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Indonesia is going to enter Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005. An area of forest equal to 300 soccer fields is being destroyed every hour. The entry will read: "Of the 44 countries which collectively account for 90 percent of the worlds forests, the country which pursues the highest annual rate of deforestation is Indonesia with 1.8 million hectares of forest destroyed each year between 2000 - 2005."

Facts from Jakarta

Indonesia is facing the highest rate of tropical rain forest loss in the world.
According to FAO estimates, over 2000-2005 Indonesia had the second largest area of deforestation (after Brazil) with about 1.87 million hectares cleared every year (1.91% of forest area per year).
There are millions of hectares of degraded land available that could be used for oil palm plantations. Instead, many companies choose to use high conservation value rainforest land in order to gain the additional timber profits by logging the area first.
Borneo is home to 13 primate species, 350 bird species, 150 reptiles and amphibians and 15,000 plant species.
Sumatra is home to Sumatran rhinos, clouded leopards, Sumatran tigers, Asian tapirs, Sumatran elephants, and thousands of other species.
Papua New Guinea harbours the third largest unbroken chain of rainforest in the world . It is home to some 7.5% of Earth’s biodiversity, including 197 species of frog, 762 species of bird, and 3000 species of fish.
The PNG forests are also home to tiny tree kangaroos and over one thousand varieties of wild orchids. Many of these are endemic such as the Queen Alexandra Birdwing, the largest butterfly in the world.
Much of PNG remains to be surveyed and studied but time is running out as between 5 to 6 million hectares of forests have already been cleared and a further 10.5 million hectares are earmarked as logging concessions. The annual deforestation rate is estimated to be 300,000 hectares but this will increase if oil palm expansion unfolds as planned.
Over 95% of PNG’s land and forests belong to the people. Land cannot be bought or sold,but is inherited through the customary land tenure system. Land, forest and waterways are revered as not only an essential practical resource, but also as basis for rural livelihoods and for the Melanesian identity and pride. The people plant rich and varied food gardens on small areas of fertile lands. PNG has an estimated population growth rate of 3.2%. Further environmental degradation and deforestation from large-scale agriculture projects such as oil palm will lead to poverty and increasing conflicts in PNG.