Oil palm plantations store less than 20% the carbon of intact forest. Photo: Achmad Rabin Taim

The Feb 13 issue of the Jakarta Post is reporting that Indonesia’s Agriculture Ministry will issue a decree allowing businesses to expand palm oil plantations on peatland. Why should you care? Because when you chop down the trees in these rainforests growing on peaty soils massive amounts of greenhouse gas emissions stored in the peat get released. And despite Agricultural Ministry statements to the