In Bali, a village hews to unwritten rules to manage its forest
PENGOTAN, Indonesia — Hundreds of top-heavy bamboo stalks stretch up from the ground and lean under their own weight over a road in Pengotan, a village on the island of…
Articles by Luh De Suriyani
Illegal online sales driving mercury pollution crisis in Indonesia
DENPASAR/BURU ISLAND, Indonesia — Illegal online mercury sales are booming in Indonesia, and activists have had enough. "Nearly all the mercury players in Indonesia do their business illegally,” says Yuyun…
As Bali reclamation project dies, activists seek conservation status
DENPASAR, Indonesia — Hundreds of people in Bali are celebrating a key victory against a multi-billion-dollar land reclamation project that would have destroyed vast swaths of mangroves on the resort…
Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
Charles Toto’s epiphany came during his time working in the kitchen at a hotel in his home region of Papua in eastern Indonesia. The hotel catered to foreign visitors, many…
In Bali fish die-offs, researchers spot a human hand
DENPASAR, Indonesia — Tilapia is a mainstay of Balinese cuisine, but hundreds of thousands of the freshwater fish choke to death regularly in the resort island’s largest lake, for reasons…
Plastic Fantastic? Indonesia plans to turn waste into road tar
After laying a 700-meter plastic-tar road at a university campus in Bali, Indonesian officials announced plans to use the material on roads in Jakarta and other cities.
Indonesia is running out of places to put rescued animals
RUMAH KINANGKUNG — Authorities were explaining the rules governing protected animals to residents of this North Sumatran village when a man appeared, carrying a small, scaly creature by the tail.…
Bali’s mountain dwellers govern with ancient palm leaf treatises
Deep in the mountains of eastern Bali sits a traditional Aga village, whose inhabtants – legendarily the island’s first – still reside and abide by ancient ways. Long before Indonesian…
Special series
Forest trackers
- Indigenous Cacataibo of Peru threatened by land grabbing and drug trade
- Colombian and Ecuadorian Indigenous communities live in fear as drug traffickers invade
- Cocaine production driving deforestation into Colombian national park
- Industrial agriculture threatens a wetland oasis in Bolivia
Oceans
- 2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- ‘Tamper with nature, and everyone suffers’: Q&A with ecologist Enric Sala
- New paper highlights spread of organized crime from global fisheries
- Study: Chinese ‘dark fleets’ illegally defying sanctions by fishing in North Korean waters
Amazon conservation
- Indigenous groups blast Amazon state’s plan to legalize wildcat mining
- In ‘dire’ plea, Brazil’s Amazonas state appeals for global COVID assistance
- Brazil’s collapsing health service, new COVID variant, raise Indigenous risk
- Lack of protection leaves Spain-size swath of Brazilian Amazon up for grabs
Land rights and extractives
- Indigenous groups blast Amazon state’s plan to legalize wildcat mining
- Papua tribe moves to block clearing of its ancestral forest for palm oil
- Protesters hold back military takeover of Balkans’ largest mountain pasture
- Podcast: New innovations to clean up the impacts of mining
Endangered environmentalists
- Brazilian woman threatened by Amazon loggers wins global human rights award
- Indonesian fishers opposed to dredging project hit by ‘criminalization’ bid
- Life as an Amazon activist: ‘I don’t want to be the next Dorothy Stang’
- In Philippines’ Palawan, top cop linked to assault on environmental officer
Indonesias forest guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
