Indonesia is one of many countries with a large and growing population, crowded in a relatively small area. For example, Java has one of the densest concentrations of population anywhere in the world. Hence, the Indonesian government implemented the transmigration program to move landless people from the overpopulated islands of Java, Madura, Bali, and Lombok to settlement areas in the outer island of Sumatra, Kalimanta, Sulawesi and IrianJaya. In recent decades, there has been a tremendous acceleration in the number of transmigration families. From 1950 – 1979, there were an average of 6,570 regular transmigration families each year, and from 1980-1984, the annual average rose to 73,200 families.
As these settlement projects are preferentially placed in forested area, this calls for the need to clear the land for residential and settlement purposes and hence, leading to deforestation. As more and more people are displaced to colonize the outer areas, more forest falls, contributing to the deforestation situation.
Photo: Indonesia’s Transmigration Programme Source: http://www.michr.net/moluccas-genocide-on-the-sly-ndash-indonesiarsquos-transmigration-and-islamisation-program.html