Worlds Biggest Deforestation Project gets Underway in Papua for Sugarcane
{Worlds biggest deforestation project gets underway in Papua for sugarcane. Sugarcane for biofuel. Biofuel i every bit a dangerous as fossil fuel but doesnt count toward Net Zero. Eath and Laef Editorial. extract below}
JAKARTA — Excavators have begun clearing land in the Indonesian region of Papua in what’s been described as the Worlds Biggest Deforestation Project.
A total of 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of forests, wetlands and grasslands in Merauke district will be razed to make way for a cluster of giant sugarcane plantations, part of the Indonesian government’s efforts to boost domestic sugar production.
Five consortiums, consisting of Indonesian and foreign companies, are confirmed to be participating in the 130 trillion rupiah ($8.4 billion) project, with roles ranging from developing sugarcane plantations and processing mills, to building the power plants to run them.
At least one of the companies, PT Global Papua Abadi (GPA), has already seeding its concession, with President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, planting the first seeds in a ceremony on July 23.
“I see that the land here is flat and there’s plenty of water. I think this is an opportunity to turn Merauke into Indonesia’s food barn,” the president said at the ceremony.
Satellite monitoring by technology consultancy TheTreeMap has detected large land clearings inside GPA’s concession since June 2024. Using alerts data from Nusantara Atlas, a forest monitoring platform run by TheTreeMap, the organization found at least 356 hectares (880 acres) of forest cleared during that time.
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