363 Asia-Pacific-Australia
–India: 16) Model Mills are cutting trees, 17) Silent demo opposes logging near Kaifi Azmi park, 18) Turning smugglers into tour guides via “Trekking for Trees,” program,
–Bangladesh: 19) Tiger kills 3 villagers, 20) Save 1000 trees, stop Dhaka city,
–Philippines: 21) Flooding in Western Visaya is because of forest loss, 22) Choice between water for farms or for mining, 23) Protest of cutting permit for Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, 24) Lucrative corn production a new threat to forests, 25) Forests need to be more clearly defined,
–Malaysia: 26) Golden Pharos ready to destroy 129,000ha in Terengganu,
–Indonesia: 27) Government needs to trust community to protect forest, 28) Alas Kusuma’s illegal logging in Protected Forest Mt Lawang, 29) Michael Sheridan video about forest destruction, 30) Bell Gully is Saving White Rhinos, 31) Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre, 32) West Java air is warmer now and a teacher is reforestating to change that,
Australia: 33) Save Kimberly Wilderness coast, 34) Aussie’s biggest bank getting in on carbon credits,
China:
14) It prefers to walk, flying only when frightened. It often feeds on worms and insects in the gaps between rocks. Meet the new species of bird discovered by Chinese ornithologists on a small patch of limestone rainforest on the Sino-Vietnamese border. No ornithologist had sighted the myna-sized bird before probably because of its plain looks and skulking habit. Zhou Fang, of the College of Animal Sciences and Technology, and Jiang Aiwu, one of his graduate students, first saw it during a survey at the end of 2004. It took almost four years of studies and fieldwork to confirm it’s a new species. Zhou’s college is affiliated to Guangxi University in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. “After seeing the birds a few times during our survey, Professor Zhou told me it’s probably a new species,” says Jiang. “I have been studying birds in the region since the 1970s,” the 59-year-old ornithologist says. “But I had never seen it before.” Zhou and Jiang caught two of birds on January 21, 2006, to conduct a thorough study. As the bird is seen only in and around the Nonggang Natural Reserve of Guangxi, only 18 km southeast of the Vietnamese border, it has been named the Nonggang Babbler (Stachyris nonggangensis). The global scientific community has confirmed their finding, and the Auk, the world’s leading journal on ornithology, published their study in its 125th issue recently. This is the second time Chinese scientists have found a new species of bird in the country. The first was in the 1930s. Zhou and his student have become the first Chinese authors in the US-based journal too. “During the past two years, we had to face four tests set for us by Auk’s expert teams,” Zhou says. It’s easier to find a new species of plant or bug, he says. “But finding a new bird is once-in-a-lifetime achievement for even a leading ornithologist.” Though the bird has been seen only in and around the nature reserve, it could exist in the limestone region of Vietnam’s northern highlands too, Zhou says. “Till it is seen there, it can be considered a species endemic to China.” About 100 pairs of the birds have been observed in Nonggang. “Their habitat in the reserve is protected,” Zhou says. “But as they could also exist in the Karst rainforest outside the reserve, logging and burning wood to make charcoal pose a threat to their wider habitat.” http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6432881.html
15) China is implementing the policy of retirement of cultivated land to forest and grassland. The forestry reform is full steam ahead across the whole country with a view to realize forestry economy to let rural people contract for mountain forests in order to achieve equitable distribution of wealth. However, in the course of implementation, there is often a lack of detailed planning and regulation which gives rise to profound problems such as ecological destruction and damage to the rural economy. A majority of contractors of mountain forests use the contracted land to grow eucalyptus that is of low ecological but high economic value. Eucalyptus is an economic crop of foreign origin characterized by speedy growth. It takes only a few years of planting to be ready for paper-making. In other words, it stands for a business of low cost and high profit. Imagine in various poor villages in remote places, some short-sighted greedy members of village committees would grant the land to a contractor at CNY$5 to $8 per acre and the latter would hire people to chop off the primeval trees or simply burn down the whole mountain forest. A significant number of the trees being so destroyed are valuable trees or thick old trees. The birds and animals dependent on the forest would be wiped out as well. Eucalyptus is described by ecologists as a water and nutrient sucking machine. Following the planting of eucalyptus, the soil will be sucked dry and lose all the nutrients in a period as short as one or two years. The water in the soil will even be caused to contain