More animals killed on the roads is ‘good news’ for wildlife

DutchNews, February 12, 2016

The fact that more animals are being killed on the Dutch roads is often cause for celebration, Maurice La Haye – a researcher at the Dutch mammal society Zoogdiervereniging – told the Algemeen Dagblad. 

An increase in accidents is a sign that conservation efforts are working and the wildlife population in the Netherlands is increasing, La Haye told the paper on Friday. 

An estimated ten million animals are killed on Dutch roads every year, but millions more survive, mate, and multiply. This is at least partly thanks to the Netherlands’ network of 1,725 green passages, viaducts, and walking ledges that allow animals to safely cross roads in certain places. 

Green passageways

Since the mid-1980s, the Netherlands has been building these structures in an effort to preserve dwindling wildlife stocks, including the endangered European badger, and several species of wild boar and deer. 

One of these ‘ecoducts’ – the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailoo – is the longest such structure in the world. Some 50m wide and 800m long, the ecoduct takes animals safely over a railway line, roadway, business park, sports complex and a river. 

The ecoducts allow animals to expand their habitats past the barriers of roads, rivers and railways. And it’s been successful. In 1950, the total deer population of the Netherlands was around 5,000. Now it sits nearer 110,000, Gijs Van Ardenne, chairman of the Wildlife Collision Foundation Netherlands told the AD. 

Healthy and thriving

As well as an increase in sheer numbers, Dutch wildlife now appears to be in better health than before.

‘Ditches and canals are no longer the open sewers of last century, but fish-rich waterways,’ Hugh Jansen, of research institute Alterra told the AD. ‘Dead animals we find and analyse are in very good condition. They are top athletes who encountered a car.’

Joko Widodo Lays Out Agricultural Manifesto for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Deti Mega Purnamasari & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Apr 27, 2014

A Balinese farmer threshes rice in Denpasar. (EPA Photo/Made Nahi)

Jakarta. Over a month after officially entering the presidential race, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, nominated as presidential candidate by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, has begun introducing his vision and mission to the voters.

Visiting local farmers at the Tanjungrasa village in Bogor district’s Cariu subdistrict, Joko on Sunday addressed six points in the field of agriculture and food security that would be his focus should he be elected president in the election set to take place on July 9.

Productive agricultural lands, Joko said, should not be converted into other use, such as residential or industrial areas, and should instead be preserved. Additionally, he said farmers would have to be assisted in making sure that even the smallest plots of lands were used productively and that farmers were educated not to use chemically engineered seeds or pesticides.

Joko also emphasized the need to build better infrastructure for farmers, the need to monitor the quality of water in the fields, as well as improved monetary benefits for farmers and better access to capital and financial support.

“I asked farmers, how many tons [of rice] can be produced from one hectare [of land]? Apparently it was six tons, because farmers here are using a good mix,” Joko said during his visit on Sunday.

According to him, the average amount of rice produced on Indonesian farms was between four to five tons for each hectare of land, while the population grew by three million each year.

“Like it or not, we need to prepare more food for this growth. Additionally, in the past five years there has been a significant increase in food imports,” he said, citing hikes in the imports of several staple food items such as rice, corn, soy, flour, sugar, salt, beef, onions and fruits.

“We import fish. We are a maritime nation but our fish imports have spiked,” Joko said “These are issues that need to be sorted out. These things are the reason why inflation on certain basic commodities easily occurs for a long period of time and repeatedly.”

Joko was adamant that the issue would see major risks unfurl in the next five to 10 years should the government fail to take strict and extreme policies. “Without that, we are risking our sovereignty and food security,” he said.

As such, Joko said it was important to ensure the production sector was improved so as to limit imports.

“We have to concentrate the production. Imports have to be cut and eventually eliminated. With some effort and hard work, I think we can achieve this within four or five years,” he said.

A change of mentality

Aside from his vision for the Indonesian agricultural sector, Joko on Sunday also introduced what he called a “mental revolution,” which he cited as one of the main requirements needed to see positive changes in Indonesia in the future.

“A mental revolution, because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation can reach its potential, because we are a big nation. Let’s change our mentality from the negative to the positive,” Joko said on Sunday, emphasizing that the issue would be one of his biggest focuses if elected president and would cover areas such as education, health and agriculture.

