A chronic lack of botanical information further compounds the problem. Insufficient documentation of plant diversity limits conservation planning, restricts the discovery of new species and their potential uses, constraints ecological restoration, and weakens training of future scientists. When restoration efforts proceed without understanding which species once structured these ecosystems, forests may be replanted without truly being restored. Poorly designed reforestation may increase tree cover, but it rarely covers the functional integrity needed to reduce disaster risk.
Implementing Reforestation as Risk Reduction
The government has begun to respond. The Ministry of Forestry has announced plans to prioritize the rehabilitation of approximately 464,000 hectares of degraded land in Sumatra by 2026. Measures include strengthening law enforcement, conducting field operations, deploying automated timber identification technologies, revoking poorly performing forest concession licenses, and allocating IDR 29.7 trillion in public funds to assist the three most severely affected regions. These are necessary and welcome steps.
