Basic trends in land use/cover change in Indonesia

Abstract

As the largest archipelago in the world, 111doncsiais a dominanl country in Southeast Asia in terms of its large territory and population. Tlie nation consists of 5 mdjor isiaiids and about 30 smaller gruups. The total number of islands is more than 17 000 according to the indonesian Naval Hydro-Oeanographic Office'), sketching from lal 6"08'N to long 11°15'E. The Indonesian sea area is 4 times greater thanits land area, which is about 1.9 million km2. Indonesia has 144 million ha of tropical forest1), the second largest forest expanse afler Brazil Ad about 10% ol entire tropical forest of ihc world. However, this refers to lands under the aegis of the Ministry of Forcslry, and many of them have had no forest cover at all for a long time. In order Lo meet Ihe strong demand for wood, forestry * production has increased, especially during the last two decadcs. Forest products, are sig~uficant in Indonesia's economy. However, the timber trade is widely considered to be respon$ble for deforestation directiy or indirectly. Deforestation causes lossof species diversit) and uitirnateIy leads to species extinction, and also to cIimate changc and disruption of the hy&ologikl cycle. It also contributes significantly to global warming and the greenhouse effecl.