…
By transforming 2,000 to 4,000 square miles of what environmental groups say is predominantly peatland into fields of rice, corn and cassava, the government projects that it will achieve self-sufficiency in food. Laws protecting forests have been amended to allow for the ongoing project. At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in November, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his country wants to be a global supplier of agricultural products, feeding populations beyond its own.
But disrupting the peatlands comes with devastating, likely irreversible costs for the climate, say environmental experts and activists.
Leave a Reply