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KN-JAKARTA, After several years of declining deforestation, 2025 marked a significant regression for Indonesia’s environmental health as forest cover loss surged. A recent report by the environmental watchdog Auriga Nusantara revealed that over 430,000 hectares were cleared last year—a 66 percent increase from 2024.
Representing an area six times the size of Singapore, this rate reverses nearly a decade of progress made since 2017, when annual losses remained below the 300,000-hectare threshold.
While Kalimantan remains a primary site of concern, Papua experienced the most dramatic spike, with land clearing increasing fourfold compared to the previous year. Auriga attributes this trend to President Prabowo Subianto’s ambitious pursuit of energy and food self-sufficiency. These findings align with earlier reports suggesting that National Strategic Projects (PSN), specifically the massive rice and sugarcane estates in Merauke, South Papua, are the primary drivers of this ecological destruction.
Photo By, AURIGA NUSANTARA