toxins and the land where eucalyptus is grown turn barren. This sort of monocultural plantation coupled with the characteristics of eucalyptus therefore cannot meet the aim of the slogan of %u201CReal benefits to the peasants, Protection of the ecology, Development for the forestry industry%u201D initially put forward by the Chinese government for the contracting of mountain forests. Retirement of cultivated land to forest and grassland cannot resolve the hardships of peasants. On the contrary it has increased their hardships. In the rural villages, the average annual income of peasants is still low. To contract for hundreds or thousands of acres of mountain forests often requires an advance contracting fee of a few years in the amount of over ten thousand or hundred thousand dollars. Only large business groups or enterprises can afford such a large amount in one go. As a result, the scheme of contracting for mountain forests has turned into a monopoly of large business groups. Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/contract-for-mountain-forests-in-china-cause-ecological-destr
uction-and-damage-to-the-rural-economy
India:
16) Hundreds of trees have been cut on the Model Mills premises in Ganeshpeth without the requisite permission. The sprawling 30-acre mill land was bought by Gold Bricks Infrastructure Limited, Raipur for Rs 164 crore in what was termed as the biggest-ever mill deal struck by the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in the region. Till now hundreds of trees have been cut, it is alleged. The Model Mills was a rich habitat for rare birds like Night Heron, Little Cormorant, Indian Pond Heron and Indian Shag to state a few. Groups of city bird-watchers claim to have sighted over 400 of these rare birds in an heronary in the area last year. According to Raju Kasambe, an avid bird-watcher and expert, heronaries are bird colonies which are very uncommon. These are mostly found in protected areas like Navegaon and Nagzira. “Model Mills was perhaps the last resort for these birds. Now, with large-scale cutting of trees, which were planted many years ago essentially to curb pollution, their habitat has been destroyed,” he claimed. A visit to the area showed that hundreds of trees, mostly Subabul, were cut in patches on the mill premises. Bulldozers are being used to fell trees and the operation was being carried out clandestinely so that even visitors, who want to have darshan of two over 100-year-old temples, are not being allowed. Only select few can offer prayers. All these trees were cut over the past one month, after the owners took possession on May 22. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/Trees_cut_shelter_gone_rare_birds_virtually_homele
ss/articleshow/3158652.cms
17) MUMBAI: More than 200 residents on Sunday staged a silent demonstration to protest against the felling of trees in an open space adjoining Kaifi Azmi Park in Juhu to make way for the construction of a club. The residents, including senior citizens, children and slumdwellers, planted more than 30 trees in the spots where the trees were uprooted from a few days ago. They spray-painted the playground wall with messages like ‘We want more trees’ and ‘Who needs another club?’ They even painted an effigy that was symbolic of the builders while shouting slogans after having forced their way into the public ground that was locked up by builders. Mayor Shubha Raul, who visited the site on Sunday, promised the residents that she would convene a meeting with members of the Tree Authority, ward officer and municipal commissioner to find a solution to their grievances. Corporators Ashish Shelar and Adolf D’souza were also present on the occasion. “I’m very happy to see so many proactive citizens,” said Shelar. “Emotions were running high. There were several senior citizens who could barely walk but were planting trees. Ozne of them told me that she prayed that the civic body would give the garden back to the citizens before her death,” said secretary of Gulmohar Residents’ Association, Ashoke Pandit. The 3.5-acre ground, reserved as a playground, was given to Ronson Foundation for maintenance in 1990. But in 1998, an agreement was made between the BMC and the foundation, giving the plot to the company on a caretaker basis. Permission was also granted to construct a recreation centre on 15% of the land. The residents are now demanding that the BMC revoke the permission granted to Ronson Foundation. Sohail Kusumgar of Ronson Foundation said that the residents were earlier denied entry because they had stopped the work earlier. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Juhu_residents_protest_tree_felling/articleshow/31549
86.cms
