indonesia news from mongabay.com

In landmark ruling, Indonesia's indigenous people win right to millions of hectares of forest

2013-05-17T20:13:00Z

In a landmark ruling, Indonesia's Constitutional Court has invalidated the Indonesian government's claim to millions of hectares of forest land, potentially giving indigenous and local communities the right to manage their customary forests, reports Mongabay-Indonesia. In a review of a 1999 forestry law, the court ruled that customary forests should not be classified as "State Forest Areas". The move is significant because Indonesia's central government has control over the country's vast forest estate, effectively enabling agencies like the Ministry of Forestry to grant large concessions to companies for logging and plantations even if the area has been managed for generations by local people.

Analysis: Indonesia renews moratorium on logging, palm plantations

2013-05-16T03:33:00Z

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a bold and courageous decision this week to extend the country’s forest moratorium. With this decision, which aims to prevent new clearing of primary forests and peat lands for another two years, the government could help protect valuable forests and drive sustainable development.

Petition targeting plan to open protected forests in Indonesia for mining, logging reaches 1M signatures

2013-05-15T23:20:00Z

An AVAAZ petition calling upon Indonesian officials to put a stop to a proposal to open tens of thousands of hectares of protected rainforest to mining, logging, and oil palm plantations has surpassed one million signatures.

Four dead and dozens trapped after collapse at Freeport mine in Papua

2013-05-15T20:42:00Z

Four workers were found dead and 10 rescued after the collapse of a tunnel at Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg mine in the highlands of Indonesia’s Papua province on Tuesday.

Rhino populations in Sumatra, Borneo should be combined to save Sumatran rhino from extinction

2013-05-15T19:41:00Z

A new study argues for treating endangered Sumatran populations in Borneo and Sumatra as 'a single conservation unit', lending academic support to a controversial proposal to move wild rhinos from Malaysia to Indonesia.

Indonesia officially extends forestry moratorium

2013-05-15T04:56:00Z

The Indonesian government has officially extended its moratorium on new logging and plantation concessions in 65 million hectares of forests and peatlands for another two years. The move, which had been expected, was announced Wednesday by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Paper giant APRIL to restore peat forest in Sumatra, but green groups say it continues to deforest

2013-05-14T23:24:00Z

Pulp and paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) has launched a $7 million ecosystem restoration project to restore and protect over 20,000 hectares of peat forest in Indonesia’s Riau province, Mongabay-Indonesia reported last week.

Palm oil company violated RSPO standards, evicted from sustainability body

2013-05-13T02:20:00Z

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has evicted Indonesian palm oil giant Dutapalma Nusantara for violating key principles for sustainability.

Indonesian palm oil giant cutting deforestation from supply chain

2013-05-13T01:30:00Z

Indonesian palm oil giant Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) is continuing to reduce deforestation under its 2011 forest conservation policy despite ongoing forest destruction by other palm oil producers in the sector, finds a new assessment by Greenomics, an Indonesian activist group. However the report finds GAR's operations are not completely deforestation-free.

Indonesia welcomes Greenpeace ship 3 years after eviction

2013-05-09T20:18:00Z

Indonesia has welcomed Greenpeace's ship, the Rainbow Warrior, back into its waters for the first time since deporting the vessel in October 2010. The Rainbow Warrior arrived today in Jayapura, a major port in Indonesian New Guinea, as the first leg of a tour to raise environmental awareness across the archipelago, according to the activist group.

New UN report gives Indonesia low marks in forest governance

2013-05-09T04:55:00Z

A new UN report exposes serious flaws in Indonesia’s forest governance, serving as a wake up call to policy makers aiming to conserve forests in the country, which boasts the third largest area of tropical forest coverage in the world. On Monday, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with the Government of Indonesia launched a comprehensive forest governance index, which evaluates forest governance at the central, provincial and district levels and offers policy recommendations designed to better equip the country to conserve forests and peatlands.

