Indonesian islanders draw line in sand as Dubai-style reclamation nears
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Daeng Bau says he has no plans to move from his home on the tiny island of Lae-Lae, a stone’s throw across the seafront here in Makassar,…
Articles by Wahyu Chandra
From bombs to seasonal closure, Indonesian fishers move toward sustainability
KAHU-KAHU, Indonesia — Fishers in this village on the northwestern tip of Selayar Island, in eastern Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, are a fortnight into a community experiment. For three months,…
Fishers in Flores Sea opt to limit harvest of overexploited sea cucumbers
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — At the end of September, fishermen on Sapuka Island in eastern Indonesia’s Flores Sea made a surprising announcement. They would regulate their sea cucumber harvests, they declared,…
Faced with grouper, snapper decline, Indonesia adopts harvest strategy
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Indonesia is drafting a harvest strategy for snapper-grouper fisheries as part of a fisheries management plan for WPPNRI 713, the fisheries management area that borders the islands…
An Indonesian rock star shines his light on mangroves, urban farming and more
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Andi Fadly Arifuddin is known to millions of Indonesians simply as Fadly, the vocalist for the alt-rock band Padi that shot to fame in the early 2000s.…
Iwan Dento, ‘hero’ of South Sulawesi’s karst mountains
MAROS, Indonesia — Forty-two kilometers, or about 26 miles, north of the bustling port city of Makassar in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, undulating karst formations dominate the landscape. Covering an…
Field school teaches young Indigenous Indonesians how to care for their forests
PEKALOBEAN, Indonesia — Haeriah is a young homemaker and a member of the Marena Indigenous community on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Although she’s lived all her life near her…
Indonesia’s Womangrove collective reclaims the coast from shrimp farms
TANAKEKE ISLANDS, Indonesia — Wading through a mangrove swamp in the coastal waters of Indonesia’s Tanakeke Islands, Hayati wiped the sweat from her brow and tried her best to keep…
For Indonesian farmers used to ‘instant’ results, going organic is a tough sell
PITU SUNGGU, Indonesia — Arief Sore holds up a clutch of desiccated rice stalks a short distance from the unusual arable field he tills in Pangkep district on Indonesia's Sulawesi…
Illegal loggers use pandemic as cover to ramp up activity in Sulawesi
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Illegal logging of rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi surged by 70% in 2020, according to findings by local NGO JURnal Celebes. The group attributes the…
Indonesian governor’s arrest in road project points to more tainted contracts
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Environmental activists have called on investigators to look into all infrastructure projects approved by a provincial governor arrested last week for allegedly taking bribes from a construction…
Indonesian fishers opposed to dredging project hit by ‘criminalization’ bid
JAKARTA/MAKASSAR — Activists in Indonesia have slammed what they call the authorities’ campaign of criminalization against a fishing community protesting against the development of a port on their coast. Police…
Environmental degradation exacerbates Indonesia flooding, landslides
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Days of torrential rain in an eastern Indonesian province last week unleashed flash floods and landslides that killed dozens of people. In the wake of the emergency,…
Scientists highlight 9 potentially new reef fish species off West Papua
Scientists in Indonesia may have found nine stunning new reef fish species in the protected waters off the country’s largely untouched province of West Papua. They collected samples of the…
Indonesian police bust Chinese nationals with 200 kg of turtle shells
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia have arrested two Chinese men with the illegal possession of 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of valuable turtle shells, believed to have been headed for…
Reliance on natural healing cultivates respect for nature in Indonesian village
PAKULI INDUK, Indonesia — In a remote village on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi lies a small garden of near-mythic repute — a place whose stewards grow not mere plants, but…
Sand mining, land reclamation meet fierce resistance in Makassar
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Sand mining in the waters off the southern tip of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island has been put on hold by the provincial government after multiple ferocious rejections from…
Land rights and access to credit in Sulawesi community brings prosperity to land
Every day at noon Bahar and Nasirah set out on foot into the South Sulawesi backcountry. The couple moves instinctively through single-stem plants, gathering chilies and pumpkin, knowing as each day…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Bolivia’s El Curichi Las Garzas protected area taken over by land-grabbers
- Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
Oceans
- Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution
- Global coral beaching now underway looks set to be largest on record
- In Java Sea, vigilantism and poverty rise as purse seine fishing continues
Amazon Conservation
- Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state
- Cross-border Indigenous efforts in Peru & Brazil aim to protect isolated groups
- A short walk through Amazon time: Interview with archaeologist Anna Roosevelt
- Alis Ramírez: A defender of the Colombian Amazon now living as a refugee in New Zealand
Land rights and extractives
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indonesian activists face jail over FB posts flagging damage to marine park
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
Conservation Effectiveness
- The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
- Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