“We cannot be stuck in negative thoughts and instead should be positive, we have to be sure that we can do this well and in the right way,” Joko said.

A member of Joko’s national secretariat team, Eva Kusuma Sundari, said that with the program, Joko would become an icon of transformative leadership bringing new values to be practiced by government.

“[Joko is] a leader who seeks to promote a mental revolution for the sake of transforming Indonesia into becoming a sovereign, independent nation, the embodiment of a 21st-century Trisakti [ideology],” Eva said in Jakarta on Sunday, referring leadership principles espoused by Sukarno.

A mental revolution, she said, was part of an effort to build a fair and prosperous society that adheres to the Pancasila state ideology. “A nation that never leaves behind nation and character building projects,” Eva explained.

She emphasized that Joko had started this mission in Jakarta, with people becoming more aware of their responsibility not to litter in the areas surrounding the Angke river in West Jakarta following the city administration’s revitalization program.

“The Indonesian culture of working together has to be developed and strengthened for it to become the base of our [development],” Eva said, adding that education played a pivotal role in ensuring the strengthening of this culture among Indonesians. “Of course people and human resources are the engine of any public transformation projects and, as such, the spirit of education has to be made the center of character-building efforts.”

PDI-P central executive board chairman Maruar Sirait said Joko was ready to build up the country by focusing on three indicators: Indonesia’s political sovereignty, economic independence and a positive image in the cultural sector.

“It is important for us to move towards a mental revolution, as explained by Joko, because our nation is yet to unite mentally, but it will. We have to be confident with our capabilities,” he said.

Despite having a vast supply of natural resources, such as marine, mineral and energy resources, Indonesia remains hampered by bigger issues such as uneven economic growth, poor law enforcement as well as other leadership and mental issues, he said.

“That is why the mental revolution explained by Joko is very relevant,” Maruar said, adding that the program would inspire optimism throughout the nation’s stakeholders.

Furthermore, Maruar also explained that Indonesia’s diversity has yet to be well understood by the public and that the concept of pluralism remained in tatters as a result of years of colonialism and imperialism by the Dutch, who at the time used divisive rule to prevent the people from uniting against them.

“The mental revolution will have to nurture a mentality of unity, Indonesians have to come together in building a better Indonesia,” he said.

“[It’s called] a mental revolution because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation would have hope. Because we are a great nation.”

Search for a running mate

Maruar also said on Sunday that the mental revolution concept also proved PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had made the right decision by appointing Joko as the party’s candidate and that she would also elect the right running mate for Joko.

“We are sure Mega will elect the right vice presidential candidate for Joko, one who will not merely be a spare tire,” Maruar said. “Let the decision be based on dialectics and public discussions. They [the public] have proved receptive towards the PDI-P’s presidential candidate, and now we hope they will react in the same way towards the PDI-P’s [appointment of a] vice presidential candidate.”

He added the party wanted to make sure any vice president would work with the president in following through party policies and was not burdened with past misdeeds.

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Conservationists Work With Fishermen to Save the Reefs

In Malang, coral repopulation is key, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka writes

Jakarta Globe, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, November 10, 2013

Sahabat Alam has teamed up with local fishing communities to help repopulate
coral reefs. (JG Photo/Dyah Ayu Pitaloka)

A group of volunteers, some still in their teens, walked up to the shoreline of Kondang Merak beach in Malang district, East Java.

Slowly they rolled up their jeans as small waves pounded their feet. They were each carrying pieces of coral that had been carefully attached to prefabricated wire mesh bearing the volunteers’ names.

The volunteers “donated between Rp 10,000 and Rp 50,000 ($0.88 to $4.40) each for this coral reef repopulation effort. Though there are also those who cannot afford to donate money but are able to give their time and power to plant coral reefs,” Andi Syaifudin said.

Andi is the chairman of Sahabat Alam (Nature’s Friend), which focuses on coral reef, mangrove and sea-turtle conservation around Kondang Merak beach.

The 5-square-kilometer area, located 62 kilometers south of Malang city, was once famous for being one of the most beautiful snorkeling and diving spots off the southern coast of Java.