Health effects of toxic waste sites in developing countries could rival malaria, air pollution, new study shows

2013-05-07T16:36:00Z

Exposure to dangerous chemicals from toxic waste sites may be creating a public health crisis in developing countries comparable to that caused by malaria or even air pollution, a new study suggests, highlighting the urgent need to clean up toxic waste. In a study published on Saturday in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers calculated the number of 'healthy years of life lost' due to ill-health, disability or early death in individuals at risk of exposure to chemicals at 373 toxic waste sites in India, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Court rules for palm oil company in controversial deforestation case

2013-05-05T13:58:00Z

Court orders Aceh governor to reverse decision to cancel palm oil concession in protected peatlands. An Indonesian court has ruled in favor of plantation company PT Kallista Alam in a lawsuit brought against the governor of Indonesia’s Aceh province for revoking the company’s license to develop palm oil plantations in a protected peat swamp forest.

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry denies losing $731m in state funds in 2012

2013-05-03T23:55:00Z

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry on Friday denied a claim by an NGO that it lost or misappropriated 7.1 trillion rupiah ($731 million) in 2012, reports the Jakarta Globe.

Endangered primates and cats may be hiding out in swamps and mangrove forests

2013-05-02T18:08:00Z

What happens to animals when their forest is cut down? If they can, they migrate to different forests. But in an age when forests are falling far and fast, many species may have to shift to entirely different environments. A new paper in Folia Primatologica theorizes that some 60 primate species and 20 wild cat species in Asia and Africa may be relying more on less-impacted environments such as swamp forests, mangroves, and peat forests.

Malaysia may loan Indonesia rhinos to save species from extinction

2013-04-30T18:04:00Z

Conservationists and officials meeting last month at a rhino crisis summit in Singapore agreed to a radical plan to loan Sumatran rhinos between nations if it means saving the critically endangered species from extinction. The proposal, which could still be thwarted by red tape and political opposition, could lead Malaysia to send some of its Sumatran rhinos to semi-captive breeding facilities in Indonesia.

Cement producers hunting for limestone could threaten Borneo caves

2013-04-30T16:32:00Z

Steep towers and rock formations jut out of the Borneo rainforest, sitting atop a vast network of caves and underground waterways in Indonesia’s Mangkalihat-Sangkulirang region. This dramatic karst landscape, created by the slow erosion of limestone mountains in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, also contains prehistoric fossils and cave paintings created by some of Borneo’s earliest inhabitants and serves as an important source of water for the surrounding area.

APP answers questions on new forest conservation policy

2013-04-29T18:42:00Z

In February, Asia Pulp & Paper, one the world's largest paper producers, announced a forest conservation policy that would effectively exclude fiber sourced through conversion of rainforests and peatlands. The announcement however was met by skepticism by many in the environmental movement due to APP's failures to abide by previous commitments to avoid rainforest logging.

Probe confirms Singapore-based palm oil company engaged in land-grabbing in Borneo

2013-04-26T18:55:00Z

An independent investigation has shown that First Resources Ltd, a palm oil plantation company and member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), failed to obtain proper consent from local communities before clearing rainforests for plantations in Indonesian Borneo, an Indonesian indigenous rights group reported last week.

Samsung admits to using tin linked to child labor, deforestation; Apple mum on sourcing

2013-04-25T20:00:00Z

Mobile device giant Samsung has admitted to using tin sourced from a controversial mining operation on the Indonesian island of Bangka, where unregulated mining kills 150 miners a year and causes substantial environmental damage, reports The Guardian and Mongabay-Indonesia.

Environmentalists unhappy with new palm oil standard

2013-04-25T18:48:00Z

Environmentalists are unhappy with Thursday's approval of new criteria for the world's leading palm oil certification standard. After members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in a special assembly approved the body's new 'principles and criteria' (P&Cs) for palm oil certification, several groups voiced concern that the rules won't protect against conversion of carbon-dense rainforests and peatlands for oil palm plantations.

