By: Karen Cernich
06/30/2009

“If you care about global warming… then you’ve got to care about what’s happening in Indonesia right now.”

Rolf Skar, a senior forest campaigner with Greenpeace, said that in a story, “Worse Than Crude: The Case Against Palm Oil,” for National Public Radio last year.

Sheryl Gruber and her husband Brent Loken of Squamish, Vancouver, agree wholeheartedly.

That’s one of the reasons they quit their jobs running an international school in Taiwan last December and created Ethical Expeditions, a nonprofit “school without walls” that leads groups of students (mainly juniors and seniors in high school) into the rainforests of Borneo in Indonesia and Zambia in Southern Africa for eight weeks of intensive hands-on conservation projects.

Gruber, whose parents are Carol and Myron Gruber of Union, was just in Franklin County for a couple of weeks with her husband. They spoke to several schools in St. Louis about their expedition plans, made contact at St. Francis Borgia Regional High School to possibly give a presentation there this fall and spent time with The Missourian outlining their new work.

The goal of Ethical Expedition is to fully immerse students in conservation projects on the frontlines so they can develop the skills and knowledge to lead what Gruber and Loken call “the green generation.”

“We believe there has to be a new generation, and it has to start with the students,” said Gruber. “Students can affect their parents,” and that can change the world.

Both Broad and Focused Approach

Gruber and Loken have both a broad and focused approach with Ethical Expeditions. The broad approach is that they are working with schools to develop a green curriculum that will infuse environmental ethics into all parts of schools. This would include things like “greening” the building and possibly developing a community garden, said Loken.

On the Web site, ethicalexpeditions.ning.com, the organization offers a free two-year curriculum called Global Ethics so schools can get involved.

“Right now only 38 percent of schools offer environmental science and it’s an elective course,” said Gruber.

The focused approach of Ethical Expeditions is its overseas expeditions. The organization is partnering with nature conservancies in Borneo and Zambia as well as local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to offer two expeditions a year – one to Borneo and one to Zambia. Only 14 “fellows” are accepted to attend each expedition, and the application process is stringent, Gruber noted.

“The students will be carefully selected for their leadership ability and their commitment to coming back to their community to make a difference,” she said.

Gruber and Loken are seeking students with a variety of backgrounds – lower to wealthy income families, rural and urban communities, from traditional and progressive schools. Next year they also plan to open up applications to students at international schools.

A significant portion of the cost of the expeditions will be paid for by students through fundraisers, as part of the learning experience, said Gruber. Ethical Expeditions also is seeking grants and donations to provide financial assistance to help those students who “deserve to go” on the expedition but don’t have the money.

Before they leave on the expedition, students will be paired with a mentor to help them in developing a research question to investigate in the field. It will serve to focus and guide them as they talk to experts and community leaders, said Loken.

Each student on the expedition will be given a laptop computer and a Kindle (digital book reader) so they will basically have a library at their fingertips. The students also will be expected to create a documentary or “digital video diary” of their work on the expedition.

“It’s a way to help them tell the stories that don’t get told,” Loken said. “All of the videos will be edited and produced by the kids too.”

All of the videos will be posted on the Ethical Expeditions Web site as part of its online network to get out the information. More than just a Web site, ethicalexpeditions.ning.com is also a social networking site, like Facebook and Myspace, said Loken. The one thing uniting users of the site is their passion for environmental issues.

“It’s a place where people can post videos about the work they may be doing in their own communities,” said Loken, “where people can have conversations and blog, a portal of information.”

“Part of our mission is to have people join the network to connect with individuals around the world who are interested in supporting us to build the green generation,” said Gruber.

Why High School Students?

With Ethical Expeditions, Gruber and Loken are targeting mainly high school students because they feel that’s the age most receptive to the message.

“At that age, they are still open and ripe,” said Gruber. “They’re searching for that path.”

After a year or two of college, many young people have already laid a course for their life, Loken noted.
College students are not prohibited from applying. In fact, Ethical Expeditions is working with Quest University in Canada to offer its expeditions to its students as a teaching course in the field. It’s also in discussions with universities to offer college credit to high school students who take part in an expedition.

