Indonesia has declared it no longer requires the expansion of rice cultivation into forest areas, citing self-sufficiency achieved ahead of schedule. This announcement, made by Presidential Special Envoy for Climate and Energy Hashim Djojohadikusumo, suggests future food and biofuel production will focus on degraded land, a departure from a prior government initiative involving large-scale plantations in Papua.
However, inconsistencies have been raised by environmental groups. Less than two weeks before the envoy’s statement, the Ministry of Forestry designated millions of hectares of forest for potential utilization permits, including for food security and energy. This creates ambiguity regarding the fate of existing food and energy projects and highlights a contradiction between official statements.
Source: Mongabay