The Island on Fire
If you visited the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the summer of 1985, you would have seen an idyllic tropical paradise. Well over half the island would have been covered in primary forest and the rest was a mixture of local farms, villages, and a handful of small, but quickly developing cities. Had you dared to venture into the robust jungle environment, you might have seen one of the roughly 1,000 Sumatran tigers, 5,000 Sumatran elephants, or 600 Sumatran rhinoceros, all of which were isolated animals only found on the island. At the time, you might have thought it impossible for most of this natural beauty to vanish over the next three and a half decades.
A lush portion of the Sumatran jungle that has remained Source: BBC News
Today, if you were to return to many of those same places, they would be unrecognizable. In the window of your absence, around half of the remaining forest on the island disappeared. Tiger and elephant populations have been cut in half, with both subspecies receiving the grim title of critically endangered. The rhinoceros were hit even harder, as their population decreased to around 80 individuals with experts fearing they have already been pushed past the brink of extinction. The once lush jungles have transformed into expansive palm oil monocultures that reach miles beyond the horizon. If not for agriculture, the forest may have fallen to construct coal mines or been clear cut for logging. One way or another, tree by tree, the once robust ecosystem of Sumatra has been sliced and diced into an island of industry.
How did this happen?
The story of Sumatran deforestation begins in 1848, when Dutch businessmen planted the first oil palm seed in Indonesia. The merchants had imported the seeds from West Africa and tested out the foreign species in the Bogor Botanical Garden on the island of Java. Soon after, it became clear that the lush environment across the Indonesia archipelago would provide the perfect conditions to cultivate oil palm. At first, the spread of the crop was relatively slow, but with the passage of the 1870 Basic Agrarian Law the oil palm landscape, both literally and figuratively, changed. The Dutch law essentially allowed for the wealthiest members of the colony to take any unclaimed land and begin cultivating crops. The crucial and unfortunate result of this was rapid deforestation of primary jungles, because these regions lacked recognized property claims, making them “empty lands.”
Early Dutch agricultural development in Sumatra Source: History’s Shadow
In Sumatra, this new law increased the expansion of oil palm and rubber trees so quickly that plantation owners were faced with an island-wide labor shortage. The colonial Dutch farmers began importing forced labor from Java and indentured servants from Southern China. With a growing stream of labor and no legal restrictions on expansion, the industry began gaining traction. From 1916 to 1938, oil palm farms in Indonesia expanded by 91,000 hectares as agricultural scientists poured their resources into improving the efficiency of these operations and discovering potential uses for palm oil.
The seemingly unstoppable rise of oil palm came to a screeching halt in 1942 when Indonesia was occupied by Japan in the Second World War. The Japanese mandated Indonesian agriculture focus on essential food crops needed to supply their forces. While the occupation lasted only three years and ended in Indonesia’s declaration of independence, the country was not fully free until 1949. This transition marked the beginning of a new era referred to as “the old order” by Indonesian historians. Under the rule of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, the country adopted a “guided democracy” with a largely anti-capitalist sentiment. As a direct result of the nationalization of oil palm farms, Indonesian palm oil production sharply fell. With inexperienced management and a lack of industry knowledge, oil palm fell to the wayside. While the future of the crop seemed dim, President Sukarno aggressively pursued a transmigration policy that relocated landless citizens on the densely populated island of Java to more remote regions. While unknown at the time, this policy would eventually become a key component to the growth of Sumatra’s palm oil production.
In 1967, Indonesia elected President Suharto. This election represented the transition from the old to the new order. Under the new administration, the country justified a strict authoritarian regime as a means to promote economic development. Soon after this transition, agricultural leaders in Sumatra began taking advantage of the population growth caused by the transmigration policy and oil palm production made a remarkable comeback. Over the following decades, a mixture of public and private companies began making major investments in the cash crop. Within a matter of years, the industry transformed from a series of disorganized operations to a leading export of the country.In Sumatra, this new law increased the expansion of oil palm and rubber trees so quickly that plantation owners were faced with an island-wide labor shortage. The colonial Dutch farmers began importing forced labor from Java and indentured servants from Southern China. With a growing stream of labor and no legal restrictions on expansion, the industry began gaining traction. From 1916 to 1938, oil palm farms in Indonesia expanded by 91,000 hectares as agricultural scientists poured their resources into improving the efficiency of these operations and discovering potential uses for palm oil.