Bizarre, little-known carnivore sold as illegal pet in Indonesian markets (photo)

2013-04-24T19:12:00Z

Few people have ever heard of the Javan ferret-badger, but that hasn't stopped this animal—little-known even to scientists—from being sold in open markets in Jakarta according to a new paper in Small Carnivore Conservation. The Javan ferret-badger (Melogale orientalis) is one of five species in the ferret-badger family, which are smaller than proper badgers with long bushy tails and elongated faces; all five species are found in Asia.

Indonesian palm oil industry would support land swaps to protect forest, while expanding production

2013-04-19T05:07:00Z

Indonesian palm oil companies would support land swaps as a means to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation while simultaneously expanding production, representatives from the country's largest association of palm oil producers told mongabay.com in an interview last month.

To win concessions in Aceh, mining company hires official being investigated for graft

2013-04-18T21:32:00Z

A Toronto Stock Exchange-listed mining company has hired an official being investigated for corruption under its effort to convince the Aceh provincial government to re-zone protected forest areas for a gold mine on Indonesia's Sumatra island, according to an alliance of Indonesian environmentalists. The official, former Golkar Deputy Chairman Fadel Muhammad, has been retained by East Asia Minerals to help it win a carve-out for its Miwah project, a 30,000-hectare concession atop a forested mountain in Aceh.

Mining company working with Indonesian govt to strip forest of protected status

2013-04-16T23:39:00Z

A Toronto-listed mining company says it is working closely with the Indonesian government to strip the protected status of some 1.2 million hectares of forest on the island of Sumatra. In a statement issued Tuesday, East Asia Minerals Corporation (TSX:EAS) claimed it is actively involved in the process of devising a new spatial plan for Aceh province, Sumatra's western-most province. The proposed changes to the spatial plan, which governs land use in the province, would re-zone large areas of protected forest in Aceh for industrial activities.

Civet poop coffee may be threatening wild species

2013-04-16T21:00:00Z

Popularization of the world's strangest coffee may be imperiling a a suite of small mammals in Indonesia, according to a new study in Small Carnivore Conservation. The coffee, known as kopi luwak (kopi for coffee and luwak for the civet), is made from whole coffee beans that have passed through the guts of the animal and out the other side. The coffee is apparently noted for its distinct taste, though some have argued it is little more than novelty.

Illegal logging threatens lowland forests in Indonesian national park

2013-04-16T17:28:00Z

Illegal logging in the heart of Indonesia’s Gunung Palung National Park may be putting one of the country’s last remaining lowland forests at risk. The park, located in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, is home to a number of endangered species including hornbills and gibbons, as well as around 2,500 orangutans, and is the site of a research station that has been collecting data on the forest for more than 20 years.

Anti-mining activist from Indonesia wins top green honor

2013-04-15T18:16:00Z

Aleta Baun, an activist who led a movement to block a destructive mine in a remote part of Indonesia, was today awarded the prestigious Goldman Prize, the top honor for green campaigners. Aleta is an indigenous Mollo from Timor, an island in Eastern Indonesia. Raised among small farmers, Aleta's activism emerged as a response to marble mining in the mountains above her community's fields. Deforestation and mining by the companies resulted in landslides, soil erosion, and water pollution.

Market figures out that geckos don't cure AIDS, but killing continues

2013-04-12T18:53:00Z

Millions of tokay geckos continue to be traded for traditional medicine, despite waning belief that the colorful lizards are a cure for AIDS, reports a new study from TRAFFIC.

Will Indonesia renew its moratorium on new forest conversion licenses?

2013-04-12T13:37:00Z

Indonesia’s forestry minister has again said that the country will extend its two-year moratorium on primary forest and peatland conversion, which is set to expire next month.

