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Indonesia's Vanishing Forests

4,459 views · Published 6 March 2014 · 5:19 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: Reveal · 2014 · News & Politics

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Forestry means big money in Indonesia. From pulp and paper to lumber, trees pump billions into the country's economy each year. But demand for wood and paper products has cost Indonesia almost three quarters of its natural forest. As sprawling patches of burnt and devastated clearings scar the once lush landscape, the industries responsible for destroying the forest must scramble to find solutions. Asia Pulp and Paper, one of the world's largest pulp and paper companies, has resorted to growing its own trees. But the perfectly aligned rows of eucalyptus and acacia found in pulp plantations don't look like natural forests and critics argue they don't function like them either. Indonesia is trapped in a cycle of dwindling resources and debates between companies and environmental groups. 

Produced by Heather Roy and Emily Bodenberg.

This video is part of a year-long investigation into the roots of global illegal logging and the role of consumer demand for cheap wood products. Reporting was conducted by a team of 10 journalism students in the International Reporting Program at UBC's Graduate School of Journalism in Vancouver.

For more information on this series visit:

http://www.internationalreporting.org/cut/index.php

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