Great for Malaysia… but what about the malaysian companies that cross the border into Indonesian Borneo and clearcut the forest all the way to the horizon????? ~ OO

New Straits Times Online
2008/12/28

SIX hours. That is all the time it takes to detect illegal logging in Peninsular Malaysia, thanks to the Forestry Department’s eye in the sky. Called the ‘Forest Monitoring Using Remote Sensing’ system, it was jointly developed with the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency. Agency director-general Datuk Darus Ahmad and Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia deputy director-general Datuk Razani Ujang talk to SONIA RAMACHANDRAN about the system.

Datuk Darus Ahmad says the satellite images are also used to build a national forest inventory.

Datuk Razani Ujang says the Forestry Department will verifies whether what is on what is seen on the satellite images and on the ground is the same.

Q: Whose idea was the system?

A: The satellite-based computerised system was mooted by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency and the Forestry Department and it started on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who chaired the 20th National Forest Council meeting in September 2006.

Q: When was it completed?

A: It was completed in August this year and launched in October. The agency manages the system which is used by the department.

Q: What does the system do?

A: It monitors both licensed concession areas to detect compliance with regulations as well as high potential areas for illegal land clearing.

By identifying illegal land clearing, we can detect forest fires and help in haze prevention.

The images are also used to build a national forest inventory of the country’s total area of forest cover.

This can be used to estimate the timber volume from the forests.

Q: Why do we need an inventory?

A: The inventory contributes to the national effort for forest and environmental sustainability.

There is always criticism that our forests are diminishing.

Q: How does it work?

A: We receive the data from the French Spot (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre earth-observing satellites) through our ground receiving centre in Temerloh and it is processed within six hours.

The data is then placed in our database which is linked to the department.

To access any information, the department gets on to the Internet and calls up the specific page to check if logging carried out in that area is legal. The department will also go down to the field to check.

Q: What is considered illegal logging?

A: Logging outside the concession area as well as in protected areas such as riverbanks, areas above 1,000m and slopes of more that 40 degrees gradient. Also illegal is the building of logging tracks outside the logging concession area as well as logging of prohibited trees.

Q: How often are the images taken?

A: For licensed logging areas as well as sensitive areas, we take the images once a week.

Sensitive areas are those with high potential for forest clearing and the Spot satellite, which has a 2.3m resolution which can detect individual trees, passes over the same spot once a week.

For less sensitive areas, which consist of normal forest cover, the images are taken monthly.

Q: Does the system cover the whole country?

A: Currently the system is only for Peninsular Malaysia because we are working with the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia. We can always extend it to Sabah and Sarawak.

Q: How much did the system cost?

A: Only RM120,000. The system was built using existing resources and internal expertise.

Q: Can the images be used as evidence in court?

A: Satellite images have been used to prosecute land owners for open burning so this has potential to be used as evidence in court.

That was a manual system where the image has to be interpreted manually.

This system has all the relevant data incorporated into it, including the template for licensed land boundaries, so it is immediately known that an offence is being committed.

Q: What is the difference between this system and the airborne hyperspectral imaging kit that has a sensor hooked to a computer and global positioning system device?

A: That is an airborne system. Our satellite system is more reliable and cheaper as we don’t need an aircraft to operate it.

Our system will also have more frequent images and cover a wider area and it is linked online to the Forestry Department.

Q: What happens when you receive the images?

A: The satellite images are acquired by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency and processed.

When the end product is obtained, it will be sent to us and we will access it online. We will then verify the images.

We have a Geographic Information Section (GIS) which will produce hard copies of the images.

Verification can also be done by the state and district offices.

Then, we have to verify the images on the ground. This can be done by state, district or headquarters officers.

The results of this ground check will then be passed on to the enforcement unit.

Q: Why can’t action be taken during the ground check? Why does the information have to be passed to the enforcement unit?

A: We have an enforcement unit at the headquarters and several at state forest departments.

By law, every officer posted to a state has to be gazetted in that state.

Only gazetted officers have the locus standi to carry out enforcement in the respective states.

There are plans to amend the National Forestry Act 1984 where federal enforcement officers will be gazetted to be able to carry out enforcement in the states.

Q: How long will everything take?

A: When the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency receives the satellite images, it is in a raw form. The images can be full of distortions like lines, blurring or even cloud cover.

They have to be cleaned and aligned to the scales and coordinates.

The GIS unit will verify the data within two hours as it has to compare the images with our most current base map because the template used could be outdated due to changes in land use and new issuances of licences.

The verification part is to see if there is abuse. We have to ascertain whether what is on the imagery and on the ground is the same.

Our target is to complete everything within 24 hours.