“We fell in love with Kondang Merak because of its beautiful coral reefs and pristine white sands,” he said.

But since early 2000 the use of fish bombs and cyanide by local fishermen has contributed to the destruction of 80 percent of the local coral population.

With the reefs destroyed, residents in the area have lost their livelihoods, not only from dwindling fish populations but also from the declining number of divers visiting Kondang Merak’s five diving spots.

“Around five to 10 years ago we were able to get 50 kilograms of lobster each time we sailed out to sea,” local fisherman Edi said, adding that he could earn between Rp 400,000 to Rp 750,000 per kilogram.

“Now we consider ourselves lucky to get just 5 kilograms [of lobster],” he said.

Sahabat Alam has been teaching local fishing communities about the importance of coral reefs and how using fish bombs and cyanide in fishing poses a huge threat to their livelihoods.

“Lobsters like to hide in coral reefs and now the reefs have been destroyed,” said Edi, who joined Sahabat Alam’s coral repopulation drive. “Slowly we are realizing that we need to catch lobsters using techniques that will not harm the coral, by diving or using nets.”

The Malang district’s Maritime and Fisheries office noted that there are nine areas in Malang with critically damaged coral reef systems, including Kondang Merak. In these areas, coral reefs will disappear unless something is done.

Coral reefs not only provide a vital food source for the fish but also stop erosion and tidal waves.

At 10 more sites in Malang, coral reefs are considered fairly damaged, which means the reefs will be able to repopulate without human intervention if the damaging activities stop.

Wahyu Hidayat, local head of the Marine and Fisheries Agency, said the government has the necessary funding to repopulate the coral reefs but needs help from groups like Sahabat Alam for human resources and expertise.

“Any community willing to do real work will get our support,” he said.

Zainul Arifin, a Sahabat Alam member, said it is important to engage the local fishing community in conservation efforts.

Coral grows between 2 to 3 centimeters a month and needs to spend at least six months in nursery grounds before it can be planted in open water and survive on its own. During that period, they need constant care to keep sand and mold from getting into their pores and inhibiting their growth. That, Zainal said, is where the fishermen come in.

“A huge percentage of our donors’ money goes to the fishermen for this monitoring process. Without the involvement of the local fishing community it will be all for nothing,” he said.

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Fearful Aceh Islanders Tell of Massive Sea Change in the Wake of Earthquake

Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, April 15, 2010

Banda Aceh. Local residents claim the seabed near Banyak Island in Aceh Singkil district, Aceh, has risen dramatically since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on April 7.

They also say they have seen an undersea fissure spewing out mud and rocks. But experts are not so sure about the supposed geological phenomenon.

Banyak islander Mufliadi told the Jakarta Globe the phenomenon was first noted on Tuesday by fisherman Ruslan, who had been trawling for sea cucumbers in the Gosong Turak waters around Pailana Island, just off Banyak.

“He was shocked and came back to tell us what he’d seen because the site is a prime fishing spot for the local fisherman,” Mufliadi said on Thursday.

Ruslan had been shocked to find layer upon layer of rocks and no fish in the area. The fisherman also reported a 10-meter-long fissure shaped like a frying pan.

Before the quake, the water in Gosong Turak had been 20 to 30 meters deep but now was just five meters, he said.

On Wednesday, hundreds of villagers dove into the water to see the change for themselves and take rock samples.

“The black rocks were the size of a person’s head, and crumbled easily,” Mufliadi said. “When we burned the rocks, a very strong odor was emitted.”

He said the villagers were concerned the fissure could be an undersea volcano because it kept spewing mud.

Mufliadi urged local authorities to survey the area to confirm what was happening and ease villagers’ concerns.

“If the fissure really is a volcano, we want to anticipate and be ready for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

Mufliadi said more people visited the area on Thursday, bringing back yellow stones “that looked like gold.”

Banyak Island subdistrict head Safnil confirmed the seabed was silting, after visiting the area. “There is a geological anomaly underwater, shaped a bit like a volcano, that keeps spewing out mud,” he said. “But the mud isn’t hot like lava from a regular volcano.”

