Research has shown that weak governance is the contributing reason to environmental degradation in most Southeast Asian countries (Bisson et al., 2003). This is due to minimal transparency, lack of accountability, and inactive participation of stakeholders in tackling forest management issues (Bisson et al., 2003).
For example, Indonesia declared a moratorium on logging new concessions in undisturbed tropical forests and peatlands. The government of Norway gave Indonesia a 1 billion dollar pledge as part of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program (Coca, 2018). However, seven years after, at least 10,000 square miles of primary forest and peatland have disappeared, leading to a failure of the initiative. According to the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and Climate, only 12 percent of the $1 billion that Norway pledged has been disbursed so far, to aid the Indonesian government properly monitor, evaluate, and disseminate payments for reducing deforestation (Coca, 2018). This shows that proper governance is crucial in ensuring that good policies are implemented to tackle the causes of deforestation, and to minimise the impacts of deforestation.