Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.
©2025 The World from PRX
PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.
Paper Trees in Precious Ground
Plantation industries have taken root across much of Southeast Asia’s peatland forests, disturbing habitat with the highest carbon content in the world. The release of carbon from Indonesia’s vast and deep peatlands has made this developing country the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter. Some forest experts say slowing this release could be one avenue for quick action on global warming. But how and whom to pay to stop Indonesia’s carbon hemorrhaging in places like Riau province remains unclear.
Two huge plantation industries are sweeping Indonesia: palm trees used to make oil, and acacia trees used to make paper. But most of the land left for plantations in the wake of deforestation is in peat forests — land with the highest carbon content in the world. Plantations on peat have helped Indonesia become the world’s third biggest greenhouse gas emitter. The debate over emissions from peatlands is most acute in Riau province, Sumatra. Ingrid Lobet reports.