18) Srinagar – At last the state government has responded to acts of vandalazation of forests in Jammu and Kashmir and this is being done by counseling the timber smugglers and makes them think green. The smugglers are being trained as tourist guides for trekkers. The authorities will test the move in the Varmul district where unbridled felling of trees, during past 18 years, has led to extensive soil erosion and water scarcity. With lack of employment opportunities seen as a major cause for felling and smuggling of trees in Varmul, the environmentally friendly poverty alleviation program envisages launching of trekking in its upper reaches for tourists and engagement of timber smugglers and villagers as their guides to check the menace. The program ‘Trekking for Trees’ has been devised by the Tourism Department with assistance of its tourism consultant under the Rural Tourism Circuit Development Scheme. The idea to launch the Trekking for Trees Program was conceived by tourism consultant to state government, Carin Jodha Fisher. “When I visited Varmul last year, I was shocked to see open felling of trees by the locals. After living with them, I found that they resorted to felling of trees to earn bread and butter as they had no source of livelihood. I decided to do something for saving the forests and provide employment opportunities to the locals,” Carin told Greater Kashmir. Fisher said she got the inspiration to start the program in Varmul from her successful eco-tourism project in Phaneng in Assam. Like in Varmul, she said people of Phaneng resorted to felling of trees for livehood. “I made them realize the ill-effects of deforestation and with their help constructed eco-friendly huts. Within two years, Phaneng become the favorites haunt of foreign tourists. The people of Phaneng have now become self-reliant and other villagers are taking on their footsteps. But they make it a point not only to protect forests but plant trees. Phaneng is now cocooned in verdant greenery,” Carin said. http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=23_6_2008&ItemID=52&cat=1
Bangladesh:
19) KHULNA – The tiger stormed into the village late on Friday, killing three people, then continued to roam the settlement until panicked villagers regrouped and lured it into a trap. The incident occurred at a remote village near Shamnagar Police Station, near the Sundarbans mangrove forests, 400 km (250) miles southwest of the capital Dhaka. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the Royal Bengal tigers. “The angry villagers beat the tiger to death,” a forest official said. “It was not possible to save it and send it back to the forests as the people were agitated beyond control.” In March tigers killed six people in villages around the Sundarbans. Forest officials said tigers are probably being forced to hunt outside the Sundarbans because of a scarcity of food after Cyclone Sidr ravaged large parts of the mangrove forests in November last year. At least 60 percent of the 6,000 sq km (2,320 sq mile) mangrove forests are in Bangladesh, home to more than 400 Royal Bengal tigers. http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSDHA5766
20) Environmentalists and residents yesterday called on the government to come forward to save about 1000 trees that the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) is planning to saw down in order to make way for two new roads in Mirpur neighbourhood. They vented their concern over the DCC move at a press conference at the National Press Club, jointly organised by Save Environment Movement (Sem) and residents of Block D of Mirpur 12, where the proposed roads are to be constructed. Block D resident Matiur Rahman in a written statement said the city corporation plans to construct the two roads at Lane 17 and Lane 18 of the block even though there has been a road in between the two lanes since 1962. He said many trees that local residents planted there will have to be felled if the road-building arrangement goes ahead, which will have adverse environmental impact on the locality. Some vested interests with the connivance of a few city corporation officials are trying to construct the two roads instead of repairing the existing one, he alleged. Mentioning that the existing road is enough for local vehicular traffic, he said a planned children’s park should instead be constructed with the help of noted architects, sparing the tress for children. Sem president Abu Naser Khan said it would save money and the environment as well if the city corporation repairs the existing road. Underscoring the need for saving trees everywhere in the country, columnist Sayed Abul Maksud said they are against cutting down trees, no matter whatever the excuses for it are. “We’ll go for a movement if the city corporation goes ahead with its plan”, he said. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=42168
Philippines:
