Indonesia’s rainforests are rapidly disappearing. Habitat loss is a major threat to its residents: the Sumatra tigers, rhinos, orangutans and elephants. Can activism make a difference in securing a better future for humans and our fellow creatures? Although ongoing campaigns by NGOs, activists and consumers to fight deforestation in Indonesia have led to sustainability commitments by paper companies, it is an ongoing challenge to create accountability for their failure to live up to those commitments. In addition to the pulp and paper industry, other commodity-producers, such as oil palm plantations and mining operations, are major factors in the destruction of Indonesian rainforests. In the case of deforestation due to coal mining, the loss of trees has a magnified impact on climate change: it directly affects our planet’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide emissions and the burning of coal by end users adds more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