Q: Do you have enough staff for all this?

A: We need dedicated officers to do the verification work and we need to employ them. At the moment, we have officers from different sections helping out.

Q: Can the images be used as evidence in court?

A: At present, the satellite images are not used to prosecute offenders. Only field evidence is used.

However, it has potential to be used as we have included it as an amendment to the National Forestry Act to be used as evidence.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2438061/
Article/index_html

Source: The Jakarta Globe – December 26, 2008
By. Fidelis E. Satriastanti

The Ministry of Forestry hopes that a bill on illegal logging that would empower law enforcers to deal with errant investors and corrupt officials can be passed next year, a ministry official said on Friday.

“The bill is intended to clamp down on offenders in the forestry sector,” said Awriya Ibrahim, director for investigations and forest protection at the ministry.
Awriya said the bill would extend to investors and officials who turn a blind eye to violations.

“It is pretty hard to deal with investors who break the law, but we hope that the new bill can help us bring them to justice,” he said. According to the 1999 Law on Forestry, violators face a maximum of 15 years in prison. A minimum sentence, however, is not specified.

Yuyun Kurniawan, a forest research coordinator from the non-governmental organization Titian Foundation, said the bill provides minimum jail terms for forestry-related offenses.

“The current law on forestry provides only a maximum jail term for illegal loggers,” he said. “The judges are limited by that, so we cannot blame them if offenders get away with light sentences.”

“A judge could sentence a violator to two or three months in prison even if prosecutors ask for six years,” Yuyun said. Awriya said the government has already handed the bill over to the House of Representatives.

“We are now waiting for their next step,” he said. “We hope that the process can be finalized next year, but that is up to them.” He added that the bill would complement the current forestry law instead of rendering it useless.

Darmawan Liswanto of the Orangutan Conservation Services Program, who was involved in the drafting of the bill, said the emphasis of the bill was on the empowerment of civilian investigators and the streamlining of bureaucracy.

“The upcoming law on illegal logging would give civilian investigators more authority to report straight to prosecutors without having to go through the police,” Darmawan said.

He said that under the current forestry law, civilian investigators have to report to the police if they want to investigate further. “Such a setup extends the whole process because the police are not as familiar with the cases as the civilian investigators,” he said. “The proposed bill provides a mechanism that can help the police finish their investigations faster.”

He said that the drafting of the bill started in 2005, but progress was slow.

PALM oil futures headed for the worst annual drop since at least 1996, falling for the first time in four years, as stockpiles gained to an all-time high.

The edible oil also slumped as crude oil headed for a record annual drop as a global financial crisis pushed the US, Japan and Europe into a recession, dimming demand prospects for biofuels made from vegetable oils.

“From a fundamental point of view, we’ve had a bumper crop this year which resulted in very large stockpiles,” Yin Shao Yang, an analyst at Aseambankers Malaysia Bhd, said by phone from Kuala Lumpur today.

“On the speculative side, palm oil has not been spared from the deleveraging in commodities.”
Palm oil for March delivery fell as much as 1.9 per cent to RM1,639 (US$473) a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange before trading at RM1,659 at 11.51 am local time. The most-active contract is down 46 per cent for the year.

Futures have slumped nearly two-thirds from a record RM4,486 a ton in March as the global recession cut demand. The commodity is 33 per cent cheaper than rival soybean oil, from 6.1 per cent on March 31, according to Bloomberg data.

Stockpiles in Malaysia, the second largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, climbed to a record 2.27 million tons in November, according to the country’s palm oil board December 12. Output reached a record 1.7 million tons.

Crude oil for February delivery fell as much as 1 per cent to US$38.63 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange today. It last traded at US$38.63 a barrel, down 74 per cent from its record in July.

Palm oil, used mainly in food, tracked crude prices for much of this year as it is economically viable for use as a biofuel when oil trades above US$80 a barrel.

“With crude between US$40 and US$60, there might be a bit of the biofuel catalyst present but at these prices, I would say almost all of the demand for palm oil is edible,” said Yin.

Source: Bloomberg
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20081231154150/Article/index_html

Greenpeace – December 24, 2008
Rotterdam, Netherlands

Greenpeace today protested against a shipment of Indonesian palm oil en route to Rotterdam by painting “Forest Crime” on the side of the Isola Corallo. The tanker is transporting palm oil from Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas, to Europe and was already subject to a Greenpeace action six weeks ago in the port of Dumai in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Recent Greenpeace investigations (1) have brought to light information showing that Sinar Mas is actively destroying Indonesian rain forests and peat lands. While not itself a household name, Sinar Mas supplies to multinationals like Nestle, Pizza Hut and Burger King.

