Indonesia is being deforested faster than any other country in the world, and it has everything to do with one product: palm oil.
According to a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change, deforestation in the Southeast Asian archipelago is nearly double the rate in the Amazon. Indonesia is said to have lost 840,000 hectares (3,250 square miles) of forest in 2012 while Brazil — which has four times Indonesia’s rainforest — lost a still-massive 460,000 hectares.
The report’s authors found that government figures underestimated the true toll of forest clearing by as much as half. In the last 12 years, it’s possible that the destruction of one million hectares of “primary forest” went unreported.
The tree-killing spree is largely due to slashing and burning vegetation for the expansion of palm oil plantations to feed growing demand in countries like China and India. Americans and Europeans are still far and away the top consumers per capita — it’s estimated that palm oil can be found in roughly half the manufactured goods in any supermarket or drug store. Everything from peanut butter to soap to cosmetics contains the oil in its various forms.
Indonesian election: Presidential candidates Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto indicate move away from reliance on Australian cattle
Indonesia's presidential candidates have both indicated they would like to end the nation's reliance on Australian cattle imports, in the final debate before Wednesday's election.
Indonesia's self-sufficiency policy has caused major problems for the country and Australian cattle producers.
Indonesia is unable to meet its own demand for beef but attempts to restrict imports have seen prices skyrocket.
The election of a new president offers a chance for import quotas to be relaxed, but in the final debate both candidates - Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto - indicated they would like to move towards self-supply.
Mr Joko - the current governor of Jakarta, better known by his nickname, Jokowi - said that could happen in a few years after local production is strengthened, while Mr Prabowo pointed out that the logistics of distributing local beef needs improvement.
Mr Prabowo's last pitch kept to his nationalist theme.
"We want to build a dignified nation, a nation that will stand on its own feet," he said.
"A productive nation - a nation that won't only buy products from other countries, but a dignified nation that will also be able to produce and sell their own products."
Mr Joko, who is known for his humble and unassuming style, took a more attacking position than usual.
In a veiled swipe he reminded the audience that Mr Prabowo, whose campaign rhetoric has been laden with anti-foreigner sentiment, has himself fled overseas twice, where he received his education and in one case protection from a foreign power.
"We were born, raised, educated and worked here in Indonesia," Mr Joko said of himself and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, known as JK.
"We are fully Indonesian and we, Jokowi JK, will only abide by the Indonesian constitution and by what the people of Indonesia want and we, Jokowi JK, will remain loyal to the Republic of Indonesia."
The seemingly coded message is as close as Mr Joko has come to openly pointing out Mr Prabowo's controversial past.
Mr Prabawo was a military commander under the dictator president Suharto, and was married to the autocrat's daughter Titiek.
Shortly before Suharto's resignation in 1998, Mr Prabowo was involved in suppressing anti-Suharto uprisings.
He was later dishonourably discharged from the military for allegedly ordering troops to "take away people's freedom" after soldiers under his command kidnapped and allegedly tortured students.
For a while he went into exile in Jordan.
Mr Prabowo says he had been answering to superiors, one of which - the retired military chief General Wiratno - is supporting Mr Joko's bid for president.
Campaigning in 'blackout' period before Wednesday's election
In their closing statements, Mr Joko pledged to "bring change [and] breakthrough" to Indonesia, while Mr Prabowo vowed to "prioritise welfare and sovereignty".
Mr Joko and Mr Kalla appeared more energetic and commentators said they outclassed Mr Prabowo and his deputy, Hatta Rajasa, with several well-judged attacks.
"Jokowi and Kalla looked better," said Tobias Basuki, from Jakarta-based think-tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, adding the other pair "seemed to have lost their composure".
Campaigning is now in a blackout period before the poll on Wednesday.
The election rules ban any further attempt to canvass votes, meaning they cannot do media interviews and the millions of campaign posters and banners that have been strung up across the country have to be pulled down.
Mr Joko had enjoyed a strong lead in the opinion polls but that has almost evaporated, with Mr Prabowo's strong-man image and professional campaigning seeing him enjoy a surge in support.
With just three days to go before the poll, Mr Joko held emergency meetings with advisers, cancelled commitments and made a last-ditch effort to win over voters in West Java – part of an island that is home to more than half of Indonesia's population.
Analysts say presidential race still too close to call
Mr Joko's relatively disorganised campaign team has struggled against the millions spent by Mr Prabowo and his billionaire backers on a highly professional campaign.
With days to go, political analysts and observers of Indonesia are saying it is too close to call.
Mr Joko taking the offensive in last night's debate may help him gain some ground as those who support Mr Prabowo tend to say his appeal is "strength and firmness".
Last night Mr Joko made fun of Mr Prabowo's promise to release 2 million hectares of land for farming.
"If [we] were given the mandate from the people, we plan to add 2 million hectares of new rice farm lands, to counter the lost of 730,000 hectares that have been converted for various uses," Mr Prabowo said.
Mr Joko made fun of that, saying planning is needed in order to successfully make a rice paddy. He pointed out that there needs to be a water supply that can be diverted.
In response to questions about why the two cities Mr Joko has run, Solo and Jakarta, have never won awards for green initiatives, both Mr Joko and his running mate made fun of the questions, eliciting laughter from the audience.
"I would like to respond simply to it: you had a good question but you made mistakes," Mr Kalla said.
"The award for cities is not called Kalpataru, but Adipura. So you were wrong. Because you were wrong, I am not going to answer."
Mr Joko added: "Solo was given the green city award from the ministry of environment and the ministry of forestry, please check with them, sir."
But Mr Prabowo and Mr Hatta also landed some punches.
Mr Prabowo accused Mr Kalla of being supportive of rice imports when he was in office as vice president.
And Hatta Rajassa, who was the coordinating minister for economics, reminded Mr Joko's running mate that they had been in government together, which took the sting out of some attacks on his governance record.
Jokowi turning to religion as campaign comes to an end
Mr Joko is using the moratorium period to travel to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, to ask Allah for his blessing.
Damaging allegations that Mr Joko is not a Muslim is something that he has struggled to overcome in the campaign, as Indonesia is the most populated majority Muslim country in the world.
His trip to Mecca may endear him in the eyes of about 90 per cent of the country's 250 million people, who identify as Muslim.
Presumably Mr Joko's absence from Indonesia and the fact that it is not an appeal to voters avoids the trip being classed as breaching blackout rules.
It is also somewhat of a tradition, with Mr Joko having made the pilgrimage previously in the mayoral race for Solo, in central Java, and while contesting the governorship of Jakarta.
He plans to spend the time "praying, being quiet, and letting God handle the rest".
5.9 quake strikes western Indonesia, no casualties
A quake at a depth of 6.2 miles, shook buildings for around 5 seconds, forcing people to run from their homes
World Bulletin / News Desk
An earthquake measuring 5.9 magnitude struck the coast of western Indonesia on Saturday, but there were no reports of any injuries or damage to any buildings.
The epicenter was in the ocean around 56.5 miles (91 kilometers) northwest of the island of Nias in the province of North Sumatra.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the head of the Indonesian Center of Data Information and Public Relations, told the Anadolu Agency that it occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), shook buildings for around five seconds, and forced people to run from their houses.
Nugroho added that there was no threat of a tsunami.
"Conditions have now returned to normal," he said, but the center would continue to monitor the situation.
In 2004, an earthquake in Sumatra caused a series of devastating tsunamis around the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in 14 countries.
Most of the victims were in the province of Aceh and in North Sumatra.
