Indonesian environmentalists blame rapid forest loss in Sumatra for severity of deadly floods

the hardest, with the death toll exceeding 700 and at least a further 500 reported missing. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Sumatra as a result, according to Indonesia’s disaster management agency. Meteorologists have explained the devastation by pointing to the unusual interaction between Typhoon Koto and Cyclone Senyar in the Malacca Strait — rare because cyclones do not typically form on the equator. Indonesian environmental experts and activists, however, said deforestation and mining activities in Sumatra had intensified the effects of the disaster and led to more deaths. Dodik Ridho Nurochmat, a professor in forest policy at IPB University in Bogor near Jakarta, said the landslides were the result of a combination of natural and human factors. “There are extreme weather conditions, mountainous geography and environmental degradation caused by human activities,” he said in a statement. The source of logs that had damaged homes and other structures as they ...