Environment issues in Indonesia include deforestation; water pollution from industrial wastes, sewage; air pollution in urban areas; smoke and haze from forest fires. International environmental groups have pressed Jakarta to accept environmental responsibility its territories, monitor pollution in its national territorial waters and to take legal action to prevent the destruction of its rain forests.
The cumulative effects of rising population density, urbanization, agricultural intensification, resource extraction, and manufacturing have had a significant impact on the Indonesian environment in recent decades. Home to the world’s largest reef system, one of its largest expanses of rain forest, and some of its richest areas of biodiversity, Indonesia is now experiencing serious environmental deterioration.
Indonesia’s geography leaves the nation vulnerable to severe flooding, unpredictable drought and plant pest attacks, volcanic activity, and earthquakes, which are sometimes associated with tidal waves. The most important environmental issues associated with human activities are forest degradation, water pollution from industrial wastes and sewage, air pollution from motor vehicles and industry in urban areas, and generally from smoke and haze caused by forest fires, and lastly threats to biodiversity and rare plant and animal species.