Gruber and Loken have already filled their first and second expeditions. The first will be a group of Quest students to Borneo next January and February, and the second expedition will be high school students headed to Zambia in June and July, 2010.

“In 2011 we hope to open a third expedition to Gabon, the Central American rainforest,” said Gruber.

Working Overseas Since 1994

Gruber and Loken met in Bolivia where he was teaching and she was working for an international development organization. Both had been working overseas since 1994 and found in each other a shared passion for environmental issues and education.

Loken, who grew up in Iowa and had initially wanted to have a career as a wildlife biologist but ended up getting a degree in education, began his overseas career teaching in Damascus, Syria. Since then he has worked in Bolivia, Alaska, Tanzania, Pakistan and Taiwan. He has taught a variety of subjects including college level physics, chemistry and environmental science, third grade, global ethics, physical education and English. Most recently he and Gruber helped create one of the most progressive international schools in Asia.

Gruber also started working overseas in 1994 in the refugee camps of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. She then worked for a nongovernmental organization in Bolivia, focused on education and community development. There she discovered her passion for education and cross-cultural understanding and chose to combine the two through international teaching. She went on to receive her master’s degree in mathematics education from the University of Minnesota and has taught at international schools in Pakistan and Taiwan.

Together, Gruber and Loken have traveled in over 60 countries, have biked around the world and climbed numerous mountains – all experiences that have helped them realize “the amazing places this world has to offer and the importance of preserving all life on earth for future generations.”

About two years ago Gruber and Loken were sitting in the rainforest in Borneo watching orangutans snack on some fruit when something occurred to them. Just 30 minutes away on either side of them were palm oil plantations – places where the rainforest had been burned away to plant a type of palm tree (oil palms) that produce a large red fruit rich with an oil that can be refined for use in a variety of products -foods like chocolates and cookies, cosmetics, soap, even biodiesel.

The result is devastating the landscape, the wildlife that used to call it home and the entire planet, said Gruber. Cutting down the rainforest releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide in to the air (enough to make Indonesia the third largest carbon dioxide emitting country in the world after China and the United States, she added.

“That’s when it struck me,” she said. “This is happening all over the world! And our schools are not doing enough to educate kids about this. We need to be on the front lines.

“What’s happening with the climate is urgent,” she remarked. “It should be at the forefront of learning. It shouldn’t just be a subject.”

Gruber and Loken created Ethical Expeditions as a way to get others involved in conserving the natural world. It is their hope that the network and expeditions will inspire others to lead a more environmentally ethical lifestyle.

“We feel a sense of urgency,” said Gruber, ” . . . but I become more and more confident every day that we will be successful.”

“Once you mobilize the U.S., things can happen really fast,” Loken remarked.

“We have ripple effects all over the world. If the United States doesn’t lead it, I don’t know if it will happen.”

“This has to be a grassroots effort,” Gruber added. “We can’t wait for politicians.”

For more information on Ethical Expeditions, visit http://ethicalexpeditions.ning.com.

Source: http://www.emissourian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20338836&BRD=1409&PAG=461&dept_id=544656&rfi=6

The first Australian cinemas release dates and venues have been announced.

Sneak previews begin at the State Cinema, Hobart from July 2nd, and it opens there officially on July 9th.

The film will be reviewed on At the Movies (ABC) on Wednesday 8th.

The Brisbane launch will be held on Thursday 9th at Dendy Portside with an after party at Cloudland in the Valley.

The Sydney launch will be on Friday 10th at Dendy Circular Quay (details to be confirmed).

The film will open at DENDY Newtown (Sydney), Canberra and Portside (Brisbane)… from July 9th.

It opens at the Trak Cinemas, Adelaide from July 16th.

It opens in Byron Bay from July 30th

The Queensland Education launch of THE BURNING SEASON will be held on Friday 17 July at Queensland Academy of Creative Industries in Kelvin Grove.

The Gold Coast Premiere will be held at Bond Cerum Theatre on Friday 31 July.

