Can Indonesia's notorious deforesters turn over a new leaf?
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 - 08:51
in Earth & Climate
When I first went to central Sumatra more than 30 years ago, forest blanketed most of the landscape. This was a breathtaking place – an Eden home to elephants, rhinos, tigers and orang-utans. Heading upstream, long stretches of pristine forest were only occasionally interrupted by small, riverside villages. So you can imagine the shock I felt in 2008 when I flew over Riau province and saw islands of forest surrounded by vast tracts of acacia and oil palm plantations.