As Aceh reels from severe floods, Singapore's NTU-led study in 2024 traces roots to forest loss

FILE PHOTO: This picture taken on December 13, 2025 shows people walking across a landslide area after a road collapsed due to a flash flood about three weeks earlier, in Bener Meriah, in Indonesia's Aceh Province. The NTU-led study found that flood-prone areas in Aceh were likely to have fewer trees, more oil palm plantations and higher poverty rates. - AFP

SINGAPORE: While land clearing for plantations in Indonesia has been blamed for causing haze, deforestation’s role in fuelling floods has received far less attention.

That changed after devastating monsoon floods in November, worsened by a rare cyclone, battered Aceh and parts of Sumatra, killing more than 1,000 people.