While many tropical countries are recording record-high deforestation in 2024, Indonesia has seen a slowdown in forest loss. However, nearly half of the deforestation cannot be linked to any clear cause, raising concerns over speculative land clearing, poor regulation, and hidden environmental damage.
According to analysis from TheTreeMap, Indonesia lost 242,000 hectares of primary forest in 2024, a 14% drop from the previous year. Known causes such as logging, oil palm expansion, pulpwood plantations, mining, food estate projects, and fires explain less than half of this loss. The rest remains unattributed, with evidence suggesting much of the land is cleared and left unused for years.
Research shows that almost half of deforested land in Indonesia stays idle for more than five years before being converted to agriculture or plantations. This pattern points to speculative clearing where companies remove forest cover, extract timber, and leave the land abandoned for potential future use.
Idle lands create multiple risks. Without oversight, they often degrade further, face encroachment, and are vulnerable to seasonal fires. The absence of clear ownership or responsibility also complicates law enforcement and supply chain transparency, particularly under international deforestation regulations.
The Indonesian government has revoked some inactive concessions to tackle the problem, but the scale remains vast. Experts warn that without a systematic mapping of idle lands and a plan for rehabilitation or community use, the cycle of destruction will continue.
Idle lands also intersect with deep-rooted land ownership inequality, where a small fraction of the population controls most of the territory. Poorly managed conversions could fuel agrarian conflicts, displace communities, and open the door to more monoculture plantations, further eroding biodiversity.
Impact
If left unaddressed, idle deforested lands could become long-term sources of environmental degradation, recurring fires, and social unrest. Conversely, proper rehabilitation, community management, and sustainable use of these areas could help restore ecosystems, boost rural livelihoods, and reduce future deforestation pressures.