The seemingly unstoppable rise of oil palm came to a screeching halt in 1942 when Indonesia was occupied by Japan in the Second World War. The Japanese mandated Indonesian agriculture focus on essential food crops needed to supply their forces. While the occupation lasted only three years and ended in Indonesia’s declaration of independence, the country was not fully free until 1949. This transition marked the beginning of a new era referred to as “the old order” by Indonesian historians. Under the rule of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, the country adopted a “guided democracy” with a largely anti-capitalist sentiment. As a direct result of the nationalization of oil palm farms, Indonesian palm oil production sharply fell. With inexperienced management and a lack of industry knowledge, oil palm fell to the wayside. While the future of the crop seemed dim, President Sukarno aggressively pursued a transmigration policy that relocated landless citizens on the densely populated island of Java to more remote regions. While unknown at the time, this policy would eventually become a key component to the growth of Sumatra’s palm oil production.
In 1967, Indonesia elected President Suharto. This election represented the transition from the old to the new order. Under the new administration, the country justified a strict authoritarian regime as a means to promote economic development. Soon after this transition, agricultural leaders in Sumatra began taking advantage of the population growth caused by the transmigration policy and oil palm production made a remarkable comeback. Over the following decades, a mixture of public and private companies began making major investments in the cash crop. Within a matter of years, the industry transformed from a series of disorganized operations to a leading export of the country.
A Sumatran oil palm farm bordering a dense primary forest Source: Wageningen University
In 1970 there were around 130,000 hectares dedicated to palm oil production. In 2020 that figure has reached an estimated 13 million hectares.
It would be easy to point at this astronomical growth and deem the oil palm industry to be the sole culprit of Sumatra’s environmental degradation. The anti-palm oil narrative has been widely used across many nonprofits hoping to raise funds for Sumatran wildlife protection. There is no question that the resulting deforestation driven by the palm oil export has taken a toll on Sumatra. However, there is a cast of often-overlooked characters who have played their own crucial role in dismantling the once pristine island ecosystem.
One of the offenders is another industry, this time - coal. As the largest exporter of coal in the world, Indonesia has built an extensive network of mines spanning across multiple islands. Sumatra is believed to contain 62% of the country’s total coal, and as a result, it has become a primary target of mining expansion. The process of extracting coal has been particularly devastating in Indonesia as the industry’s regulations lack proper enforcement and this has opened the door to illegal practices. In the south Sumatra province, which makes up under one-fifth of the Sumatran island, there is an estimated 748,300 hectares of illegal coal mining land. These operations cover nearly 8% of the province and do not follow the already loose environmental restrictions placed on mining. In addition to the mines themselves, the industry necessitates further infrastructure developments such as roads and temporary settlements for the mining communities.
The clear impact of coal mining in Sumatra Source: Mongabay
Coal mining is not the only industry plagued with unlawful practices that harm the Sumatran ecosystem. In fact, government officials are facing perhaps an even more difficult challenge with rampant illegal logging. A study conducted in 2010 found that unsanctioned logging cost the Indonesian government about $2 billion per year and estimated that over half of the country’s logging was done illegally. Unfortunately, most of this hardwood harvesting is done unsustainably at a rate much faster than the trees can repopulate. Often, the logging industry works in tandem with oil palm farms. After primary forest has been clear cut for timber, opportunistic farmers will quickly cultivate the land for oil palm. Since the farmers are not the people who destroyed the protected forest, they are not penalized by the government. This tag-team of illegal logging fueling oil palm expansion has been a deadly duo for protected habitats. In Tesso Nilo National Park, an epicenter of illegal logging, over one-third of the protected area has been deforested, even after receiving the highest level of protection from the federal government in 2004.
