Indonesia has experienced rapid primary forest loss, second only to Brazil in modern history. We examined the fates of Indonesian deforested areas, immediately after clearing and over time, to quantify deforestation drivers in Indonesia. Using time-series satellite data, we tracked degradation and clearing events in intact and degraded natural forests from 1991 to 2020, as well as land use trajectories after forest loss. While an estimated 7.8 Mha (SE = 0.4) of forest cleared during this period had been planted with oil palms by 2020, another 8.8 Mha (SE = 0.4) remained unused. Of the 28.4 Mha (SE = 0.7) deforested, over half were either initially left idle or experienced crop failure before a land use could be detected, and 44% remained unused for 5 y or more. A majority (54%) of these areas were cleared mechanically (not by escaped fires), and in cases where idle lands were eventually converted to productive uses, oil palm plantations were by far the most common outcome. The apparent deliberate creation of idle deforested land in Indonesia and subsequent conversion of idle areas to oil palm plantations indicates that speculation and land banking for palm oil substantially contribute to forest loss, although failed plantations could also contribute to this dynamic. We also found that in Sumatra, few lowland forests remained, suggesting that a lack of remaining forest appropriate for palm oil production, together with an extensive area of banked deforested land, may partially explain slowing forest loss in Indonesia in recent years.

Catatan teknis ini dibuat untuk menjelaskan pendekatan dan metode priorititasi data peringatan mingguan GLAD pada tiga kegiatan pemantauan, yaitu: (1) pemantauan kegiatan penebangan hutan ilegal; (2) pemantauan lanskap; dan (3) pemantauan pembukaan lahan dan hutan gambut.

This working paper elaborates on the reasons why illegal logging activities still exist in Indonesia despite the efforts that have been made by the government. This paper offers recommendations for tackling the misdeclaration of timber information. It aims to provide recommendations to the Government of Indonesia to strengthen the SVLK's role in ensuring timber legality and enforcing the law by applying science-based technologies as criminal evidence for illegal logging cases.

In the last two decades, Indonesia deforestation rate has been at threatening level. The loss of biodiversity and forest service, as well as Green House Gas emission resulted, has been notable at national and global level. At initial stage, forest clearing is usually started from forest encroachment and logging road construction, leading to more massive clearance. Identifying initial stage of forest encroachment and driver of deforestation can help to prevent forest loss at greater level. Our study integrated near-real-time data of GLAD Alerts that is publicly available at Global Forest Watch platform, forest spatial data, and high-resolution images, to identify areas with uppermost illegal logging activities every three months period in 2018. False positive elimination was done through analysis of high-resolution satellite images that timely correspond with GLAD Alerts data collected. The result shows that Sumatra and Kalimantan Island were the main areas where illegal forest clearing took place in 2018. Agriculture land clearing and plantation expansion were two common drivers of deforestation causing these illegal forest clearings. The size of forest clearing ranged from 12 to 389 hectares.

Monitoring of the forests of Indonesia is performed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) in collaboration with the Indonesian Space Agency (LAPAN). The MoEF mapping method entails the visual interpretation of Landsat, with national-scale map products made from 1990 onward. As part of the development of a national carbon accounting system, LAPAN developed a method for processing national-scale mosaics, which were used to prototype forest loss algorithms. The mosaics are now used as the primary reference for the MoEF map updates. We assessed the accuracy of the MoEF time-series maps of forest cover and found a high accuracy for tracking primary and secondary forest loss. However, improving the efficiency and timely delivery of the annual update is now the primary focus of the MoEF/LAPAN collaboration. A new spectral product that highlights areas of likely land change based on a spectral index and forest loss indication map are now used to help target analysts efforts in updating the annual map. This review of the national Indonesia forest monitoring system highlights 1) the strategic collaboration by operational and research agencies, 2) the desire to maintain a consistent methodological framework, 3) and the recent improvements in product latency and accuracy.

Landsat-8 has various channels that function to identify an object. The vegetation index algorithm which is based on remote sensing involves several bands and can describe the percentage of canopy and density of vegetation. More than 100 vegetation index algorithms and each can be used in accordance with the research objectives. In this paper we will discuss the utilization of Landsat-8 metric data with the parameters of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) and several parameters in metric data with various features to produce indications of rapid land change, especially to detect changes in tree cover area to lose tree cover and vice versa. For this purpose, the annual Landsat-8 metrics data is located in Riau Province. To compare both NDVI and NBR parameters, the trial and error method is used and the results are compared visually to the two different images of the year. The result is that the NBR parameters with a maximum-70 feature and the threshold for tree cover loss and tree cover gain respectively more than -0.1 provide tangible results in looking at the tree cover changes in Riau Province. In the analysis, other information is needed, for example, a map of the Forest Area to see further whether the changes that occur are in the forest area or not, which will certainly provide different treatment.

Qomariah IN, Rahmi T, Said Z, Wijaya A. 2019. Conflict between human and wild Sumatran Elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus Temminck, 1847) in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 77-84. Aceh Province has the largest habitat for Sumatran elephant. However, the elephant population in the province keeps decreasing due to frequent conflict with humans. This study aimed to observe the trend and pattern of Human-elephant Conflict (HEC) in Aceh, as well as the main causes driving the conflict. To collect information, we carried out desk study, secondary data collection, and interviews with relevant actors in Aceh Jaya, Pidie, and Aceh Timur District. We collected data of HEC during the 2012-2017 period in 16 districts across Aceh. The result shows that during the six years, there were 262 HEC cases occurred in Aceh, where Aceh Timur and Aceh Jaya contributed the highest number of HEC incidence, with 47 and 44 cases respectively. Maximum Entropy analysis shows that the main factor causing the conflict is “Distance from the human settlement” with 84.7% contribution, followed by “Primary forest loss” (14.1% contribution). From the findings, we suggest reforestation in areas that becomes elephant home range and creation of barriers within the conservation forest boundaries. Moreover, HEC mitigation action should also be incorporated in provincial spatial planning (Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah - Provinsi) to minimize further economic loss and wildlife extinction.