This photo taken on 13 November 2013 shows a timber company's vehicle driving down a dirt road in the forests of in Berau, East Kalimantan. Researcher say deforestation has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and a loss of Indonesia's biodiversity.

A new study has shown that Indonesia lost about 60,000 sq km of virgin forest - an area close to the size of Ireland - over a period of 12 years.

The rate of deforestation has increased so much that Indonesia has for the first time surpassed Brazil in the rate of its clearance of tropical forests.

The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Scientists monitored the growth of deforested land in Indonesia between 2000 and 2012 using satellites.

Picture of Riau province's rate of deforestation. Satellite imagery of Indonesia's Riau province showed wetland forest loss (in red) and forest degradation (in blue) over the study period
They say the land was cleared to make way for palm oil plantations and other farms.

By 2012, the loss of primary forest every year in Indonesia was estimated to be higher than that in Brazil, said scientists.

In that year, Indonesia lost 8,400 sq km of forest compared to Brazil which lost 4,600 sq km.