Other locations to follow. Please check these websites for all bookings:
http://www.theburningseasonmovie.com/
www.gilscrinefilms.com.au

The film was the runner up for the audience choice award at the Sydney Film Festival, behind The Cove, and was the most popular Australian documentary at the State Theatre.

The NSW government and FTO hosted a screening of the film at Parliament House on Tuesday 23rd June.

An Exhibition devoted to the film opened at Customs House at Curcular Quay in Sydney on Monday 22nd.

An official launch of this exhibition is being considered for Friday 10th July.
http://cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/customshouse/whatsOn/

Here is a calendar of screening dates and venues for July. More to be added soon.

Please start spreading the word.

Thanks

Cathy Henkel
VIRGOPRODUCTIONS

June 30, 2009 Daily Express, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu: WWF-Malaysia’s Borneo Species Programme team has captured images of a female Sumatran rhino believed about 20 years old in the Heart of Borneo, further strengthening the need to sustainably manage the forest in this part of the region that is shared by Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia.

Raymond Alfred, Senior Manager of the programme, stressed the importance of strong and coordinated enforcement in the forest reserves involving the Forestry Department, Wildlife Department and Sabah Foundation, with the support of the police, to ensure the survival of this endangered species.

The current enforcement and survey work in this area is supported by Honda Malaysia. Consistent monitoring of the rhino population here has so far identified the presence of two rhino calves.

Raymond said the future of the rhinos in Borneo now depends on how serious the forest reserves could be managed sustainably and how the enforcement and monitoring could be carried out effectively and be supported with appropriate activities.

WWF-Malaysia is now looking into how Forest Management Units (FMUs) could be sustainably managed since the forest stand and condition in most of the FMUs in Sabah are poor.

He said based on long-term field survey data, the rhino monitoring and survey activities in other forests by the programme shows that the home range of the rhinos is also affected by oil palm expansion near the eastern coastline of Sabah.

Raymond said the rhinos’ key habitat in this forest may still or could be connected especially between the Tabin Willdife Reserve and Lower Kinabatangan River region.

Some of the rhino habitat in this area is very poor and already isolated, and the only option to manage these rhinos is through translocation and keeping them in a more secured forest area.

“Further conversion of the natural forests especially those located adjacent to swamp-mangrove forests in this area into mono plantation (particularly oil palm) would further eliminate the important corridor connecting these two key rhino areas,” he said.

“So far, no specific management plan has been developed to address the issue of how the landscape corridor between Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Lower Kinabatangan River region could be identified and maintained since Tabin is already isolated from the main forest in the Heart of Borneo,” he added.

WWF-Malaysia believes that full support and cooperation from the relevant oil palm companies (whose lands are adjacent to the swamp-mangrove forest) to allocate and restore corridors including tackling the illegal setting up wildlife traps along the oil palm-forest boundary and hunting activities in the forest reserves could support the survival of the rhinos in Sabah in long term.

Meanwhile, more than RM500,000 has been contributed to the State Wildlife Department by WWF-Malaysia to step up and enhance conservation work at the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.

From this amount, more than RM100,000 would go to equipment used for patrolling and enforcement work against encroachment and illegal activities within the sanctuary’s protected area covering 26,000 hectares.

On Monday, the WWF handed over patrolling and enforcement equipment comprising two fibreglass boats, four sets of VHF Radio Communication Centre and Reapter, computers and GPS units to the department at its office here.

The WWF enforcement team has been working closely with the wildlife officers for the past three years by patrolling together to protect the sanctuary from encroachers who regularly venture into these areas to extract logs, clear land for illegal planting activities as well as hunting.

“There has been tremendous success thus far,” said team leader for WWF’s Kinabatangan Corridor of Life (K-Col) Project, Julia Makajil.

“There is a very visible presence of enforcement in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary area, the level of which was previously unseen,” she added.

WWF aim to address problems like degradation of the riverine eco-system resulting in habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, excess sedimentation and flooding due to over logging and development of agriculture plantations, mainly oil palm.

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=65955

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2009 (AFP) – The United States and Indonesia signed an agreement in which the largest Southeast Asian nation will commit to protect tropical forests in return for reduced debt payments to Washington, officials said Tuesday.

