Worker harvesting palm oil fruit

    Core area “Conserving nature and natural resources, protecting life on Earth” Protecting forests, peatlands and biodiversity

    Indonesia has managed to significantly reduce deforestation. No other rainforest country has succeeded in reducing deforestation to the same extent over the last five years. Indonesia’s strategy is to store more Carbon dioxide in its forests than is released by them. Progress in the forestry sector is crucial to Indonesia achieving its climate goals. The German Development Ministry (BMZ) is supporting the Indonesian government in its efforts to implement forestry reforms which lead to the conservation and sustainable use of forests.

    Indonesia is striving for economic growth, which poses a threat to its remaining rainforests; large swathes of land are required for infrastructure projects, mining and agriculture. Like many countries worldwide, Indonesia faces the challenge of uniting economic goals with environmental and climate targets.

    Germany supports various programmes that protect forests and promote climate action. These include projects that foster community forests and preserve mangrove forests.

    Alongside forest protection, other key concerns of German-Indonesian cooperation include improving the living conditions of poor, rural populations and maintaining biodiversity.

    Restoring and managing peatlands

    The German Development Ministry supports the regeneration and sustainable management of peatlands in the Indonesian provinces of North and East Kalimantan. Intact peatland ecosystems store huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Maintaining these and restoring peatlands that have been damaged are effective methods of climate change mitigation.

    With German support, 29 peatland areas covering almost 700,000 hectares (7,000 square kilometres) have been mapped and given protected status.

    Concrete support for 12 community forests covering 32,000 hectares in peatland and mangrove areas succeeded in avoiding emissions of over 135,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2022 alone.


    As at: 18/10/2023