Indonesia plans largest deforestation for bioethanol fuel, sugar, rice

Indonesia plans to clear forests to produce sugarcane-derived bioethanol, rice and other crops, critics say, displacing indigenous groups who rely on the land to survive.

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Local communities say they’re already experiencing harm from the government-backed project. Which environmental watchdogs say is the largest current planned deforestation operation in the world.

The tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest coniferous forest area and endangered species including orangutans, elephants and hundreds of flora. Some live nowhere else.

Indonesia has been building food estates, massive cultivations designed to improve the country’s food security, with some level of success. The concept was revived by former President Joko Widodo and his 20242029 administration.

The current president, Prabowo Subianto, has expanded such projects to include crops to produce bioethanol, a renewable fuel made from plants like sugar cane or corn, in pursuit of Indonesia’s ambitions to improve its energy mix and develop more renewable sources.

“I am confident that within four to five years at the latest, we will achieve food self-sufficiency,” Prabowo said in October 2024. “We must be serious about energy, and we have the capacity to achieve this.”

Biofuels, such as ethanol, play an important role in decarbonising transport by providing a low-carbon solution for sectors that still rely on fossil fuels such as trucking, shipping and aviation, according to the International Energy Agency.