21) Experts blame the worst flooding experienced in Western Visayas mainly to the continued depletion of trees and the conversion of agricultural lands to subdivisions and commercial areas. Jerry Bionat, executive officer of the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said logging activities should be investigated because rampaging waters that inundated entire villages carried logs. Mayor Isabelo Maquino of Sta. Barbara town, one of the hardest hit municipalities, told a meeting o0f the PDCC that the logs slammed into and destroyed or damaged bridges. Bionat noted that the flooding hit areas previously unaffected by flood waters and many residential areas. Water resource engineer Andrew Margarico said that while the intensity of the rainfall is a factor in the extent and magnitude of the flooding, deforestation is one of the probable main causes of the calamity. “If there are no trees to absorb rainfall, the water will go directly downstream,” said Margarico in a telephone interview. Scientist and environmentalist Jurgenne Primavera said the flooding showed the alarming situation of forest cover which has shrunk to less than a million hectares out of a total land area of 30 million hectares. “Water seeks its own level and unless it is held back—by soil, roots and trees and forests– it will go to lower areas,” said Primavera, a Pew Fellow. She said the abnormal amount of rainfall is also an manifestation of global warming, the phenomenon characterized by general increase in temperature blamed on increasing amounts of carbon dioxide emission. Scientists have said that global warming triggers abnormal weather patters including more intense storms and floods, longer droughts and other weather disturbances. http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/06/25/experts.blame.deforestation.land.conversion.for.floodin
g.html
22) Sister Lascuna said that according to studies conducted by various environmentalist groups including that of University of the Philippines and Ateneo University’s geological societies claimed most if not all mining areas in the region where huge deposit of metallic including non-metallic mineral resources are found are within watershed areas. “It is a choice between water supply to irrigate farm lands and potable water supply of communities or money for owners of mining firms laughing all the way to the banks”, Lascuna who claimed mining in watershed areas will dry up irrigation and water wells for host communities said. The Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences have approved six Mineral Production Sharing Agreements or MPSA in Surigao del Sur involving six mining firms operating in large-scale mining activities at present covering an area of 15, 926.39 hectares. Commercial logging activities in the province alone doing large scale logging operations based on DENR records involved four big logging companies with approved Timber License Agreement (TLA) and Integrated Forest Agreement (IFMA) covering 241,305 hectares of public forest, timber lands. Under the law, IFMA and TLA holders are allowed to cut 82,000 cubic meters of logs or about 41,000 pieces of logs depending on sizes per year per title holder. In Surigao del Sur alone, there are about 27 applications and ready for MPSA issuance involving 27 mining firms ready to implement large-scale mining activities covering to a total of 115,349 hectares of land. There are also three applications for Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) under process at the Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences central office in Manila ready for large-scale mining operations involving 106,803 hectares in Surigao del Sur. According to the Diocesan Social Action Center of Surigao del Sur, the total land area of Surigao del Sur is only 455,567 hectares while consolidating approved mining claims and logging concessions including those under process or pending applications totaled all to 465,112.07 hectares. “Where are now the watershed areas where people’s potable water supply and irrigation water come from?’ Sister Lydia questioned. http://www.mindanao.com/blog/?p=3863
23) Green activists have asked Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to recall a permit allowing the cutting of more than 4,000 trees in Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park in Negros Occidental to make way for a geothermal project. “He should recall the permit,” Rustico Biñas, a member of the Save the Mt. Kanlaon Coalition, said in an interview. “It’s our moral obligation to stop cutting trees.” Atienza could not be reached for comment Saturday. The coalition has fiercely opposed the geothermal project of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp., and warned that the cutting of trees could be the start of the park’s destruction. The park used to have a 24,000-hectare forest cover but only 9,000 hectares of that now remain, according to Biñas. “We will not only be cutting down trees but we’ll be endangering the flora and fauna, and then of course the clean water sources,” he said. The PNOC-EDC is set to cut down 4,213 trees in a 12.5-hectare site in the park preparatory to the construction of roads and other infrastructure, according to the coalition. The 12.5 hectares are part of a 169-hectare buffer zone allotted to the PNOC-EDC for its geothermal exploration under Republic Act No. 9154, or the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act, it said.The provincial board of Negros Occidental approved in May the company’s entry into the buffer zone. The PNOC-EDC has vowed to plant trees in the project site in the face of strong opposition from environmentalists, the Church and civil society groups. This was a condition set by the provincial board for the firm’s entry into the buffer zone. The Northern Negros Geothermal Power Development Project hopes to generate at least 40 megawatts of electricity to supply the power needs of the province and nearby Panay island. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080622-144104/Save-Mt-Kanlaon-trees-At