Safnil said many Banyak residents were worried. He urged them to remain calm and alert pending the arrival of geologists to study whether the fissure posed a threat.

But Danny Hilman Natawidjaya, a geologist from the Indonesian Institute for Sciences (LIPI), told the Jakarta Globe it was impossible for the seabed to have risen so much. “The maximum the seabed can rise is one meter,” he said. “If it did really happen, there should have been a major landslide near the area.”

Danny also said the anomaly that looked like a volcano was called liquefaction. “It’s normal, as the layer of sand on the seabed is pushed by the quake until it liquefies and forms a volcano and can spew out mud,” he said.

Danny said earthquakes altered the land and sea structure and sometimes fish left to find a more comfortable habitat.

Additional reporting by Nurfika Osman

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Indonesia lagging behind in agribusiness development

Antara News, Friday, March 12, 2010 14:12 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is lagging far behind other Asian countries in agribusiness development, Vice President Boediono said here Friday.

"Compared with other Asian countries such as Thailand, our agribusiness sector is still st a low level of development," Boediono said in remarks to officially open "Agrinex International Expo 2010" here on Friday.

The vice president said that compared with other countries, the agribusiness sector in Indonesia had yet to integrate with other sectors to support national development.

"In other countries, the agribusiness sector has become one with the industrial and services sectors; agriculture, fisheries, and animal husbandry sectors have become one with the industrial and services sectors while in our country there is no inter-linkage among these sectors," the vice president said.

But he added Indonesia had great agribusiness potentials and the capability to catch up with the other countries.

"Our agribusiness potentials are extraordinarily big, even the biggest in Southeast Asia and Asia. We are the world`s largest producer of palm oil, rubber, and rice. We are also the largest producer of cacao, coffee, tea, volatile oils, and fish. And all of these are the basis for our agribusiness development to catch up with other countries," Boediono said.

The vice president said Indonesia was left behind in agribusiness development because business players prioritized short-term profits by selling agricultural goods as raw materials.

"In fact we still have a lot of added value from the agribusiness products and this means we have great potentials to catch up with other countries," Boediono said.

He said the government had improved its policies to support the agribusiness sector through infrastructure and human resources development.

After opening the exhibition, the vice president , accompanied by Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad, visited a number of stands displaying agribusiness products.

From the Past to the Future

The Jakarta Post, WEEKENDER | Fri, 01/22/2010 4:02 PM |Profile

A professor of geology and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Jared Diamond is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Guns, Germs and Steel, a scientific analysis of the history of civilization. His other, perhaps more important message is to never forget the lessons of history. Hana Miller interviews him.

“I have often asked myself,” Jared Diamond writes in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, “What did the Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing it?”

At a time when the future of the planet and the life it supports has come to the forefront of popular media, Diamond’s message about learning from the mistakes and the choices of past civilizations in his recent Collapse becomes especially pertinent. Referring to the analytical model he uses to examine various different societies and how they adapted to – or ignored – the actualities of their circumstances, Diamond shares with us his thoughts on the factors that put Indonesia’s future most at risk, raising critical points about the direction in which we are knowingly leading ourselves.

Globalization

In my book Collapse, I discuss the successes and failures of past societies at solving their environmental problems – such as the successes of the Japanese, New Guinea highlanders and Tikopia islanders, and the failures of the Polynesians on Easter Island in the Southeast Pacific, the Mayans of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, and the Anasazi Indians of the Southwest United States.

In the past, when societies on different continents around the world were largely isolated from each other, the success or failure of one society didn’t affect distant societies. For example, it had no effect whatsoever on Indonesia when the Easter Island society collapsed, or when the Mayan cities collapsed. It also had no effect on Indonesia when Japan in the 1700s solved its forestry problems sustainably.

Today, however, in our globalized world, anything that any country does has the potential to affect any other country. For example, with global warming, greenhouse gases emitted in the United States or China or Russia contribute to global warming that affects Indonesian reefs. Globalization also means that Japan, a populous rich country that’s very good at protecting its own forests, succeeds in doing so by destroying the forests of other countries, such as Indonesia.

