Most of the natural forests in Indonesia, including in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests have characteristics that are different from other forests. Indonesia is an archipelago that has over 17,500 islands spread from Sabang to Merauke. Diverse place to grow from forests in Indonesia make Indonesia's tropical forests have a special characteristic of the forest than in the other hemisphere.
Many experts mendiskripsi tropical rainforests as a specific ecosystem, which can only stand firmly with the links between the constituent components as a unified whole. The linkage between the constituent components allows certain forms of forest structure that can provide a specific function as well as economic stability, high biological productivity, hydrological cycles are adequate and others. The reality on the groung, forest type has a very low soil fertility, soil composed of negatively charged clay particles such as kaolinite and illite low.
The condition of forest land also shows the uniqueness and distinctive characteristics. The biological activity of the soil rests on a layer of soil over the top (top soil). The biological activity of these about 80% are in top soil only. The facts indicate that the tropical rainforest ecosystems are fragile ecosystem, because each component can not stand alone. Besides, it was found that some other phenomenon is the existence of high diversity between sites or groups of both the forest and the growth of vegetation (Marsono, 1991).
From these characteristics make tropical forest in Indonesia is very prone to degradation. Tropical forest destruction in Indonesia is estimated at 2 million hectares per year. Tropical forest destruction in Indonesia is caused by various factors both from parties only seek profit alone or from the way management of tropical forests is wrong, because they do not understand about the characteristics of tropical forest itself.
Reduction efforts and prevention of tropical forest destruction in Indonesia is an urgent matter. Otherwise tropical forests will be lost due to logging activities, mining, human settlements, agricultural land clearing, forest fires and conversion to other forms.
