Nature Alert: Environment-related grants from developed countries must be raised: RI

Friday, 18 December 2009

Environment-related grants from developed countries must be raised: RI

No surprises from the President of Indonesia there then.

Just FYI. The UK alone gave £17 million pounds to Indonesia between 2004-09 and when asked, the relevant British Ministry

has been unable to identify a single thing, not one, the money has either created, saved or produced. i.e. There is nothing

to show for the £17 million expenditure.

It's much the same with EU and USAid money.

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The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 12/18/2009 | World

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday in Copenhagen that developed countries must raise their environment-related grants to developing countries.

"Right now, the grants are not enough," Yudhoyono told a press conference aired by TVOne. "We even mention that the grants should reach US$25-35 billion a year in 2012."

Yudhoyono, who is in Copenhagen to attend the UN Climate Change conference, also said that developing countries must continue their efforts to reduce gas emission.

"Indonesia, for example, is committed to reducing gas emission by 26 percent in 2020," he added.

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.