Indonesia to raise logging, mining fees in forest areas

2013-04-08T21:57:00Z

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry will soon raise fees on forest exploitation activities including logging, mining, and oil and gas exploration as part of an effort to increase income from resource use.

WWF: careful planning went into announcement on rhino rediscovery in Indonesian Borneo

2013-04-08T16:49:00Z

WWF-Indonesia had considered the impact of the publication of finding traces of Sumatran rhinos in Kalimantan. In the two-month period before it was published, WWF-Indonesia had coordinated with various parties, including the local government, the Forestry Ministry, rhino experts, local university and other related parties to set up strategies and to ensure commitment to full protection of the rhino.

Sumatran rhino population plunges, down to 100 animals

2013-04-08T13:32:00Z

Less than 100 Sumatran rhinos survive in the world today, according to a bleak new population estimate by experts. The last survey in 2008 estimated that around 250 Sumatran rhinos survived, but that estimate now appears optimistic and has been slashed by 60 percent. However conservationists are responding with a major new agreement between the Indonesian and Malaysian governments at a recent summit by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC).

Investigation clears APP of deforestation allegations in Borneo

2013-04-04T23:16:00Z

Two logging companies that supply Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) with timber have not violated the Indonesian forestry giant's new zero deforestation commitment, according to a field investigation by The Forest Trust, a conservation group. The investigation was a direct response to allegations raised in a report published last week by Relawan Pemantau Hutan Kalimantan (RPHK), a consortium of local NGOs in West Kalimantan, the western-most province in Indonesian Borneo. The RPHK report found evidence of active clearing within two concession areas linked to Asia Tani Persada (ATP) and Daya Tani Kalbar (DTK), companies that supply APP with timber for its pulp mills.

Has WWF just condemned the last rhino in Kalimantan?

2013-04-04T17:30:00Z

WWF-Indonesia recently caught the attention of the global media with their announcement that the Sumatran rhinoceros still exists in Indonesian Borneo, some 40 years after being declared extinct there. This sounds like great news for biodiversity conservation. But is it really?

Sumatran rhino found in Kalimantan after unseen in region for 20 years

2013-04-02T17:38:00Z

Conservationists working to save the Sumatran rhino—one of the world's most imperiled mammals—heard good news this week as WWF-Indonesia has found evidence of at least one Sumatran rhino persisting in the Indonesian state of Kalimantan, located on the island of Borneo. Small populations of Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) survive on Sumatra and on Borneo (in the Malaysian state of Sabah), but this is the first time scientists have confirmed the presence of the notoriously shy animal in Kalimantan in over two decades.

APP suppliers allegedly slashing forests and peatlands in Indonesia, despite new 'no deforestation' policy

2013-03-27T13:41:00Z

Less than two months after its implementation, two Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) suppliers in Indonesian Borneo have been accused of violating the company’s new sustainability policy, which includes a zero deforestation commitment throughout its entire supply chain.

Cargill to boost investment in Indonesian oil palm plantations

2013-03-26T21:24:00Z

Cargill plans to 'aggressively' expand its palm oil holdings in Sulawesi, Indonesian Borneo, and Sumatra, reports The Wall Street Journal.

As massive deforestation continues in Sumatra’s Tesso Nilo, Indonesian lawmakers pin blame on 'foreign' NGOs

2013-03-25T21:43:00Z

Indonesian lawmakers criticized the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for its inability to stop deforestation in Sumatra, accusing the group of trying to destroy Indonesia’s reputation abroad and hurting the country’s economy.

Conservation scientists: Aceh's spatial plan a risk to forests, wildlife, and people

2013-03-22T15:44:00Z

A group of biologists and conservation scientists meeting in Sumatra warned that potential changes to Aceh's spatial plan could undermine some of the ecological services that underpin the Indonesian province's economy and well-being of its citizens. After its meeting from March 18-22 in Banda Aceh, the Asia chapter of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) issued a declaration [PDF] highlighting the importance of the region's tropical forest ecosystem, which is potentially at risk due to proposed changes to its spatial plan.

