The Rapid Response report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says deforestation of natural rainforests in Sumatra and Borneo is now so widespread that 98% may be destroyed by 2022 – 10 years earlier than estimated in a previous UNEP report released four years ago.
The report says new satellite imagery reveals illegal logging is now entering a “new critical phase”, with trees being cut down in national parks, where the only remaining timber available in commercial amounts can be found.
Images show illegal logging is now taking place in 37 out of 41 national parks. “Some parks may become severely degraded in as little as three to five years,” the report says.
Indonesia is fighting the illegal activity and recently launched ranger units to protect the national parks but UNEP says the country need international help to stop demand for illegal wood.
“We are currently in an unequal struggle over illegal logging, which in the medium to long term could be won through certification processes,” said Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesian environment minister and outgoing president of UNEP’s governing council.
He said more than 2,000 rangers have been deployed to protect the 35 national parks but they lack equipment and have to patrol an area covering 100,000km2.
The report was released during the 24th session of UNEP’s governing council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Nairobi.