ienza-urged
24) ILOILO—Corn production is getting lucrative. A number of Ilonggos have started engaging in this business to the detriment of the province’s forested areas. The province’s remaining forests, especially those in northern Iloilo, are being cleared for the planting of corn, said the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro). Penro is assessing forested lands in northern Iloilo damaged by corn farmers, said forest management specialist Antonio Latoza Jr. The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) of the municipality of Sara recently informed Penro of the continued transformation of timberland areas for corn production. Ernesto Arevalo, who heads the Cenro in Sara, said this has caused the denudation of forested areas in several communities. Penro’s Valentin Talabero has also reported to Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. that this “economic trend” resulting to the destruction of northern Iloilo’s forest resources.“Corn production has become an attractive investment … due to its high market demand as a feed material and for ethanol,” Talabero told Tupas. Arevalo said his office has started taking steps to address this concern, one of which is information dissemination in several villages of Sara and the adjacent towns of San Dionisio, Batad, Ajuy and Lemery, emphasizing the importance of conserving and protecting forests or timberlands. But aside from forested areas, private lands are also affected by the upsurge in corn plantations. Arevalo said even private lands are being converted into corn plantations, resulting to rapid soil erosion. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080623-144227/Iloilo-losing-fore
sts-to-corn-plantations
25) A new definition of forest should be used. A forest is not composed of just the trees but is an ecosystem. A more accurate definition would be “land consisting of trees with overlapping crown covering of at least 60 percent with a biotic community mainly composed of woody and nonwoody vegetation and the wildlife therein.” The definition in the Senate and House versions describe a forest as having at least 10 percent cover in an area of at least half a hectare. From an ecological point of view, an area with 90 percent grassland is not a forest but a grassland. The definition of forest should refer to the dominant vegetation of the area. Forests are part of the mountain environment in the watershed continuum. They aid in preventing flooding and soil erosion. Forests also feed the streams that feed the rivers that feed the seas. Nutrients from the forest are eaten and released and eaten again by microorganisms as they spiral downstream. Excess nutrients finally flow out of river mouths to enrich estuaries which in turn release their nutrients into the coastal waters. Forests promote biodiversity not only in the areas where they are found but also in the lowlands and the sea. The role of forests in mitigating global warming and protecting endemic endangered species of plants and animals in forests should be highlighted. Adding the following statements in the basic policies can do this: 1) The State recognizes the importance of the ecological services of tropical rainforests in sustaining life on earth especially in mitigating global warming. Further, tropical rainforests are the most important habitats of endemic and threatened species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. 2) Forest management must always and sincerely consider biodiversity protection and conservation of wildlife resources and their habitats consistent with Chapter 1, Section 2 of Republic Act. 9147. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/21/yehey/opinion/20080621opi7.html
Malaysia:
26) Golden Pharos Bhd is confident it has gotten over its worst patch and is ready to create value from its principal asset in two timber concessions totalling 129,000ha in Terengganu. After an equity restructuring exercise, which included a rights issue, the company was now in a position to focus on growing its business and even to contemplate rewarding its shareholders with dividend, chief executive officer Datuk Maruan Mohd Said told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview. The company recently announced that it had adopted a dividend policy of paying out 50% of its net profit annually starting from the year ending Dec 31, 2008 (FY08). Maruan said the state-controlled company had businesses along the value chain of the timber industry, including harvesting, sawmilling and downstream activities in door- and glass-making. The company’s timber concessions, among the biggest in Peninsular Malaysia, would ensure a continuous supply of raw material for its activities, he added. Golden Pharos, a 54% subsidiary of Terengganu Inc, was recently awarded the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for