International business and the environment

Among the most important relationships for Indonesia are those involving Southeast Asian and worldwide businesses that import raw materials from Indonesia, especially tree products (timber and paper materials), fish and other sea products, oil and minerals.

My impression is that some of these international businesses operate in Indonesia according to standards that are not up to the highest international ones. For instance, much is known about how to manage forests sustainably to extract wood and wood products at a rate no higher than the rate at which new trees grow. Thus the forest can be exploited for the indefinite future. Japan and Germany are examples of densely inhabited countries that have been managing their forests sustainably for around 400 years. Even after centuries of exploitation, visitors to Japan and Germany are stunned to see how large a fraction of the area of those countries is still covered by forests: about 76 percent in the case of Japan!

As a result, there is no ongoing deforestation in Japan and Germany: new forests are planted or grown at a rate at least equal to the rate at which mature forests are cut down, and the extent of forests in Japan is actually increasing. In Indonesia, however, these international standards for sustainable forestry are in many or most cases not followed by international wood and pulp and paper companies. That’s a tragedy and a big economic loss for Indonesia: as things are going now, Indonesia will not continue to enjoy forest income for the indefinite future.

An added tragedy for Indonesia is that much or most forest products are exported in the raw form of unfinished logs. But most of the value of forest products is added after the trees are cut, when the logs are worked into finished timber and paper. This added value is much greater than the value of the unfinished logs. In effect, most of the profits from Indonesia’s timber are not received by Indonesia, but by the countries to which it exports its timber.

Similar problems arise with fisheries. There are well-established international standards for managing fisheries sustainably, so that fish are caught at rates no higher than the rates at which they can spawn and grow to maturity. Sustainably managed fisheries provide an income for the indefinite future. Examples of these include the Australian rock lobster fishery and the American wild salmon fishery. But most fisheries in Indonesia are not managed sustainably. That, again, is a tragedy for Indonesia, which loses a source of income that could continue for the indefinite future – if only it were managed properly.

It is entirely within the power of the Indonesian government to obtain a good economic deal with regard to foreign exploitation of its raw products. Other countries already insist on getting a good deal for their raw products. All that the Indonesian government would have to do is license only foreign companies that meet accepted international standards for managing fisheries and forests, and insist that most of the added value of Indonesian forest products be added in Indonesia rather than in Japan or China or Taiwan or Malaysia. Sadly for Indonesia, this is not happening at present.

The Five-Point Framework

In assessing whether a country is succeeding or failing at solving its major problems, I go through a checklist of five sets of factors: human impacts on environmental resources; climate change; effects of friendly trade partners; effects of hostile neighbors, and a country’s social, political and economic conditions that either help or hurt the country in recognizing and solving its problems.

Of these five factors, it seems four are critical for Indonesia. The one that is not critical – at least at present – is hostile neighbors. Although Indonesia has had problems with other countries in the past, that’s not the case today.

But the other factors all apply to Indonesia. With regard to the first factor, I mentioned above the overexploitation and decline of Indonesia’s rich forests and fisheries. Climate change affects Indonesia, especially through the harmful effects of global warming on the country’s rich reefs and through the increased frequency of extreme climate events such as cyclones, droughts and floods.

Friendly trade partners are another problem: Indonesia has friendly relations with Japan, China, Taiwan and Malaysia, but those countries are now partly the cause of the problems in Indonesia’s fisheries and forests.

Finally, as regards the fifth factor, political considerations in Indonesia are important for understanding why the economy and the people enjoy only a small fraction of the benefits they would otherwise receive from the country’s fisheries and forests.

Societal Response

My experience is of conflicts of interest, of two types. One set of conflicts involves those I mentioned above, between international interests – which make money by exploiting Indonesian resources unsustainably and add most of the value outside the country – and Indonesia’s own interest.

The other set of conflicts is between short-term and long-term interests within Indonesia itself: many Indonesians, just like many other people around the world, pursue short-term interests to the detriment of long-term ones. An extreme example is the use of dynamite fishing in coral reefs. This yields more fish for sale in the short run, but destroys the reef and hence reduces potential fishery income in the long run.