“Sinar Mas is a climate and forest criminal” said Suzanne Kröger, Forests campaigner, Greenpeace Netherlands. “Despite on-going discussions with Greenpeace, Sinar Mas continues to destroy Indonesia’s last rain forests. Now is the time for companies like Nestle and Burger King to show their concern for the welfare of the planet by cancelling their contracts with Sinar Mas, otherwise they are supporting the ongoing destruction of some of the world’s last remaining forests and thereby dramatically speeding up climate change.”

Companies like Unilever, who also buy from Sinar Mas, are supporting the Greenpeace call for a moratorium on any further expansion of palm oil plantations in the remaining Indonesian rain forests. In addition to pushing for the moratorium, Greenpeace believes that companies now need to show that they are serious by cancelling contracts with companies like Sinar Mas that continue to deforest for palm oil in Indonesia.

Indonesia is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China and the USA) as a result almost entirely of deforestation. Not only is this a disaster for the climate and local biodiversity but also for indigenous communities who depend on the forests for their livelihood and for unique wildlife such as the endangered Sumatran tiger and orang-utan.

Bustar Maitar, Forest campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia said “If the Indonesian government doesn’t take urgent action now, millions more hectares of pristine forests will be cut down and burnt. They also need to stop their hypocrisy: first they sell concessions to companies who have a long-standing record of forest decimation and then they ask the international community for funds to protect the very same forests. In order to qualify for funds to save their forests, the government must implement a moratorium on any further deforestation so that companies like Sinar Mas don’t cut down all of the trees before the money can reach the forests.”

Greenpeace’s “Forests for Climate” funding mechanism for forest protection was presented at the Poznan climate talks earlier this month. The document is a blueprint for the international community to establish funding for tropical forest protection as one of the major steps in the fight to curb climate change. Countries like Indonesia are hoping to get financial compensation for their attempts to reduce deforestation, meanwhile Sinar Mas’s expansion plans include the conversion of almost 2 million hectares of pristine forest in Indonesia’s Papua provinces as well as further forest clearing in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The establishment of oil-palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra poses the greatest threat to orangutans today. In fact, the clearing of forest and the establishment of oil-palm plantations has a negative impact not only on orangutan populations but also on climate, the water cycle, carbon emissions and livelihoods in local communities.

Although many people are aware of these facts, oppose the development of biofuels from palm oil and oppose the creation of these plantations, the destruction of the rainforest continues.

The effects of land-clearing are simple and obvious once you have seen it with your own eyes. It is even easier when you witness the rescue of orangutans or experience breathing difficulties and stinging eyes from the smoke of burning forest and peat.

When we consume destructive palm oil in crispy chips or delicious chocolate, or wash our hands with sweetly fragranced soap, we are very rarely conscious of the adverse effects our activities incur. Because we don’t feel the negative impacts firsthand we can’t imagine the way our behavior influences nature and the lives of people on a faraway island. Meanwhile the destructive oil business continues and the market keeps growing.

Unilever is one of the biggest palm oil consumers worldwide using 1.3 metric tons every year. Its heart-shaped ice cream brand under many names and numerous other brands —Dove, Sunsilk, Omo, Knorr, Blue Band, Becel, Best Foods, Ben & Jerry’s and Findus — are only a few of the many Unilever companies.

Avoiding products which may contain palm oil is nearly impossible, but as consumers we can all try to do what we can. Many consumers have made an effort to avoid products containing palm oil, and Unilever has been forced to respond, promising improvement by way of ensuring the palm oil they use is “sustainably” produced.

But where should all this sustainable palm oil come from? As worldwide demand for palm oil is so high, it can’t be met with only the sustainably grown version simply because not enough is available.

With limited supplies of certified sustainable palm oil only now entering the market, Unilever has had to buy unsustainable palm oil from many companies, one of which is Wilmar Group, one of the biggest palm-oil trading companies in the world, handling at least a quarter of all global palm-oil output. Besides supplying Unilever with palm oil, Nestl* and Cargill are also among Wilmar’s customers.

Not only are we eating palm oil, washing our clothes and ourselves with it, driving cars and producing electricity fueled by it, but our savings are often invested in banks connected with this biofuel that is helping destroy the planet. Among Wilmar’s financiers are Rabobank, ABM Amro, Standard Chartered, Citibank, IFC of the World Bank, OCBC, Fortis and ING.