Monthly updates to track APP's progress on 'no deforestation' policy

2013-03-21T09:40:00Z

The Forest Trust (TFT), the NGO that brokered Asia Pulp & Paper's no deforestation commitment in February 2013, will produce monthly updates on Indonesian forestry giant progress toward avoiding conversion of natural forests and reducing social conflict with communities. The reports aim to both allay fears among some environmental groups that APP will not respect the commitment and advance the paper producer's goal of eliminating rainforest and peatland destruction from its supply chain.

APP conservation policy came after it pulped most of its forests

2013-03-19T13:38:00Z

Asia Pulp & Paper's widely heralded forest conservation policy came after the forestry giant had already cleared nearly all of the legally protected forests within its concessions in Sumatra, alleges a new report published by Greenomics, an Indonesian environmental group.

Indonesian palm oil giant launches conservation pilot project

2013-03-19T02:33:00Z

Golden Agri-Resources, one of the largest palm oil producers in Indonesia, is launching a pilot program designed to protect forests within its concession areas that have high carbon stock and those most important for conservation. Greenpeace Indonesia, which has long urged the company to adopt more sustainable practices, praised the effort, and called on other palm oil companies and the Indonesian government to follow suit.

Facing extinction, conservationists call emergency summit to save Sumatran rhinos

2013-03-17T09:59:00Z

With the number of Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) now under 200 and declining rapidly, a group of conservationists have organized an emergency summit to discuss courses of action to save the world's smallest remaining rhino from extinction.

Aceh claims deal to open 1.2M ha of protected forest to logging, mining is near

2013-03-14T04:56:00Z

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry is close to accepting a proposal to open 1.2 million hectares of forest in Aceh for mining, logging, and palm oil production, reports the Aceh Post.

Improving community healthcare helps protect rainforests in Borneo

2013-03-14T00:11:00Z

Providing high quality healthcare to communities around a rainforest park in Indonesian Borneo may be helping reduce chronic illegal logging, suggests a new assessment published by a conservation group. The five-year impact assessment published by Indonesia-based Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) is based on surveys of nearly 1,500 households and 6,345 people living around Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan. The study compares key health, economic, and conservation indicators to a baseline survey taken in 2007, prior to the launch of the project.

Norway's wealth fund dumps 23 palm oil companies under new deforestation policy

2013-03-11T18:33:00Z

Norway's $700 billion pension fund continues to divest from companies linked to tropical deforestation, selling stakes in 23 palm oil producers last year, reports Rainforest Foundation Norway, an activist group that has led the campaign for divestment. The move by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) — the world's largest sovereign wealth fund — came after it revised its investment guidelines to include deforestation as a portfolio risk.

New plantation concessions threaten Borneo pygmy elephants

2013-03-10T20:21:00Z

Borneo pygmy elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) are under threat in Indonesia’s new North Kalimantan province, where their habitat is set to be converted for rubber, jabon and sengon plantations. Experts worry that if the planned conversion goes ahead, the entire elephant population in Indonesian Borneo could be lost.

Dozens arrested after community fights deforestation by paper company in Indonesia

2013-03-07T19:15:00Z

Dozens of villagers from Indonesia’s North Sumatra province traveled to Jakarta this week to demand the release of 16 farmers who remain in detention after conflicts erupted between indigenous communities in Humbang Hasundutan district and PT Toba Pulp Lestari, a unit of the pulp and paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings (APRIL).

Featured video: rare, strange mammal caught on camera in Sumatra

2013-03-05T16:48:00Z

A video camera trap expedition into Sumatra's Leuser ecosystem has captured a rarely-seen, bizarre mammal on tape. The Sumatran serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) is a goat-antelope found both on Sumatra and mainland Southeast Asia. Rarely seen and little-studied, the animals inhabit highland areas.