the 108,000ha concession under its Dungun Timber Complex Forest Management Unit, which would help ease the passage of its products to foreign markets that are critical for the tropical timber business. “It can help tap the premium value of our products and give us wider access to the export market,” said Maruan. He said as the company obtained its two concessions in 1979 and 1983, it was now ready to go into the second cycle of harvesting, which could produce some 45,000 hoppus tonnes of timber this year. Depending on the species and grade of timber, a hoppus tonne could fetch between RM600 and RM6,000. Maruan said its door and glass businesses contributed about RM30 million and RM25 million, respectively, to the group’s revenue last year. Its revenue rose 19.3% to RM118.82 million in FY07 from RM99.63 million in FY06, while net profit fell to RM1.23 million from RM2.16 million. “We need to strengthen these sectors by looking at its market reach, especially in Europe and the UK, to ensure better sustainability,” he said, adding that the company had initiated talks with several potential marketing partners. http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_b377417f-cb73c03a-
c8c7d600-903c48b9
Indonesia:
27) The sun remained on the eastern horizon, reluctant to show its rays. Cool air still covered the village. The bird songs came from the branches of trees. The dew on the grass was yet to dry. But the activities of the people had already started in Langko Village. Langko village, Donggala regency, is located about 70 kilometers south of Palu city, Central Sulawesi. One by one, people wearing brightly colored siga (a kind of batik headdress similar to that worn by Javanese men) entered the village. They were the customary law leaders of villages and subdistricts in the Lindu plain. The rain was pouring down, but it didn’t dampen the leaders’ spirit. On that particular day, the customary law leaders came to the village at the edge of Lake Lindu for a traditional discussion, called “Kapotio Nolipu Ada”, to reach an agreement based on customary law. The deliberations were staged as one of the ways to observe World Environment Day, which fell on June 5. At the meeting, all customary law leaders agreed with the concept tuwuku linoku — my forest, my life. “Tuwuku linoku means my forest is my life. So if the environment is damaged and the forests are cleared, then there is no source of life … It is our obligation to protect our lives,” said Lindu Customary Law Institution head Daniel Tarese. “Tuwuku Linoku, my life is here. Here we’re alive. Here we eat. And here is where we work. So where we will go if the forest, that gives us our lives, is destroyed?” At the deliberations, the community reconfirmed its commitment to the Lindu Community Conservation Agreement (KKM) to manage people’s social life and natural resources. Daniel said that all can be managed well if the government fully trusts the community to manage the forest and natural resources based on local wisdom that has been in place for a long time. “The felling of forests happens everywhere because the government doesn’t trust the community’s adat (traditional customary law). The community was even accused of felling of forest,” he said. http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080624.Q01&irec=0
28) ALAS KUSUMA GROUP, Indonesia leading company, carried out destructive logging illegally in Protected Forest Mt Lawang (Hutan Lindung Bukit Lawang) in west Borneo, Indonesia. In addition, documents revealed they have been working together with private Illegal Loggers in the area for years by signing up a secret agreement among them. I have evidence to show it. Mr Tony Wong has reported this matter to all Government Departments and President SBY. However, Indonesia Government gives no attention in response to the issue, no authority dares to take action against ALAS KUSUMA GROUP, despite the company has been evidenced for the involvement in Illegal Logging since 2005. On the contrary, Mr Wong has been jailed over the revelation of this matter since May 2007 (Full story at: THE TRUTH BEHIND ILLEGAL LOGGING) Please stop the Forest Crime! Indonesia Government fails on the issue, International attention and awareness are vital to help stressing on the issue and addressing it properly. WITNESS EVIDENCE AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STSEYKM7k4 http://jacsky.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/alas-kusuma-group-destructive-logging-in-protected-forest
/
