MEGADIVERSITY COUNTRY
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Indonesia is composed of 17,504
islands--five main islands (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya), two major archipelagos (Nusa
Tenggara and Maluku Islands), and sixty smaller
archipelagos. The islands are mountainous with some
peaks reaching 3,800 meters above sea level in western
islands and as high as 5,000 meters in Irian Jaya. The
climate ranges from tropical, hot, humid to a more
moderate climate in the highlands.
Indonesia is
also rich in biodiversity. Indonesia forests cover
approximately 60 percent of the land, which includes 10
percent of all tropical forests in the world. Indonesia is home to:
- 11 percent of the world's flowering plants,
- 12 percent of the world's mammals,
- 15 percent of all amphibians and reptiles,
- 17 percent of all birds, and
- 37 percent of the world's fish.
Some
of the animals that live in the forests of Indonesia
include: the Sumatran tiger, Komodo dragon, babi rusa,
anoa, Macacanigra, and the Badak Jaw.
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In
addition to the wildlife, Indonesia's forests are also
vital to the country's economy. Indonesia was once the
premier exporter of plywood in the world. Local villages
derive their main incomes from forest products (i.e.,
rattan), which are also exported.
Three main commercial sectors of Indonesia
include rice-growing in the valleys and plains of
Sumatra, Java, and Bali; the largely coastal commercial
sector; and more marginal upland forest farming
communities which exist by means of subsistence swidden
agriculture. Sixty-nine percent of Indonesia's
population lives in rural areas. Rice dominates
production but cassava, corn, sweet potatoes,
vegetables, and fruits are important, as are estate
crops such as sugar, coffee, peanuts, soybeans, rubber,
oil palm, and coconuts. Indonesia also produces steel,
aluminum and cement, and exports oil.
Threats
to the Forests
Indonesia's biodiverse forests are
facing severe threats of deforestation, soil
degradation, and massive forest fires resulting from
intensive commercial and illegal logging, plantation
development and slash and burn practices. In the
mid-1980s, the government developed forestry management
plans to promote conservation and better management
practices; however, these plans were never implemented.
At the same time, banks were financing the over-capacity
of forest industry beyond the supply of
wood-- wood that could have come from sustainable
managed sources.
Why Does the USDA Forest
Service Work in Indonesia?
The threats to
Indonesia's vast and biodiverse forests affect both
global and local environments and economies. Just a few
years ago severe forest fires throughout Indonesia led
to extremely hazardous air pollution conditions in
Indonesia's cities and towns, creating health problems
for many residents, as well as threatening lives and
damaging forest resources. USDA Forest
Service fire specialists were brought in during the
fires to help the Indonesia Department of Forestry
manage the fires and develop a better system for fire
response and control.
In
response to the situation, the Southeast Asia
Environment Initiative and the East Asia and Pacific
Environmental Initiative provided funding in 1998 and
1999 for the USDA Forest Service to assist and
strengthen fire management in Southeast Asia with a
primary emphasis on Indonesia. Consequently,
the Strengthening Fire Management Program has been
instrumental in creating a cadre of Indonesians who are
capable of responding to and managing future
catastrophic fires.
Source :
(USDA FOREST SERVICE)
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