It is the largest debt-for-nature swap under the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act passed in 1998 and aimed at providing debt relief to developing countries that protected forests, the US Treasury said.

The swap with Indonesia was made possible through contributions of $20 million by the US government and a combined donation of $2 million from two environmental groups—US based Conservation International and Indonesia’s KEHATI, a Treasury statement said.

“The agreements will reduce Indonesia’s debt payments to the United States government by nearly $30 million over the next eight years,” it said.

“In return, the government of Indonesia has committed these funds to support grants to protect and restore the country’s tropical forests.”

Indonesia is one of the most biologically diverse nations and, according to the statement, funds generated by this program will help protect several forest areas on the large island of Sumatra.

These forests are home to species found only in Indonesia, including the endangered Sumatran tiger, elephant, rhino and orangutan, and will provide important ecosystem services such as maintaining freshwater supplies, the statement said.

Source: Grist (Agence France-Presse)

Jonathan Wootliff | Tue, 06/30/2009 11:26 AM | Environment

Conservation campaigners in Britain are calling on supermarkets to stop selling products that contain palm oil harvested from environmentally sensitive areas in Indonesia.

Palm oil is widely used in everything from chocolate cookies and potato crisps to detergent and lipstick, and Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of this much prized commodity.

The target of this current campaign is the major London Stock Exchange-quoted conglomerate, Jardine Matheson, which is the majority shareholder in an Indonesian palm oil company that plans to convert sections of the Tripa swamp forest in Aceh, Sumatra into palm oil plantations.

Environmentalists claim that the venture will destroy a biologically rich ecosystem that is home to more than 6,000 orangutans.

Although more commonly known as one of Borneo’s most endangered species, orangutan populations in Sumatra are dwindling at an even more alarming rate. Experts say that the species found on the island – which is more intelligent and sociable than its Borneo cousin – is well on the way to becoming the first of the great apes to go extinct.

Greenpeace is one of a number of international organizations condemning the Jardine Matheson controlled Astra Agro Lestar palm oil venture, which is headquartered in Jakarta.

It is emotively accusing the company of bankrolling the obliteration of a vital part of Indonesia’s rainforests, right in the heart of the region that bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami which claimed the lives of nearly a quarter of a million people.

Ironically, Jardine’s, which is one of the world’s oldest companys, was established in Canton in 1832 partly for the purpose of importing opium in to China. Today, it is one of the most respected international businesses in the world, owning a myriad of interests including the prestigious Mandarin Oriental hotel chain.

Its Website states that the company “has always been committed to making a positive contribution to the communities and regions in which it operates.”

Astra Agro Lestari (AAL) robustly denies any wrongdoing, claiming its activities are in full compliance with Indonesian law, which requires comprehensive environmental studies that take into consideration any stakeholder concerns prior to the development of any plantations.

AAL says that these studies must cover the potential impact on endangered species, thereby discrediting allegations that its activities have any adverse impact on the orangutan.

The company claims to have set aside thousands of hectares of forest deemed to be of so-called High Conservation Value (HCV), and that the decision to go ahead with the Tripa project was based on the findings of an independent environmental study. In this instance it plans to convert only half of its 13,000-hectare concession as a consequence of conservation concerns.

Less than a quarter of Indonesia’s palm oil producers have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the global organization which promotes sustainable practices in the industry. And yet AAL claims to fully endorse the principles of the Roundtable, although curiously, it is not yet a member.

Nothing is simple when it comes to environmental protection in Indonesia, as this Green-Watch column regularly attests. In Sumatra, locals call oil palm the “golden plant”, thanks to the income that the fast growing industry delivers.

But conservation groups say the economic benefits come at a high price. In spite of their call for more responsible practices and stronger government action, even the governor of Aceh, known for his green credentials, seems unwilling to intervene.

It may be hard to judge the rights and wrongs of this particular confrontation, but it is clear that conservation groups must fight to protect Sumatra’s rapidly depleting natural forests. I have been flying over the island for nearly a decade and have witnessed the clearing of massive areas of forests to make way for palm oil plantations.