29) Michael Sheridan is a documentary filmmaker and experimental videosonic artist whose recent work Instant Noodles addresses the crisis of deforestation and the palm oil industry in Indonesia. His work reminds us that there are as many avenues for expressing environmental consciousness as there are individuals in the world – and that the inspirational nature of art is boundless. Below, Michael shares his thoughts about the creation of Instant Noodles as a means of instigating fresh perspectives on everyday life, and encouraging personal behavior change. When I arrived in Indonesia in August of 2007, I was already committed to producing new artwork for two exhibitions in the United States. In December I finished a new installation sound piece, This is Foreign for the Axiom Gallery and in January a new videosonic work Instant Noodles. Instant Noodles was part of the exhibition Greed, Guilt and Grappling-Six Artists Respond to Global Warming at the Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts. Mags Harries and Clara Wainwright, the artist-curators of the exhibition, asked me last year if I would be interested in participating. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to ground my new explorations in Indonesia – a country I frankly knew very little about. I came to Indonesia because I wanted to go somewhere that I’d never been and to spend an extended period in a developing country. For the past 15 years I have produced documentary films and videosonic art that primarily address social and economic issues in poor and developing communities in Africa, South Asia and the Americas. But the production trips associated with these projects seldom lasted more than 2-4 weeks. http://earthkeeper.com/blog/corporate-social-responsibility/indonesia-and-instant-noodles-an-ar
tist%E2%80%99s-perspective-on-climate-change/
30) Saving rare rhinos and valuable forests is not your everyday kiwi lawyers’ job, but for Bell Gully’s climate change team they’re concluding a world-first deal in the tsunami-struck Indonesian province of Aceh. The deal that combats deforestation in Indonesia as well as providing an innovative financial product onto the world financial markets. Bell Gully’s climate change team, lead by Simon Watt, have been involved in the complex deal involving the trading of carbon credits derived from Indonesia’s tsunami-hit Aceh province. The 2004 tsunami killed more than 168,000 people in the province alone. Since then, Indonesia has partnered with Australia to develop mechanisms that not only reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Indonesia’s deforestation has been a major environmental concern as well as a major carbon emission contributor, for many years. Bell Gully’s have developed a growing practice in climate change law with Simon Watt receiving a Chambers Global accolade last year as one of 10 partners worldwide identified as a legal expert in the area. Along with colleague Kate Radka, the team have been working on the deal with Indonesian officials, bankers and other professionals on what is potentially a billion dollar deal in terms of carbon credits. The innovative deal is being financially orchestrated by Australian company Carbon Conservation, and will be the world’s first commercial financed deforestation avoidance project. Deforestation is the third largest source of carbon emissions worldwide. The current deal involves a massive commitment towards a reduction in deforestation across 750,000 hectacres of tropical forest in Aceh’s Ulu Masen region. In broad terms, the deal involves a carbon broking relationship under which Carbon Conservation sources buyers of the carbon credits from around the world. The first tranche of credits will be sold to Wall Street bank Merrill Lynch, who intend to market the credits to their investment banking clients, including ‘carbon poor’ companies in Europe and elsewhere. http://www.lawfuel.co.nz/news/article.asp?NewsID=317
31) Borneo Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre in Indonesian Borneo – has recently welcomed the arrival of three young orangutans from West Kalimantan. All three (aged between 2 – 3 years) were confiscated from private households – victims of palm oil development and logging. Nyaru Menteng, founded by Lone Droscher-Nielsen, is home to 670 orangutans, ranging in age from a few months to about 8 years, where they are cared for and rehabilitated to prepare them for their ultimate release into the wild. In February this year, the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of the Forestry Department in Indonesia, confiscated Frengky – one of the orangutans – from the area of Singkawang, on the north coast of West Kalimantan. Within two months, another young orangutan, Thomas, was rescued from Sintang, also in the northern part of West Kalimantan province. They were temporarily homed in transit cages in Pontianak, waiting for an opportunity to be transferred to a rehabilitation centre. It wasn’t long before a third orangutan, Caleb, was confiscated – this time in Ketapang, a small town in the southern part of the province, abut seven hours’ journey by boat from Pontianak city. He was placed in the Yayasan Palung’s transit centre in Ketapang to await transfer to a rehabilitation centre. No such facilities exist in West Kalimantan, and all the other orangutan rehabilitation centers in Central and East Kalimantan were all full at the time. In May, however, the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), which assists the BKSDA in caring for captive orangutans in West Kalimantan, heard that Nyaru Menteng would be able to accommodate these youngsters at the end of the month. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/
