New Delhi, July 22: Rising exports of wood pellets from Indonesia to Japan and South Korea are accelerating tropical deforestation and threatening Indigenous communities and biodiversity, according to a new report by Earth Insight Indonesian environmental organisation Auriga Nusantara and Indigenous group AMAN.
The spatial analysis found that expanding wood pellet and wood chip supply chains are driving forest loss across Indonesia, particularly in Gorontalo province on Sulawesi Island, the country’s main wood pellet export hub. Japan accounted for nearly 75 per cent of Indonesia’s wood pellet exports in 2025, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
The report found that biomass haul zones linked to the industry overlap with 347 Indigenous territories covering more than 4.3 million hectares. More than 11 million hectares of forest, including nearly 6.9 million hectares of intact forest, fall within these zones, alongside 43 Key Biodiversity Areas spanning over 2.8 million hectares.
Researchers warned that the expansion threatens habitats of critically endangered orangutans and several endemic wildlife species in Sulawesi. The customary forests of the Polahi Indigenous people who live in voluntary isolation in Gorontalo, are among the areas at risk. The report said over 7,800 hectares, or 21 per cent, of forests linked to the Polahi territory have already been cleared.
The analysis argues that wood bioenergy is a “false climate solution,” noting that biomass power plants can emit 50–60 per cent more carbon dioxide per megawatt hour than modern coal plants when full emissions are considered. It echoes warnings issued by more than 500 scientists and economists in 2021 that treating forest biomass as carbon neutral could encourage further tropical deforestation.
The report calls for international recognition of the biodiversity risks posed by the wood pellet trade, inclusion of biomass emissions in carbon accounting, an end to biomass subsidies and greater investment in genuinely low-emission energy alternatives.