Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

3. Perceived Risks of Deforestation

3.1. A large majority of Indonesians are worried about deforestation.

A large majority of Indonesians (80%) say they are either “very worried” (34%) or “worried” (45%) about the rate of deforestation in Indonesia today. By contrast, 14% say they are either “not worried” (13%) or “not at all worried” (1%) about it, and 6% don’t know.

3.2. Majorities of Indonesians think deforestation is harmful.

Majorities of people in Indonesia think deforestation is either “very harmful” or “somewhat harmful” to citizens all across Indonesia (89%), people who live near the forest (87%), the local government where the forest is located (77%), the central or national government (77%), and business people who have invested to open up the forest (59%).

3.3. Indonesians say floods, landslides, and loss of water reserves worry them the most about deforestation.

Respondents were asked to choose and rank the three things that worry them the most about deforestation. People in Indonesia most frequently say that floods (71%), landslides (68%), and loss of water reserves (46%) are among their top three worries about deforestation. Fewer Indonesians say more pollution (30%), global warming (29%), animal/plant extinctions (28%), loss of the nation’s pride (13%), and loss of beautiful scenery (12%) are among their top three worries about deforestation. Less than 1% have no concerns because they are not worried about deforestation in Indonesia.

3.4. Four in ten Indonesians say cutting down a bigger area of the forest in Indonesia is never justified.

Four in ten Indonesians (40%) say cutting down a bigger area of the forest in Indonesia is never justified. However, the majority of Indonesians (60%) say cutting down a bigger area of the forest is justified if it is for building public infrastructure (32%) or if it lifts more people out of poverty (17%), increases people’s income (15%), opens more jobs (14%), and/or increases the state’s revenue (4%).