Factors for hope

At least four sets of factors make me hopeful. One was the serious discussion of climate change that took place in Copenhagen and is expected to continue elsewhere. The second is the role of big businesses, not all of which are destructive: some international corporations have been major forces for hope for the world’s future, by managing resources sustainably.

A third factor for hope is the recent change in attitudes about environmental issues in my country, the United States, which under the Bush administration pursued shamefully ignorant and destructive environmental policies. It’s also a promising sign that the Chinese government is taking some, but not all, environmental problems seriously.

Finally, a factor for hope is exemplified by The Jakarta Post – by which I mean not just the Post itself, but world media in general. Thanks to the Post and other media, including newspapers, TV, radio and the Internet, people in one part of the world can quickly learn about what is happening in other parts.

I shall never forget being at a small, remote airport in the Indonesian province of Maluku, where passengers could watch TV while waiting for their plane. And playing on the screen while I was there was a Michael Jackson video! While the late Michael Jackson is enjoyable, there are other things one can see on TV may be more important for understanding what is going on in the rest of the world.

As a result of the Post and other media, Indonesians now have the means to understand what’s going on in other countries. Some of those things are good and admirable, and some are terrible and destructive. Through the Post and other media, you have the opportunity to watch and learn from and imitate the policies of other countries that you believe promote long-term economic success, and you also have the opportunity to see destructive things that other countries are doing and you can avoid repeating those same mistakes in Indonesia.

49 villages flood in Bojonegoro

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 02/01/2009 5:02 PM

Netting fish: People fish in a river at the border between Mojokerto and Sidoarjo in East Java on Sunday. The rainy season has flooded many villages in East Java, but for fishermen in Mojokerto, they have brought with them more fish to catch. JP/ID Nugroho

At least 49 villages in Bojonegoro, East Java, have been inundated with flood water since early morning Sunday when the Bengawan Solo River burst its banks, Antara reported.

Pudjo Buntoro, an official at the Bojonegoro administration, forecast the floods would recede Monday if there was no further rain, but warned further downpours could see the flood spread to other villages.

However, Pudjo said flooding in Bojonegoro this year would not be as bad as last year, when almost two thirds of Bojonegoro was submerged.

“The flood this year has been caused by heavy rains in Solo and its surrounding area, while rain near Gajah Mungkur dam was not so heavy,” he said.

He said most houses in the 49 villages had been inundated with half a meter of water and that hundreds of hectares of farming land had been submerged.

Sakiman, 45, said that if the flood worsened, he would move his cows and goats to higher ground.

“For us, when floods occur, we save our cattle first, and then later, we take care of our family members,” he said.

President to hold dialog with farmers in W. Sulawesi

Makassar, South Sulwesi (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit Mamuju, provincial capital of West Sulawesi, on Monday and Tuesday for a dialog with the local people, West Sulawesi Governor H Anwar Adnan Saleh said.

"About 5,000 rice and plantation farmers as well as fishermen from five districts in West Sulawesi will attend the dialog with the president," the governor said here on Friday.

Anwar said that in West Sulawesi, the president will give a motivation and briefing to local administration officials and people in view of problems in the run-up to the central government`s plan to raise fuel oil prices.

The president, who during the visit would be accompanied by Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and a number of cabinet ministers, will hand over assistance to the local people.

The assistance under the national people`s empowerment program, amounts to several billions of rupiah.

"The funds will be very useful to reduce the impact of the fuel oil price hike because the local people could use them according to their priorities," the West Sulawesi governor said.

Anwar said that the number of poor people in his province was relatively high, reaching about 19 percen of its population of 1.1 million.

Consumers protest commodity price rise

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Housewives have protested the soaring prices of basic commodities which have left traditional markets and shopping centers empty, nationwide.

Nurin Agustion, a 35-year-old mother of two young children in Pundak Payung, Semarang, said she could only afford 15 kilograms of rice where previously she could get 20. She said she has bought more local fish than meat or chicken and has reduced her usage of cooking oil because of the soaring prices of commodities including meat, palm oil, fruit and vegetables.

"I can not increase my daily budget because my husband's monthly income has not been raised. I have to manage our monthly budget carefully so that we can survive this difficult situation," she told The Jakarta Post.

