Nature Alert: Jambi plans to convert forested areas

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Jambi plans to convert forested areas

Jambi plans to convert forested areas

Tue, 06/01/2010 SUMATRA

JAMBI CITY, Jambi: More than 120,000 hectares of Jambi's forests may be reclassified as auxiliary allocation areas (ARL) by the provincial administration after it discovered widespread deforestation, says an official.

"The areas were cleared by the residents. We have proposed to convert *the deforested areas* to ARLs to reduce conflict," said Donny, head of that Jambi Development Planning Board's Infrastructure and Facilities division.

The division discovered several private rubber and palm oil farms in the area, Donny said.
The government should find another way to preserve the forests, said Ade Chandra, spokesman of the group Warsi Indonesian Committee for Humanity (KKI Warsi).

Ade said that areas could be converted into community or village forests, which would permit people living in and around the forests to lead a sustainable life.

The conversion is part of the province's 2009-2029 master plan, he added. - JP

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/06/01/jambi-plans-convert-forested-areas.html

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.