TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) said that deforestation in Indonesia is among the highest in the world despite the decline in the deforestation rate, Antara News reported.

The declining deforestation rate, according the Chairman of FWI Community E.G Togu, is due to the shrinking of the forest area.

“The forest is depleted, chopped down excessively causing a high deforestation rate in Indonesia, even the highest in the world,” Togu said during a press conference as quoted by Antara News.

According to FWI analysis, deforestation rate in Indonesia has been declining in the past three periods. It was decreased two million hectares per year during 1980s to 1990s, 1.5 million per year between 2000 to 2009, and around 1.1 million hectars between 2009 to 2013.

“The decline in the deforestation is not due to the government’s achievement, but it is because the forest coverage continue to shrink,” Togu added.

Indonesia was recorded on the Guiness Book of World Records as the tropical country with the highest deforestation rate in 2000s.

ANTARA NEWS | ADITIA MARULI | INDRAS WULANDARI