The Deforestation and Biodiversity Risks of Power Plant Projects in Southeast Asia: A Big Data Spatial Analytical Framework

Southeast Asia is one of the regions with the world’s highest species richness and endemism. Its tropical ecosystems are characterized by rich biodiversity and complex biotic interactions among their species. 

Unfortunately, today, this region exhibits the world’s highest vertebrate extinction rates, primarily due to severe habitat loss. The countries in this region have seen deforestation rates that are unchecked and higher than in any other major tropical region globally, while forest cover has decreased anywhere from 20 percent to 70 percent in the past 40 years. Southeast Asia is expected to lose three quarters of its original forests by 2100 and up to 42 percent of its biodiversity. Anthropological activities such as clear-cutting, illegal logging, agriculture and most importantly, infrastructure projects, including energy, are the underlying drivers of this loss.

In a new journal article published in Sustainability, Yaxiong Ma, Sucharita Gopal, Xinyue Ma, Kevin P. Gallagher, Magaly Koch and Les Kaufman characterize the deforestation and biodiversity impacts of energy investments in Southeast Asia using multiple geospatial data sources related to forest cover and loss data from 2000-2018, other landcover data, and the location, type and characteristics of energy investments.

Adopting a big data spatial framework, the authors characterize forests based on spatial morphological structures such as core forest, edges, islands and bridges, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of deforestation and its impacts on biodiversity. The findings suggest that projects financed by Chinese development banks pose different risks compared to non-Chinese financing and reveal significant differences in biodiversity impacts based on the type of energy source, be it coal or hydropower.

Their findings highlight the importance of in-depth data analysis to reveal the environmental consequences linked to investments, offering critical insights into the trade-offs between energy development and biodiversity conservation. The authors provide actionable metrics and strategies for policymakers, conservationists and development banks to prioritize forest and habitat preservation in Southeast Asia and globally.