Estate” the world’s largest deforestation project, has nearly 3 million hectares allocated for development of rice and sugarcane ethanol plantations. After ordering 2,000 excavators, over 11,000 ha of land has already been cleared, much of it forest and overlapping with the ancestral lands of Indigenous communities.
According to the Indonesian government’s assessment if the entire area is cleared and planted, the gross emissions from deforestation alone would be about 315 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The assessment also warns that the likelihood of conflict with indigenous Papuans or of significant and long-term environmental damage applies in about 80% of the area targeted for development. An independent assessment from CELIOS calculated the emissions at more than double that — 862,450,000 tons CO2.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There are alternatives, including using degraded land to meet the Prabowo administration’ ambitions. France cannot stay silent while some of the most important forests in the world are falling.
