DESTRUCTION OF ORANGUTAN SANCTUARY HIGHLIGHTS RISKS OF REDD

DESTRUCTION OF ORANGUTAN SANCTUARY HIGHLIGHTS RISKS OF REDD

http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/1500

10,000 Illegal Logs Seized By Police

September 28, 2009

Farouk Arnaz Jakarta Globe

The National Police have seized a haul of illegally cut logs that were to be smuggled from East Kalimantan to Java.

“We are still calculating the exact number of the illegal timber but it is likely more than 10,000 logs,” Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius, head of the special crimes directorate, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

He refused to say how many, if any, suspects had been arrested. “I’ll explain later,” he said.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarno said National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, whom he said authorized the operation, would visit the scene today.

In August, the National Police seized 12 ships carrying around 6,600 cubic meters of timber destined to be smuggled from Kotawaringin Timur district in Central Kalimantan to Java. The value of the seized timber was estimated at Rp 36 billion ($3.7 million). During that operation, the National Police dispatched 55 officers from Jakarta instead of letting the local police handle the case.

The National Police took over the operation due to fears that the local police office lacked the independence to handle the case.

Police have charged four suspects with issuing falsified documents for the timber.

The syndicate issued forged documents that claimed the illegally cut logs were sourced from legal production forests where the government has granted logging concessions to private companies. The documents stated that the timber came from production forests managed by PT Kayu Tribuana Rama and PT Berkat Cahaya Timber. However, police have determined that the documents were fakes.

Kalimantan has suffered massive forest loss in the last 25 years, with the rate of deforestation believed to have reached about 1.48 million square meters an hour.

http://thejakartaglobe.com/news/10000-illegal-logs-seized-by-police/332351

Five Steps to Help Take Us Toward Greater Sustainability

Joe Leitmann, The Jakarta Globe

The arrival of a new government in October is a tremendous opportunity for Indonesia to move toward a more sustainable development path — a path in which the costs of degradation no longer cancel out economic growth; the poor are no longer the greatest victims of environmental damage; renewable resources are used sustainably; and the public proactively tackles the issues plaguing the environment.

A five-part win-win agenda can help Indonesia move toward greater sustainability. The first part entails reducing policy distortions that arise from conflicting regulations and national laws, especially those involving decentralization.

Fuel and electricity subsidies have hampered the use of clean energy and mostly benefited the well-off. The existing legal and financial framework has not been effective in curbing illegal logging or slowing down deforestation as well as degradation.

Policy distortions in fishing and mi ning have contributed to unsustainable harvesting patterns and illegal mining activities. These policy distortions could be overcome through a reform that uses taxation and pricing instruments that raise revenues, and also provide incentives for more sustainable behavior.

The second agenda item involves building constituencies, awareness and critical partnerships, which are essential for creating effective demand for environmental sustainability.

Environmental issues are very much on the radar screen of the Indonesian population, especially those concerning water (pollution, floods, droughts), cities (cleanliness, solid waste, air quality) and forests (degradation, illegal logging, fires). Yet the government is pursuing areas that are not yet public priorities, eg climate change, clean energy and hazardous waste, indicating a low level of public awareness. In order to bridge environmental communications between the government and the public, stronger partnerships are needed with four key actors: the mass media, civil society organizations, the legislature and religious organizations.

Third, adaptation to climate change needs to become a higher priority. People and ecosystems in Java, Bali, parts of Sumatra and a large area of Papua are especially vulnerable to climate risks such as droughts, floods, landslides and rising sea levels.

Climate change will have the most impact on the poorest Indonesians, who are more likely to be living in marginal areas that are susceptible to drought, flooding and/or landslides; dependent on climate-sensitive agriculture or fisheries for their livelihoods; and have fewer assets to cope with the impacts of a changing climate. Many adaptation options exist to help reduce Indonesia’s vulnerability to climate change, which will need to be phased in and prioritized according to the magnitude of costs, benefits and risks.

The fourth point deals with mitigating emissions from forestry and land use. High rates of deforestation, illegal logging, forest fires and peatland degradation make up the single largest source of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions and have made the country one of the world’s principal emitters.

Well-known options exist that should be pursued regardless of climate benefits, ie improved forest law enforcement, management and governance, realigned incentives for timber harvesting and processing firms to improve sustainability, restructuring and revitalization of forest sector industries, forest and land fire control, and greater equity and transparency in forest/land use decisions.

Forest climate finance schemes such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) can provide an important incentive for these “no regrets” options.