32) The once pleasant air in the Puncak area of Bogor, West Java, is warmer now that the open green countryside has become a popular site for luxury villas.The change has turned Ade Basir Baesuni into a determined conservationist, planting trees in the area wherever he can. In his self-designed regreening campaign, the 40-year-old Bogor farmer and teacher has been supported by his students from Madrasah Aliyah Miftahulhuda senior high school and SMP Terbuka Amerta Megamendung junior high. Ade said planting trees was easy; the difficult part is caring for them. He said government officials and society groups had planted millions of trees in Puncak, sometimes with little effect. “They just leave the trees without knowing whether they grow or die. Maybe they think the important thing is that they made a regreening effort and the job is done. “Even though 5,000 to 10,000 trees have been planted in a single day, if they don’t get proper care, it’s a waste; they will die,” Ade said. Ade studied only as far as elementary school but he has a masterful knowledge of farming. He successfully cultivated a seedling nursery and was asked to manage the gardens of SMP Terbuka. The school was established by the nongovernmental organization Gerakan Peduli Sekitar Kita (GPSK), which is largely made up of members of the Buddhist community. http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080624.W05&irec=4
Australia:
33) The Kimberley wilderness coast is internationally recognised as one of the last great unspoiled marine and terrestrial environments in the world. The Kimberley’s clean seas, countless islands, coral reefs, mangroves, rainforests and rivers are home to an astonishing variety of wildlife including endangered humpback whales, 5 species of marine turtles, dugong, crocodiles, rare snubfin dolphins, and the northern quoll. The Kimberley coast also has outstanding cultural values for the region’s many Indigenous communities. From June to November each year, endangered humpback whales make their way to calving grounds just north of Broome, where they stay for four months with their calves. This special whale nursery area needs to be protected from the damaging impacts of industry. The urgent reality is that right now several companies, including Inpex (a Japanese energy company) and Woodside Ltd, have submitted proposals to develop the Browse Basin gas field to the State and Commonwealth governments. The impacts of industrialisation, including proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, would destroy one of the last large and remote coastal wilderness areas left in the world. This government needs to commit to: 1) science-based regional conservation planning and management using whole-of-landscape principles, 2) strong involvement of the Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities in land and sea management programs, 3) ruling out incompatible large scale industrial activity. — I need you to take urgent action TODAY. Simply complete the form opposite to ask Premier Carpenter to protect our Kimberley wilderness coast for future generations. https://secure.wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist/cyberactions/08_06_kimberley-cyberaction.php?ema
il=deane@efn.org&u=129739
34) Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest investment bank, plans to generate carbon credits by protecting forests in southeast Asia, South America and Africa. Each permit created by saving trees, representing a ton of carbon-dioxide emissions that were absorbed in forests, will be sold to businesses that want to offset their own greenhouse-gas output, Fauna and Flora International, the conservation group that will manage the projects for the bank, said today in an e- mailed statement. The projects that stop deforestation may help guide international policy makers in devising a new treaty to fight climate change. The United Nations estimates deforestation contributes about 20 percent of the emissions of carbon dioxide blamed for global warming, and forest protection is currently included in UN emissions trading markets. The world body last year called for demonstration projects to be set up. “We’re fulfilling the requests to undertake demonstration activities,” Joe Heffernan, leader of the project for Fauna and Flora International, said today in a telephone interview from Cambridge, England. Macquarie “see it as a significant new horizon, and they’re very clear to explore the boundaries of that market and where revenue could flow from in carbon.” The cost of the projects has yet to be determined, and Sydney-based Macquarie gas said it’ll fund them “as required” said Heffernan, who declined to provide an amount. Fiona Tyndall, spokeswoman for the Australian bank, didn’t reply to a voicemail left on her phone after office hours today. The plan, to be carried out over the next three years, will involve identifying tracts of forest and then working with the villagers who live in it to prevent logging, while ensuring they have an alternative livelihood, Heffernan said. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=a45dC.tgmSF4&refer=australia