Just as Unilever has many brands which we might assume are independent local companies, Wilmar International also owns plantations under different company names and buys palm oil from family-related companies as well, such as from the Indonesian Ganda Group. Wilmar’s plantations are situated in Kalimantan, Malaysia, Sumatra and Uganda. Their plantations cover nearly 600,000 hectares, and are proposed to grow to up to 1 million hectares, an area as large as South Korea. Two-thirds of these lands still must be cleared of forest and planted with palms.

Forest where orangutans were known to live have been cleared illegally. Plantations were established without official permission or environmental impact assessments. After immense pressure by NGOs, Wilmar International admitted in February 2008 it had violated its own plantation development policies in Indonesia.

Since Wilmar is planning to set up plantations in Central Kalimantan in Borneo, large-scale forest destruction and burning awaits that region. With the merging of PPB Palm Oil and Wilmar International, Wilmar now has 16 subsidiaries in Central Kalimantan. Most of the approximately 250,000 hectares have still not been developed. Another 250,000 hectares in Central Kalimantan are allocated for other companies’ plantations;
concessions covering one million hectares in all have already been handed out.

Existing forest should be protected from more onslaughts and oil-palm entrepreneurs should be forbidden to clear further. This and other steps are laid out in the Indonesian “Oranguatan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan”, which should be enforced and implemented.

“To save orangutans, we must save the forests,” the Indonesian President said in December 2007.

That is quite true, but implementation looks quite different. Companies are still cutting down forest and setting fire to peatlands as the cheapest and quickest method to clear new ground for yet more oil-palm plantations.

We see a nightmare relentlessly approaching. The forests will burn and orangutans will have to flee or die of hunger. Borneo is a hotspot of endemic plants and animals, hosting creatures most people haven’t seen in their lives and natural medicines (which the resident Dayak people know well and use), but Borneo is also a hotspot for destruction,
suffering and death.

Let your voice be heard. We as consumers are driving the market. Because of our consumption, companies make a profit from rainforest destruction.

Be concerned about your consumer behavior and show your concern by
writing to companies. Help us save what is left!

Source: http://indonesia-spot.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-is-destroying-our-rainforests.html

Personal note: I’ve just returned from a trip to Indonesia and spent several days at Ragunan Zoo meeting with Ulla and the head of primates. Orangutan Outreach will be doing all it can to tackle this issue in 2009. Stay tuned!

*****

In late 2000, P. Schmutzer, an animal lover and long-time resident of Indonesia, bequeathed her life savings for the construction of a world-class center for primates in Jakarta. Willie Smits, to whom she had entrusted this mammoth task on her deathbed, accomplished her dream.

The opening in 2002 of the greatest primate-center in the world, the Schmutzer Primate Center, located within the Rangunan Zoo compound, was indeed a significant event.

Sadly, however, the original aim of the center catering to the poor was diminished, since entry into the Primate Center has consisted of a separate fee, that is prohibitively expensive for its original target group of visitors: poor Indonesian children.

The center currently houses a variety of primates including chimpanzees, three African gorillas, gibbons, siamangs, lorises and a few fortunate Orangutans — supposedly Indonesia’s national treasure.

Unbeknownst to most visitors, there are close to 50 other Orangutans living at Ragunan zoo that live in desperate, miserable conditions in tiny and dark cement cages.

These Orangutans could not be accommodated in the Primate Center when it first opened, but were promised new enclosures.

To this day, however, that promise has been unfulfilled by the zoo administration.

For more then 10 years, I have been waiting for the release of several eligible Orangutans back into the wild. Currently, they are waiting patiently in rotten dark cages (some of which were once built for bears and cats and were used for quarantine areas).

Many times, full-grown Orangutans have tried to escape from these, and one even managed to lift a 5 x 2.5 meter piece of iron fence from the concrete walls — so desperate was it to see sunlight.

My hopes quickly turned to bitter tears when I learned that this would become a new Gorilla enclosure! How can Indonesia’s beloved national treasures sit and rot while the zoo builds a beautiful enclosure for an African animal?

I feel completely betrayed. Me and my beloved animals have been deceived for years.

Who will care for Indonesia’s Red-haired children if not the Indonesian people themselves? As a foreigner, I feel practically defeated after dedicating 40 years of my life to these precious animals only to see them discarded like so much garbage in the nation’s top zoo, in favor of Gorillas from another country.

And to Howlett’s, I say, what are you doing??

ULRIKE VON MENGDEN
Senior curator
Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta

Source: The Jakarta Post

Eleven-year-old orangutan Sinta holds her baby Natalia at Taman Safari Zoo in Pasuruan in Indonesia’s East Java province December 25, 2008. Natalia was born early morning on Thursday. 25 orangutans are currently staying at Taman Safari in Pasuruan.

(Photo: Reuters/Sigit Pamungkas – Indonesia)