The fifth and final agenda item involves pursuing a low-carbon growth strategy. In the future, fossil fuel emissions will be a greater concern than land use emissions.

With current subsidies, Indonesia uses fuel and electricity inefficiently and in excess. However, Indonesia has the world’s largest potential for developing geothermal power and sustainable biofuels.

Industry is currently the largest source of energy-based emissions, the transportation sector is the largest user of liquid fuels and petroleum is currently the main contributor to CO2 emissions. Even assuming lower energy intensity, emissions from energy consumption will triple by 2030 from 2005 levels.

Mitigating these emissions will require more realistic energy pricing, development of renewable energy resources and greater efficiency in the industrial, power, manufacturing and transportation sectors; ie a low-carbon growth strategy where the economy expands while emissions per rupiah of GDP decline.

The World Bank has a long history of partnership with Indonesia on environmental and natural resource management issues. There are now new and urgent opportunities for increased partnerships in the areas of environmental governance and climate change that could help Indonesia develop an economy that grows while nurturing the environment that sustains it.

Dr. Joe L eitmann is the World Bank’s environment coordinator for Indonesia

http://thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/five-steps-to-help-take-us-toward-greater-sustainability/332258

10,000 Illegal Logs Seized By Police

September 28, 2009

Farouk Arnaz Jakarta Globe

The National Police have seized a haul of illegally cut logs that were to be smuggled from East Kalimantan to Java.

“We are still calculating the exact number of the illegal timber but it is likely more than 10,000 logs,” Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius, head of the special crimes directorate, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

He refused to say how many, if any, suspects had been arrested. “I’ll explain later,” he said.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarno said National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, whom he said authorized the operation, would visit the scene today.

In August, the National Police seized 12 ships carrying around 6,600 cubic meters of timber destined to be smuggled from Kotawaringin Timur district in Central Kalimantan to Java. The value of the seized timber was estimated at Rp 36 billion ($3.7 million). During that operation, the National Police dispatched 55 officers from Jakarta instead of letting the local police handle the case.

The National Police took over the operation due to fears that the local police office lacked the independence to handle the case.

Police have charged four suspects with issuing falsified documents for the timber.

The syndicate issued forged documents that claimed the illegally cut logs were sourced from legal production forests where the government has granted logging concessions to private companies. The documents stated that the timber came from production forests managed by PT Kayu Tribuana Rama and PT Berkat Cahaya Timber. However, police have determined that the documents were fakes.

Kalimantan has suffered massive forest loss in the last 25 years, with the rate of deforestation believed to have reached about 1.48 million square meters an hour.

http://thejakartaglobe.com/news/10000-illegal-logs-seized-by-police/332351

Food industry facing fat flak

KELLY BURKE, The Age, Australia

September 29, 2009

AUSTRALIANS' saturated fat consumption remains unacceptably high because of food manufacturers' reliance on cheap imported palm oil.

The Heart Foundation will tell the World Congress on Fats and Oils in Sydney today that the food manufacturing industry has run out of excuses for failing to switch to healthier alternatives.

For example, locally produced canola oil has 8 per cent saturated fat compared with palm oil's 55 per cent.

While consumers were making healthier choices on the oil they cooked with, too many manufacturers and outlets were not doing the same, the foundation's national director of healthy weight, Susan Anderson, said.

''They say it's a cost issue, but it is also costing Australians their health,'' she said.

Of particular concern to the foundation is the amount of fat consumed outside the home, with restaurants immune from food labelling laws.

''We've become so particular in the supermarket, but when we eat out we have no idea what our food is being cooked in,'' Ms Anderson said. ''There is a lack of transparency about what's going into a lot of our food.''

While some companies, such as McDonald's, Unilever and Goodman Field, have voluntarily switched to healthier oils, an increase in the amount of cheap imported palm oil, from 113,000 tonnes in 2003 to 130,000 tonnes in 2007, showed the industry as a whole was resisting change.

According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), consumption of saturated fats and trans fatty acids (trans fat) combined should not exceed 10 per cent of total daily energy intake, but Australians on average were consuming about 1½ times that amount.

The food regulator has resisted mandatory labelling of trans fat, however, and also recently rejected a proposal to force manufacturers to disclose the presence of palm oil - often generically labelled on products as vegetable oil - in products.

FSANZ said the proposal was rejected because it was based on concerns involving the destruction of native rainforests and orang-utan habitats associated with palm oil production.

The regulator said it was not required to factor in environmental issues, and suggested consumers contact food manufacturers to determine the source of the vegetable oil in products.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/food-industry-facing-fat-flak-20090928-g98q.html