Traditional markets and shopping centers, including department stores and malls in urban areas in Central Java, have substantially quietened since the 2006 earthquake which shook the province and Yogyakarta.

"Following the quake many rice-belt areas in the two provinces could not meet their rice production targets," National Logistics Agency (Bulog) local office chief Indiarto said.

"This condition has been worsened by the soaring price of soybeans, the raw materials for tempeh and tofu, two primary foods in Java," he said.

Menik, A fishmonger at Depok Beach in Yogyakarta, said her sales had dropped by 50 percent over the past few weeks with the lack of buyers following the soaring prices of basic commodities in the province.

"Before the price increases, my sales were around Rp 1 million a day but recently it has dropped to around Rp 500,000. I could earn on the average of Rp 40,000 a day," she told the Post.

Depok fishermen said they had to increase fish prices by 20 percent due to the soaring price of rare fuels, especially kerosene.

They said the prices could be stabilized if the government guaranteed the distribution of fuel to rural areas in the province.

Darmi, another fish trader, said she could understand the quiet fish market on the beach with the increased prices of all commodities which had weakened people's purchasing power.

Sumarti, a rice vendor at Beringhardjo traditional market in Yogyakarta, said the market was crowded for only a few hours in the morning but then became silent in the afternoons.

The price of C-4 rice rose to from Rp 5,300 to Rp 5,600 per liter, while regular cooking oil rose from Rp 9,000 to almost Rp 12,000 a liter.

The price of wheat flour went from Rp 5,500 to Rp 7,000 per kilogram.

"The price hikes have a lot to do with increased cost of transportation and have been triggered by the soaring prices of rice, eggs, chickens and soybeans," Sumarti said.

The Post correspondent in Batam, Riau Islands, reported that the price of consumption commodities had continued to soar in line with price increases in other provinces, despite the island's status as free-trade zone.

Local trade and industry office chief Achmad Hijazi said the prices of basic commodities in the province were similar to other provinces because all consumption commodities were supplied to the island from regions under government supervision and regulation.

"Local authorities are not allowed to import rice or other basic commodities directly from Vietnam, to maintain the price of basic commodities and protect local products," he said, adding that the soaring prices had affected the livelihoods of low-income earners on the island.

Strong quake sparks fires in Indonesian town : residents

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A strong 6.2-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's Papua province on Monday, damaging about 25 houses and sparking fires but causing no casualties, the meteorological agency, officials and residents said.

The earthquake was centred eight kilometres (five miles) northwest of the town of Manokwari, prompting residents to flee their homes and other buildings, many clutching belongings, ElShinta radio said.

Local policeman Ari said that some 20 floating houses belonging to fishermen had caught fire following the quake.

"The houses were made of wood, that's why they were easily burned. The shakes may have caused stoves to fall which caused fires," he told AFP.

He said that about five kilometres away, a number of houses, hotels and taller buildings suffered cracks in their walls, adding that a church under construction had partly collapsed.

No casualties were reported, he added.

Ari told AFP that about five houses had been burned in another area of town.

Anton Wesnusa, Manokwari's district secretary, said on Elshinta radio that the damage was "very limited" and daily activities had resumed as normal.

The state-run Antara news agency cited resident Nurul Damarini as saying that thousands of people living along the coast had grabbed their belongings and fled to higher ground, fearing a tsunami.

The United States Geological Survey measured the quake at 5.8 and said it occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) at 12:12 (0312 GMT).

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Tempe lake suffers from severe sedimentation

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Lake Tempe in South Sulawesi was once called the "fish bowl of Indonesia". Today, as a result of chronic sedimentation caused by erosion and water plants, fishing is drying up.

The sediment piles on at a rate of five centimeters per year, causing the lake to shrink away in the dry season and overflow in the wet season.

Three regencies border the lake -- Wajo, Soppeng and Sidenreng Rappang. Wajo, in particular, is at risk from seasonal floods which threaten thousands of private and public buildings.

Once the lake was 30,000 hectares in area and 10,000 meters deep. Now, Tempe is never larger than 10,000 hectares and shrinks to 1,000 hectares with a maximum depth of two meters in the dry season.

The Wajo regency administration and several environmental organizations say the lake may remain only a memory in future years.