Another major factor in Sumatra’s rapid deforestation has been fire. The use of controlled burning to clear both primary and secondary forests for agriculture has led to a consistent problem of wildfires. During the dry season from May to September, conditions make it difficult to adequately monitor agricultural burnings. Once the fires get out of control, they can burn for weeks and indiscriminately destroy farmland, protected forest, and villages. The environmental issue does not end once the fires subside. Similar to the oil palm expansion after illegal logging, recently burned land is a prime target for new agricultural areas, even if they were once protected jungles.
One of the many recent wildfires on Indonesian primary forest land Source: The New York Times
One of the final major drivers of widespread species decline across Sumatra has been poaching. Despite many of the species on the island being protected by laws governing endangered animals, Sumatra has supported a thriving black market of poached products for decades including tiger pelts, rhinoceros horns, and more. Many of these products are exported to China, where there is a high demand for endangered animal products thought to have medicinal properties. Although all of these pseudo-medical remedies have been proven to have no legitimate uses, there are still many buyers willing to pay high prices for these products. Research done by TRAFFIC, an NGO dedicated to monitoring illegal wildlife trade, has found that around 80% of yearly Sumatran tiger deaths are the direct result of this prohibited trade. Unlike organized game hunting in parts of Africa and North America, the poachers pay no attention to maintaining populations that will sustain themselves. In the case of the Sumatran rhinoceros, poachers are increasing efforts to kill the final 80 members of this species. As forested area on Sumatra continues to diminish and fragment, poachers are narrowing down on the last few areas that are still home to the island’s rarest species.
What is being done?
Despite all of the environmental crises facing Sumatra, hope is not lost. Through the efforts of NGOs and government institutions, attention is being directed towards the most pressing issues on the island.
The future of Sumatran conservation is multifaceted and far from certain. However, there are two main areas experts agree are the key to long term success – local community support and law enforcement. With international support, comprehensive legislation, and a strong scientific understanding of the major ecologic factors, it is clear the solution to Sumatra’s environmental degradation must come from within.
While the mission here is clear, the path forward is anything but straight. On an island where a majority of men work in industries historically at odds with environmental protection, garnering support for comprehensive eco-policy has proven to be difficult. At the household level, opinions on the Sumatran economic situation are unsurprisingly based on financials. Up until recently, the perception of conservation in Indonesia was that of economic loss. Thankfully, with a growing ecotourism industry and emphasis on the relationship between environmental sustainability and long term economic growth, ideas in Sumatra have been shifting.
Beyond the greater macroeconomic incentive to transition Sumatra towards a more ecofriendly island, the government has begun a new strategy of direct financial compensation for actions that protect wildlife and wilderness. Examples of this include paying farmers to use safer methods of clear cutting fields rather than controlled burns and awarding villagers who notify officials with information on poaching. A study funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research found that financial support for small farmers is a vital component to a successful adoption of new stringent environmental policy. Without this backing, farmers will often resort to their original habits and ignore the updated regulations.
n Indonesian Palm Oil Farmer in Sumatra Source: Getty Images
So far, these new initiatives have shown promising results. Local support for environmental protection is at its highest level in the past 150 years. Deforestation rates have been dropping on the island since a peak in 2015, although still remain amongst the highest in the world. In the year 2020, the Sumatran deforestation rate fell by 75%, but only time will tell how much of this decline was only a temporary shock from the pandemic. Ultimately, the diverse tropical jungles of Sumatra can still be saved. This unique ecosystem is rapidly approaching a point at which it can no longer support the charismatic megafauna so many around the world have grown to love. The fate of these jungles rests squarely on the shoulders of the species which brought it to the brink of disaster – we will decide the future of this magical island.
