JAKARTA, Oct 6 — Indonesia said today it will halt a project to raze several million hectares of forest to clear land for rice production, saying it had reached self-sufficiency levels of the staple grain.
The government launched a programme in 2024 to stop relying on rice imports within five years by clearing three million hectares of land for paddies.
Indonesia is one of the world’s most forested countries, and as such a major absorber of planet-warming carbon emissions from mankind’s burning of fossil fuel.
It aims to become a net carbon sink by 2030, with forests and other land use absorbing more carbon than they emit.
However, observers have said continuing forest destruction for agriculture and logging, as well as rampant wildfires, could put Indonesia’s plans at risk.
