Indonesia food plan risks 'world's largest' deforestation

JAKARTA: An Indonesian soldier gives a thumbs up as he crosses a rice field on a combine harvester in remote Papua, where a government food security mega-project has raised fears of mass deforestation.

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Keen to end its reliance on rice imports, Indonesia wants to plant vast tracts of the crop, along with sugar cane for biofuel, in the restive eastern region.

But environmentalists warn it could become the world’s largest deforestation project, threatening endangered species and Jakarta’s climate commitments.

And activists fear the scheme will fuel rights violations in a region long plagued by alleged military abuses as a separatist insurgency rumbles on.

The project's true scale is hard to ascertain; even government statements vary.