The palm oil industry has its rightful place in Indonesia, and responsible development of well managed plantations that do not impact on biodiversity are a necessary if Indonesia’s economy is to flourish.

But there is widespread disregard for the needs of the environment with weak enforcement of regulations and laws being all-too-commonplace. It would be far better, therefore, to entrust the palm oil industry to large businesses like AAL, which can be held account for their actions, than to allow an inevitable chaotic free-for-all to take place.

There is a disturbingly large gap between the accusations coming from environmentalists and AAL’s counter claims.

It is in the best interests of the orangutan, local people and the company, that this serious dispute be resolved.

There has been a breakdown of trust that must be urgently addressed. It is surely beholden on AAL, and its highly competent parent company, to urgently execute a comprehensive engagement strategy with all of the concerned stakeholders.

Jonathan Wootliff is an independent sustainable development consultant specializing in the building of productive relationships between companies and NGOs.

Source: The Jakarta Post

By HILARY CHIEW

KUALA LUMPUR: Three baby orang utans believed to be part of a smuggled group of five animals were confiscated from the Taiping Zoo and a private ostrich breeder in Klang recently by the Department of Wildlife and National Park (Perhilitan).

The raid on the zoo came about after the private ostrich breeder in Klang, who was keeping one of the five baby orang utans, revealed the matter to Perhilitan enforcers.

It is learnt that Perhilitan is searching for the remaining two babies.

Confirming this, Perhilitan’s deputy director-general Misliah Mohamad Basir said the zoo was raided after a tip-off.

“All orang utans at the zoo are microchipped but these specimens were without microchips, hence we are able to ascertain that they are of dubious origin,” she said, adding that they were also without official papers.

As the orang utan is a totally protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 as well as prohibited from international trade for its status as an Appendix I species on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), keeping the animal is only possible with a special permit from Perhilitan.

Following the high-profile expose of the smuggling of about a dozen of orang utans from Indonesia in 2005, Perhilitan took an inventory of all orang utans held by private and public zoos to show its commitment to stemming out trafficking in the endangered species.

Orang utan, the sole Asian ape, is only found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Three sub-species of the genus Pongo pygmaeus are distributed in Borneo while Sumatra is home to Pongo abelii.

Misliah also said DNA samples of the two apes were taken to determine their origins and to facilitate further investigation and prosecution.

The confiscated orang utans are being held at Perhilitan’s temporary shelter in Cheras and are said to be healthy.

The Taiping Zoo officials could not be reached for comments.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/30/nation/4207442&sec=nation

June 30, 2009
By DAVID FOGARTY
Source: The Star

WITHIN a vast deforested area on Borneo island, Australia and Indonesia hope to turn an ecological disaster into a global lesson on how to help local communities save tropical forests and fight climate change.

Borneo, like the Amazon, is at the centre of efforts to fight deforestation that is a major contributor to global warming and many governments are trying to build on a United Nations-backed scheme that aims to reward developing nations for preserving their forests. Billions of dollars in annual revenues are potentially in the offing but getting the support of local communities is crucial if forests are to remain standing and the scheme is to succeed.

“The major challenge is to change the behaviour of the community. That’s the main problem,” said Ben Tular of CARE Indonesia. The non-governmental organisation is among a number of groups helping Australia and Indonesia develop the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP) which aims to preserve and rehabilitate 100,000ha of carbon-rich peat land in central Kalimantan. Half the area has been cleared and half is still forested but under threat unless alternative livelihoods are found for the 20,000 people living in and around the project area. Australia has pledged A$30mil (RM85mil) to fund the project until 2012 and a full field team will be on the ground from next month.

Drive against deforestation: Illegally logged timber floating in a river in a peat area in the Mengkatip district of Indonesia’s South Kalimantan. Within a vast deforested area on Borneo island, Australia and Indonesia hope to turn an ecological disaster into a global lesson on how to help local communities save tropical forests and fight climate change.

Tular, CARE’s programme manager for the project, said there had been a sharp increase in deforestation in the KFCP area because revenues from rubber, the main source of income for many villagers, had plunged because of the global financial crisis.

“Most of them have tried to develop farming there,” he said of the cleared area of 50,000ha. “But maybe about 90% of activities have failed because the land is very acid. Most of the crops are dead.”

KFCP, though, is part of a much wider problem. It represents a fraction of an area of forest cleared in the 1990s on the orders of former president Suharto on the mistaken hopes of growing vast crops of rice. About one million hectares of forest were cleared, much of it sitting on carbon-rich peat swamps, and more than 4,000km of drainage canals were dug.

Observers who have seen the failed site from the air say the former mega-rice project area looks like a giant scar on the land, and during the dry season it is vulnerable to burning. But where many see disaster, others see opportunity in the vast amount of carbon locked away in the peat soils.

The sale of carbon credits from stopping the peat land from burning and replanting the denuded areas could provide the incentive to slow the rate of deforestation, particularly in Borneo, which has already lost about half its forests.

Tropical rainforests and particularly peatland forests, soak up vast amounts of carbon-dioxide, locking away carbon in the wood and soil. Peat forests can release more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare when drained and burned, as well as large amounts of methane, a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

In the 1990s, some one million hectares of peat forest was cleared in central Kalimantan, and 4,000km of drainage canals dug to prepare the land for rice farming. But the scheme failed.

“Degradation of peat is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia,” said Sam Zappia, AusAID’s Acting Senior Representative in Indonesia.

AusAID, the Australian government’s aid arm, and the Department of Climate Change in Canberra are helping develop the KFCP programme along with the Indonesian government and the central Kalimantan provincial administration.

The programme is one of the first large-scale demonstration projects under the UN-backed forest carbon scheme. Called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), the project aims to use carbon credits from saving forests to reward developing nations. The UN hopes REDD will become part of a broader climate pact to be negotiated at the end of the year and be ready by 2013 once issues such as ensuring protected forests remain standing are worked out.

Rewards

Zappia said field teams were now collecting socio-economic details in local communities, such as wealth, sources of income, while a panel of experts was developing a way to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from peat in the KFCP site.

“This work will be scaled up from July, leading towards the damming of a network of drainage canals that is driving the process of degradation. Measures to prevent fire will also be put in place,” he said.

He said the team will trial a system of incentive payments for activities at the site that support REDD, such as sustainable land use and forest protection.

“Payments would be funded through KFCP funds (grant aid), not through the sale of carbon credits,” he said, since the programme was meant as a learning exercise at this stage.

A villager in a wooden boat passing a drainage canal dug to drain the peat forest of central Kalimantan for farming.

Payments could, for example, initially be tied to indicators such as a reduced incidence of fire, and later could be tied to measured reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to model market-based approaches to REDD, he said.

Both governments hope to take the lessons learned to help design future REDD projects elsewhere and have already agreed to develop a second site involving a different soil type in Indonesia but have not yet decided on the location. In the meantime, the Kalimantan partnership aims to tackle the very causes of deforestation.

“There’s no point going in to do rehabilitation work if you’re not looking at the broad drivers of deforestation,” said Clare Walsh of the Department of Climate Change in Canberra. These drivers included subsistence farming, logging or other uses of the forests and it was crucial to focus on economic development opportunities to tackle them.

Alternative schemes could include fish farming, growing alternative cash crops, such as fruit, as well as sustainable forestry by planting valuable timber species for harvesting. CARE has already introduced some of these into communities elsewhere in the mega-rice area.

Walsh said it was also crucial to help countries build up technical expertise on REDD, with the Australian government funding a separate programme to help Indonesia develop a national carbon accounting system.

“What you need to do is get countries to the level that is required to participate in the compliance arrangements, whether it be a market or a fund,” said Walsh, assistant secretary of the International Negotiations (Forest and Adaptation) Branch.

For now, Zappia and Tular said communities in the KFCP site welcomed the programme.

“Villagers are very enthusiastic,” said Tular, adding that building dams across the canals and replanting cleared areas are among the projects that could provide employment.

But a crucial step was to try to get locals to understand the implications of their farming practices and how these might be in conflict with the conservation principles of the programme. – Reuters