Deforestation on Sumatra island

Sumatran rainforest, 1986: The fastest rate of deforestation in Indonesia is occurring in central Sumatra’s Riau province, where some 4.2m hectares (65%) of its tropical forests and peat swamps have been cleared for industrial plantations in the past 25 years. Under the Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (Redd) scheme $30bn a year could be transferred from rich countries to the owners of endangered forests. But experts on all sides of the debate - from international police to politicians to conservationists - warned that the scheme may be impossible to monitor and may already be leading to fraud Photograph: Charles O'Rear/Corbis

This aerial photo taken by Greenpeace shows man-made forest fires in a company concession located in the Giam Siak Kecil area in Sumatra’s western Riau province. The area is being cleared for palm oil plantations. Some environmentalists have called the process unworkable and dangerous. While Indonesia has been the first country to formally introduce Redd pilot programmes, it is still laying plans to clear vast tracts of forests for timber, paper and palm oil, experts have said Photograph: John Novis/greenpeace/AFP

A worker runs through a burning forest in Pelalawan, in Indonesia’s Riau province, in October 2006. Thick smoke from bush and forest fires in Indonesia has forced schools to close and brought misery to residents. Neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore have complained that the smoke from Indonesia has affected air quality in their regions. The average annual CO2 from forest loss, degradation, peat decomposition and fires between 1990-2007 in Riau province was 0.22 gigatonnes – higher than that of the Netherlands and equivalent to 58% of Australia’s total annual emissions, or 39% of the UK’s annual emissions, according to a WWF report Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

A motorcyclist passes through the haze in Pelalawan, Sumatra, in 2006, when forest fires were raging across Indonesia. Visibility was reduced to as low as 30 metres (100ft) in parts of Borneo island, forcing cars to use headlights during the day and causing chaos for air travel. The demand for palm oil, which is fuelling much of the forest clearance and resultant pollution in Sumatra, has risen in recent years to meet a global demand for biofuels Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

Firefighters search for fires in the Penarikan swamp area in Pelalawan, Riau province, in October 2006. Around 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to come from global annual deforestation, which often takes place in the most biodiverse regions of the world, such as Brazil and Indonesia Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

A satellite image showing where fires are occurring in Sumatra and Borneo, Indonesia, in August 2008. The UN estimates that 25% of the world’s forestry emissions, or nearly 5% of total global carbon emissions, could be saved by 2015 if rich countries invest $15bn to set up Redd schemes. So far, rich countries have put up $52m to establish nine official pilot Redd schemes in Asia, Latin America and Africa. In addition, several hundred private schemes are being set up by bankers, conservation groups, and businesses who plan to offer carbon credits on the voluntary market Photograph: NASA

A Sumatran orangutan. Indonesia is known as one of the most biodiverse countries on earth, hosting 11% of the world's flower species, 12% of mamalia species, 15% of amphibian and reptile species, 17% of bird species and 37% of fish species. Indonesia is also the world’s second largest supplier of palm oil and destroys about 2% (1.87m hectares) of its forests each year — equivalent to 300 football fields every hour Photograph: Art Wolfe/Getty Images

A Sumatran tiger with one paw missing, photographed in the Tesso Nilo national park on Sumatra. The tiger probably injured itself trying to escape from a snare, according to WWF. The species is on the verge of extinction due to illegal poaching and a shrinking habitat, with fewer than 400 remaining in the wild Photograph: HO/X80001

A clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Scientists discovered the leopard on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra and have identified it as a new species of big cat, according to the WWF. It is estimated that there are only 18,000 of them left in the wild Photograph: HO/Reuters

Sumatran elephants take a bath in a river in Tesso Nilo national park, Riau. The large contiguous forest of Riau was once home to the largest population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatrensis), but over the last 20 years deforestation by palm oil and paper industries has reduced Riau’s natural forest cover by almost 60%. Today, just 10% of the remaining forest is suitable for elephants. The forest loss forces elephants into closer proximity to people, leading to conflict and culling as communities react to crop damage and property loss. In Riau province, the Sumatran elephant population has declined by as much as 84%. In 2007, as few as 210 individual elephants remained Photograph: Mast Irham/EPA

A palm oil plantation outside Pekanbaru, Riau. The world’s appetite for wood, pulp and palm oil is fuelling the destruction of peatlands, while widespread deforestation has made Indonesia the third largest emitter of carbon in the world. A great deal of this contribution comes from the near-annual forest fires on islands such as Sumatra and Borneo Photograph: Ahmad Zamroni/AFP

A natural peatland in Kampar, Riau. When healthy, peatland plays host to dense, swampy forest which efficiently soaks up greenhouse gases; when exposed by deforestation, it actually emits CO2. Felling trees on peatland therefore has a twofold effect on greenhouse gas emissions Photograph: Ahmad Zamroni/AFP

An untouched dipterocarp forest, on peat in Sumatra Photograph: Steve Midgley/FAO Forestry

Acacia logs await transportation beside a forest in Pangkalan Kerinci, Riau province. South-east Asia will be hit particularly hard by changes in weather patterns, causing the region’s agriculture-dependent economies to shrink by an estimated 6.7% per year by the end of the century Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP

Regenerated palm oil trees are seen growing on the site of destroyed tropical rainforest in Kuala Cenaku, Riau province Photograph: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images

Plantation workers prepare acacia seedlings at a nursery in Pelalawan, in Riau province. The plantation is owned by Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL), a major developer of fibre plantations with one of the world’s largest pulp and paper mills Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP

A worker harvests leaves from palm oil trees growing on the site of destroyed tropical rainforest in Kuala Cenaku, Riau province Photograph: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images

A plantation worker harvests palm oil fruits in Pelalawan Regency, Riau province Photograph: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images

Smoke rises from a palm oil factory outside Pekanbaru, Riau province, which also produces paper Photograph: AFP/AFP

A worker monitors boxes paper on conveyor at the pulp and paper mill owned by APRIL Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP

An Indonesian woman passes a truck carrying acacia logs, to be processed at a pulp and paper factory Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP

Satellite images show the damage done to Sumatra's lowland tropical forest. 8m hectares were lost to logging, farming and other changes in land use between 1990 and 2000 alone, with an area roughly the size of El Salvador cleared every year. If deforestation continues at the present rate, lowland trees on the island and neighboring Borneo will disappear by 2010, say conservationists Photograph: NASA

A villager picks up water spinach growing in a polluted pond, which is used to dump waste from a palm oil factory in the Luwu district of Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province. Indonesia’s parliament recently passed a new bill giving the environment ministry the power to revoke polluters’ business licences, which environmentalists said could lead to more effective enforcement. In addition to the destruction of its forests and wildlife, Indonesia’s rapid economic growth has been accompanied by widespread pollution of its waterways, soil and air, prompting criticism from green groups and the World Bank Photograph: Yusuf Ahmad/REUTERS

The sun, visible through the haze from the 2006 bush and forest fires Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters