Forest conversion has reached an alarming level in Indonesia with more than 10 million hectares of protected forest converted for business use since the inception of regional autonomy in 2000, a study says.

The study, conducted by the Greenomics Indonesia environmental group, found most regional spatial plans do not aim to protect forests.

“In fact, some existing spatial planning … expedites forest conversions,” Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“The area of converted forest now exceeds 158 times the size of Singapore.”

Indonesia is the world’s third-largest forestry country, with over 120 million hectares of rainforest.

The government has set aside about 40 million hectares for both protected and conservation forests, where plantation, agriculture or logging activities are not allowed.

“However, as forest conversion remains common practice, only 30 million hectares of protected forest are now left. They will disappear in the short term unless the government takes actions to stop forest conversion,” Elfian said.

The issue of forest conversion made the headlines when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested lawmaker Al Amin Nasution for allegedly accepting a bribe to facilitate the approval for forest to be converted on Bintan Island, Riau, last month.

The Bintan administration requested the government’s permit through the House of Representatives to convert around 200 hectares of a 7,300-hectare protected forest for an office complex project.

The Greenomics study found that in the last two years alone, there were at least 40 cases where forest land was converted into plantations and agricultural land, covering about 195,000 hectares of protected forest.

Greenomics found some 327,000 hectares of its protected forest has been converted under forest concessions in North Sumatra, while in Aceh about 160,000 hectares of protected forest was turned into plantation and agricultural areas.

According to the study, about 143,000 hectares of protected forest has illegally been converted for plantations and agricultural land in Riau province.

The Greenomics also said the West Kalimantan administration had failed to save its protected forests.

“About 286,000 hectares of protected forest there has been converted into agricultural estates,” he said.

In Central Kalimantan, about 225,000 hectares of protected forest has been converted into plantations.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should put an end to forest conversion by setting up a national team to determine whether regional spatial planning undermines or sustains protected and conservation forests, Greenomics said.

“We learned that only about 40 percent of spatial planning is aimed at saving protected forest in the country,” he said.

“But, the forestry ministry seem powerless to handle the problem.”

The Greenomics also supports ongoing moves by the KPK to resolve forest corruption cases.

Law enforcement against forest conversion practices should be simple because any business activity in the protected forests is illegal, he said.

“The KPK and police should find it easy to investigate forest conversion cases since perpetrators can’t obtain a license to convert protected forests,” he said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA, Indonesia: The world’s largest population of wild orangutans on Indonesia’s Borneo island faces extinction within three years due to rapidly expanding oil palm plantations, a conservationist group said Wednesday.

A report by the Center for Orangutan Protection says just 20,000 of the endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central Kalimantan, down from 31,300 in 2004.

If the government does not protect wildlife from commercial exploitation, illegal logging and poachers, orangutans there could be extinct by 2011, said Hardi Baktiantoro, the group’s head.

He said more than 5,000 orangutans in the region have been lost every year since 2004, due largely to loss of habitat.

Adding to the problem is a plan by Indonesian authorities to open up 1.1 million acres (455,000 hectares) — an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island — of protected land for palm oil growers, he said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a major initiative to save the nation’s orangutans at the Bali Climate Conference last year, but it appears the plan has not received sufficient political support.

Toni Suhartono, the Forestry Ministry’s top official for wildlife protection, said government programs to save the environment are hampered by a lack of funds and lack of knowledge about conservation.

Awareness “about the conservation of endangered species is very low. It is, therefore, not easy for us to propose budgets for conservation,” Suhartono said.

Watch the video at NationalGeographic.com:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080508-orangutan-video-ap.html

Los resultados de su investigación confirman lo que los científicos habían supuesto y proporcionan los primeros datos que establecen la correlación de las gruesas capas de esmalte de los orangutanes con una dieta de alimentos duros. Los resultados tienen implicaciones importantes en los estudios sobre la dieta de los primeros ancestros humanos, porque los antropólogos ya se habían percatado desde hace tiempo de la similitud entre la dentadura de los homínidos y la de los orangutanes, las cuales parecen haber evolucionado de manera independiente hacia dientes con una gruesa capa de esmalte y bien adaptados al consumo de alimentos duros.

El nuevo estudio establece una correlación entre las diferencias presentes en las dentaduras de los chimpancés y de los orangutanes, y las diferencias presentes en sus dietas.

Los orangutanes tienen una gruesa capa de esmalte en su dentadura y crestas a lo largo de las cuencas de sus molares, en comparación con los chimpancés, que tienen una capa de esmalte mucho más fina.

Los investigadores han especulado durante años sobre la función de esta morfología divergente, pero nunca nadie había medido las propiedades mecánicas de los alimentos que consumen estos animales cuando viven en libertad.

Trabajando sobre el terreno, la investigadora Erin Vogel y su colaborador Nathaniel J. Dominy, ambos de la Universidad de California en Santa Cruz, examinaron sistemáticamente los alimentos consumidos por los orangutanes y los chimpancés, teniendo en cuenta su dureza y su consistencia. Su análisis ha desvelado los rasgos distintivos que establecen la correlación con las diferencias morfológicas de las dentaduras de ambas especies.

El estudio se ha nutrido de los datos reunidos por Vogel durante el periodo de casi un año que ella pasó observando 21 orangutanes en Borneo, y de los datos reunidos por Dominy sobre chimpancés en Uganda. Vogel y Dominy utilizaron una nueva tecnología de ingeniería estandarizada para estudiar las propiedades de los alimentos y obtuvieron datos técnicos que son plenamente comparables a través de continentes diferentes. Esto constituye un avance significativo con respecto a estudios anteriores sobre los alimentos consumidos por los monos.

Aunque los orangutanes y los chimpancés prefieren comer frutas maduras, buscan otras fuentes de sustento cuando la fruta no está disponible. Esos alimentos secundarios varían considerablemente y de maneras tales que podrían explicar por qué sus dentaduras evolucionaron de modos tan diferentes.

Los hallazgos indican que esos alimentos secundarios pueden haber ejercido una presión selectiva en la evolución de los dientes.

Los resultados de esta investigación son importantes a la hora de inferir la dieta de los primeros ancestros humanos, y proporcionan datos comparativos de gran valor para que los investigadores exploren las dietas de los homínidos. Los investigadores saben que los primeros ancestros humanos tenían una capa de esmalte más gruesa, así como mandíbulas muy robustas, y, según indica este estudio, podían haber sido adaptaciones para comer alimentos más duros, incluyendo partes subterráneas de vegetales.

Fuente: http://www.amazings.com/ciencia/noticias/300408c.html

Apart from the wood, the BOSF patrol team also found five bandsaws (small-scale sawmilling spots) that did not possess any operating permits. Three of them were found in the village of Mantangai Hulu and the other two were found in the village of Kalumpang. The results of the patrol’s findings were followed-up by the making of an Official Report (BA, Berita Acara) by the patrol and were then handed over to the Central Kalimantan /BKSDA/ (/Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam/, Natural Resources Conservation Agency) as well as the local police, to be further processed.

”Such activities will continue to be carried out by BOSF in its work zone in order to keep an eye on the area spared from illegal logging disasters which affect peat moss forest fires,” said Tjatur Setiyo Basuki, /Mawas/ Conservation Program Manager, BOS Foundation, in Central Kalimantan.

Conservation groups fear the 20m-wide thoroughfare cutting a swath through the landscape south of Bukit Tigapuluh national park in Sumatra signals the beginning of the end for most of the thick forest landscape.

Only a third of the 450,000ha forest block is protected as national park, home to the only Australian zoo-born Sumatran orangutan to be released into the wild.

In 2006 Temara, now 15, of Perth Zoo, became the first zoo-bred Sumatran orangutan ever placed in her natural habitat.

The concerns came as another group said one of Borneo’s biggest wild orangutan populations would be extinct in three years without drastic measures to end palm oil plantation expansion.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23662337-663,00.html

The rapidly expanding palm oil industry in Southeast Asia has come under attack by green groups for destroying rainforests and wildlife, as well the emission of greenhouse gases.

An industry-led initiative, the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), has launched a green labelling certification process that includes commitments to preserve rainforests and wildlife and avoiding conflicts with indigenous people.

RSPO groups producers, consumers and green groups and palm oil companies that meet the criteria set by the RSPO will be able to market their certified “green products” in global markets.

Desi Kusumadewi, spokeswoman of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for Indonesia, said independent surveyors will be assigned to audit palm oil plantations and certify them as ‘eco-friendly’.

“Hopefully, the criteria will be officially approved by the end of May,” Kusumadewi said. “Basically, Indonesia will use the international standards but it will personalise the criteria based on its own considerations.”

Kusumadewi said three firms — PT Mutuagung Lestari, PT Tuv Nord and state surveyor firm PT Sucofindo — were waiting for approval to be RSPO audit programmers in Indonesia.

Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, has already had four certification bodies approved by RSPO.

Malaysia and Indonesia, home to more than 4 percent of the world’s rainforests, produce nearly 85 percent of total palm oil.

Both nations already have laws to protect tracts of rainforests against illegal logging, but green groups say penalties should be stiffened and that more rainforests should be locked away.

Earlier this month, Unilever (UNc.AS: Quote, Profile, Research)(ULVR.L: Quote, Profile, Research), one of Indonesia’s top palm oil buyers, said it will start buying palm oil from certified sustainable sources this year and aims to have all its palm oil certified by 2015.

Indonesia is estimated to have produced more than 17 million tonnes of crude palm oil in 2007. It exported about 11.9 million tonnes of palm oil products to China, India and European countries.

Greenpeace estimates Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005, equivalent to 300 soccer pitches of forest destroyed every hour. (Reporting by Mita Valina Liem, editing by Sugita Katyal and Ben Tan)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSJAK156803

A report by the Center for Orangutan Protection says just 20,000 of the endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central Kalimantan, down from 31,300 in 2004.

If the government does not protect wildlife from commercial exploitation, illegal logging and poachers, orangutans there could be extinct by 2011, said Hardi Baktiantoro, the group’s head.

He said more than 5,000 orangutans in the region have been lost every year since 2004, due largely to loss of habitat.

Adding to the problem is a plan by Indonesian authorities to open up 1.1 million acres (455,000 hectares) — an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island — of protected land for palm oil growers, he said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a major initiative to save the nation’s orangutans at the Bali Climate Conference last year, but it appears the plan has not received sufficient political support.

Toni Suhartono, the Forestry Ministry’s top official for wildlife protection, said government programs to save the environment are hampered by a lack of funds and lack of knowledge about conservation.

Awareness “about the conservation of endangered species is very low. It is, therefore, not easy for us to propose budgets for conservation,” Suhartono said.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/07/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Saving-Orangutans.php

WEST KALIMANTAN PROVINCE, INDONESIA - On a recent trip into the rainforests of the Indonesian part of Borneo Island, our team got first-hand accounts of the effects, causes—and the possible solutions—to rampant illegal logging.

Indonesia has nearly 70 million people living in or near forest land, many of them living on less than US$1 per day. Illegal logging operations cause widespread destruction of forests and, although it does earn short-term gains for a few, it destroys the livelihoods of people who depend upon the forests.

Just after we left, Indonesian officials cracked down on smallholder illegal logging in the region. But having smallholders thrown into jail is not necessarily a success. Many of these imprisoned are people living under a US$1 per day. They often live in miserable circumstances and are trying to make a living. They are not the buyers or the people who are driving the illegal deforestation. Undoubtedly, as soon as the police leave, new illegal loggers will replace the old ones and the long-term gain will still be missing.

Law enforcement is needed, but it must be done with smart planning and development—not by simply throwing people out or arresting them.

Why?

1. Indonesia is one of the largest tropical timber producers, with an estimated 80 percent of timber exports being illegal. This poses serious environmental and economic concerns.
2. The Indonesian government fails to capture over US$100 million per year in tax revenue on illegal logging and exports.
3. The cheap and plentiful supply of timber from illegal sources depresses timber prices worldwide by 2 percent to 4 percent and thus also impacts the U.S. timber industry.
4. Deforestation in Indonesia accounts for 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. And thus deforestation in Indonesia is a major contributor to climate change.

The field trip was interesting and the team I traveled with looked beyond short-term fixes and more towards better understanding the forestry issues Indonesia is struggling with in remote places and looking for ways to combine U.S. and Indonesian expertise to work towards solutions.

The delegation was led by Jim Hubbard, deputy chief for state and private forestry of the U.S. agency, and Dr. Togu Manurung, special advisor to the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry.

See pictures and read more at the World Resources Institute website.

The Asean region, though covering only three percent of the earth’s surface, serves as the natural habitat of up to 40 percent of the world’s plant and animal species.
The region is the home to one-third of the world’s coral reefs, translating to 284,000 square kilometers of coral reefs that are among the most diverse in the world.

The region is home to seven of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots. Out of the 64,800 known species in the region, 1,312 are endangered.

The region includes three ‘mega-diversity’ countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The other members of the grouping are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. But sadly today Asean’s biodiversity is facing threat from mankind’s activities and from the wrath of nature itself.

NATURE’S WEALTH UNDER THREAT

According to Rodrigo U. Fuentes, the Executive Director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity, deforestation rates in the region are at least two times higher than other tropical areas.

Forest conversion is the major cause of biodiversity loss in the region. It is driven by logging activities, shifting cultivation, large-scale mining, and agricultural expansion.

These lead to loss of habitat for many birds, mammals and other animals, reduced pollination activities, decline in species richness and populations, and overall reductions in biodiversity.

If present levels of deforestation continue, Asean will lose nearly three-fourths of its original forest cover and up to 42 percent of its biodiversity by the next century.

“There will be massive species declines and extinctions which will result in catastrophic biodiversity loss. Biodiversity loss could trigger enormous effects on food security, health, shelter, medicine, and aesthetic and other life sustaining resources,” Fuentes warned.

ASEAN LOSING ITS FOREST COVER

In Sumatra, for example, there has been a decline from 80 to 33 percent (1980-2001) in forest cover within 50 km periphery of protected areas. Smaller protected areas are most greatly affected as the conservation capacity of protected areas is greatly reduced.

In 1997-1998, up to five million hectares of forests in Indonesia (Sumatra and Kalimantan) were lost due to forest fires. In 2002 and 2006, forest fires destroyed several million hectares, including peat swamp forests.

He said these resulted in disappearance or population decline and high infant and juvenile mortality in many animals, as well as reduced seedling and sapling population for many tree species.

ASEAN’S WILDLIFE ALSO AFFECTED

Wildlife hunting and trade for food, pet and medicinal purposes also contribute to biodiversity loss in Asean.

In Sarawak, 2.6 million animals are hunted each year for bush meat while in Sabah, 108 million animals suffered the same fate. In 2000, Indonesia contributed about 29 percent of global exports for snake and lizard skins.

In the same year, Singapore imported 7,093 live animals and had a total net export of 301,905 animal skins.

Between 1975 and 1992, Korea imported 6,128 kilograms of tiger bones, 60 percent of which were from Indonesia.

Overall, wildlife was extracted from forests at more than six times the sustainable rate.

The marine environment did not fare any better. Almost 80 percent of coral reefs in the region are at risk due to destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THREAT

Increasing human population and poverty is a primary socio-economic driver of forest biodiversity loss. Climate change can have the largest proportional effect on biodiversity in extreme environments (e.g., arctic, boreal zones). This phenomenon threatens the Asean region, possibly in very cold mountain environments, on small islands or low coastal areas. Lack of financial resources contributes to biodiversity loss in the region as governments put more emphasis on budget allocation for food, health, education, infrastructure and other priorities.

ASEAN’S RESPONSE

In response to this dire situation, Asean has taken efforts to protect and save its rich biodiversity. Asean member countries have ratified a number of international agreements concerning biodiversity, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, World Heritage Convention, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Asean has designated 1,523 protected areas and declared 27 areas as Asean Heritage Parks. To date, Thailand has nominated three additional parks and the Philippines nominated two to be declared as Asean Heritage Parks. Several conservation plans have been prepared especially for endangered species, such as the Tiger, the Elephants, Gaur, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Otter, and Pheasants. The conservation plans include aspects of research, ex-situ conservation, monitoring, and enforcement activities. Further responding to the need for concerted action to protect and conserve the region’s dwindling biodiversity resources ASEAN, with funding support from the European Union (EU), has established the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

ACB TO SPEARHED THE ROLE

As an intergovernmental regional centre of excellence, ACB facilitates cooperation and coordination among the members of Asean, and with relevant national governments, regional and international organizations, non-government organizations, private corporations and individuals on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. To contribute to the achievement of socially responsible access, equitable sharing, utilization and conservation of natural ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain, ACB builds strategic networks and partnerships geared to mobilize resources towards optimally augmenting effective programmes on biodiversity conservation. On the occasion of Earth Day, 22 April, ACB is inviting international and regional organizations, governments, private corporations and foundations, communities, and individuals to contribute financially or in kind to its programmes. “Join ACB and the international community in saving Southeast Asia’s rich yet highly endangered biodiversity. Save humanity,” Fuentes appealed. — BERNAMA TNS PR CR

Environmental group Greenpeace has echoed calls by consumer goods giant Unilever to impose a moratorium on deforestation in Indonesia in support for the company’s pledge to purchase only certified sustainable palm oil.

Greenpeace also urged the country’s palm oil plantations to use sustainable forest management methods and stop expanding into peatland forests.

“Unilever’s calls for a moratorium on forest destruction in Indonesia should become an entry point for the government to stop the deforestation process,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia political advisor Arif Wicaksono told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

“The government has to take action to reverse deforestation by initiating a moratorium on logging and forest conversion.”

Unilever has committed to using only palm oil from certified sustainable sources from the second half of this year.

The company said it would ensure the palm oil it used in Europe was also certified as sustainable by 2012.

“Now we need to take the next step,” Unilever chief executive Patrick Cescau said in a statement in London on Thursday.

“Suppliers need to move to meet the criteria, by getting certified both the palm oil from their own plantations and the palm oil they buy from elsewhere.”

Unilever is the world’s biggest consumer of palm oil, which it uses in leading brands such as Dove, Persil and Flora.

The company’s decision came after a Greenpeace campaign revealed Unilever’s suppliers are actively destroying orangutan habitat and clearing Indonesia’s peatlands and rain forests.

According to Greenpeace, destruction of peatland rain forests contributes 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are considered the main contributor to climate change.

The environmental group also said about 1,600 orangutans were killed on palm oil plantations during 2006.

Arif said companies using palm oil and members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) should join forces with Unilever to stop ongoing forest destruction in Indonesia.

The RSPO is an initiative of an association of palm oil producers to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.

“Even though the RSPO has existed since 2002, there is still no certified palm oil on the market,” Greenpeace said.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono ordered governors to stop awarding new permits for the palm oil industry in peatlands last year. The order was issued as Indonesia hosted the climate change conference in Bali, which directed all countries to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

A 2006 report from Wetlands International found damage to Indonesia’s peatlands resulted in 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, making the country the world’s third largest emitter after the United States and China.

“But we have seen no changes since the minister’s order. Many regents still grant permits to dig in peatland forests,” Arif said.

“Greenpeace is not calling for an end to the palm oil industry but it is calling for an end to forest destruction.”

Source: The Jakarta Post