Nine rivers flow into the lake and sedimentation is attributed to upstream erosion. The condition is worsened by household waste and the rampant growth of water hyacinth, called eceng gondok.

Wajo environmental agency head Andi Tenri Lengka explained the Eceng gondok speeds up sedimentation because dead plants accumulate under water instead of rotting. They choke the lake during rainy season and are still there when it dries out.

While eceng gondok is sometimes suitable for handicrafts, the Tempe variety is not, Lengka said.

Tempe's receding shoreline bodes ill for fish including bungo, biawang and bete-bete. A handful of other species are hanging on.

In the 1960s, Lengka said, the lake produced some 50,000 of fish per year, which helped feed the country's prison population. Today only about 10,000 tons are caught annually.

"We could catch a lot of fish easily (even) during the dry season, several years ago. Now, it is not easy to find them," said Wahid, a fisherman.

Most local fishermen have had to start farming when the lake dries up, sowing corn and soya beans on the lake bottom.

Lengka said he welcomed solutions to the environmental disaster from whatever quarter.

Wajo administration mitigation efforts include excavation of Cenrenae River and attempts to channel rainy season overflows into smaller lakes and rivers in the Tempe drainage.

Lengka said the administration needed Rp 43 billion (US$4.70 million) to implement its programs and hoped the province and central government would help.

Fishermen hamper mangrove reforestation efforts

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Efforts to revitalize Jakarta's dwindling mangrove forests in Muara Angke have been hampered by local fishermen farming shrimp and fishing in the designated conservation area, a ranger from the Forestry Ministry told The Jakarta Post last week.

Angke Kapuk mangrove reserve ranger Resijati Wasito said fish farmers had cleared approximately 80 percent of the 100 hectare wetlands.

The reforestation program has been hindered by fishermen rearing milk fish and shrimp and removing mangrove trees and their roots, he said.

"It's hard to deal with the illegal fishermen. We've asked them to leave, because this conservation area belongs to the Forestry Ministry, but they keep returning.

"They damaged seedlings we planted, and even threatened us with machetes to try to stop us planting more trees," Resijati said.

He said there were currently some 30 fishermen and their families living in shanties in the Angke Kapuk reserve, even though the land was acquired by the ministry in 1988.

Resijati told the Post the government also gave compensation to fishermen who left the area, but those efforts appeared to be fruitless.

"We continue to ask them to leave because we have no authority to expel them. We've also asked for military personnel to protect new trees," he said.

The reserve has changed substantially with the fish farming. Where once stood a shady forest of mangrove trees, now there are only milk fish ponds.

In 2002 the Forestry Ministry and the reserve developer, PT Murindra Karya Lestari, planted some 50,000 mangrove seedlings, but most of them were uprooted by fishermen, leaving only around 100, Resijati said.

Since 2004 some 14,000 mangrove seedlings have been planted with better supervision. Around 10,000 can now be seen near the ponds.

Resijati said left undisturbed it would take seedlings nearly 10 years to grow into a forest.

Kapuk Angke natural reserve, together with the nearby Muara Angke wildlife reserve and protected forest, are the only remaining mangrove forest sites in Jakarta, whose coastline stretches some 32 kilometers from east to west. The three reserve sites total some 170 hectares.

Most of Jakarta's mangrove forests have been cleared not only for fish farming, but also for building developments, which have an even greater environmental impact, Resijati said.

He said mangrove forest wetlands play a crucial role in slowing the abrasion of beaches, protecting the city from big ocean waves and flooding, and serve as a nursery for marine life and a feeding grounds for a large number of animals.

The forests, he said, also function as green belts, protecting groundwater in nearby areas from salination. (wda)

Farmers, fishermen week leaves many feeling ill

Khairul Saleh, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

Scores of participants at the 12th National Farmers and Fishermen Week in Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra, have fallen ill due to poor sanitation at the event venue.

Participants were lining up Wednesday at a command post organized by event organizers for medical care.

Indarjo, who is attending the event from Bengkulu, was seeking treatment for a stomachache.

Doctors at the post said he was suffering from digestive problems.

"I rarely get sick, but since I arrived here I get sick easily. I don't think the sanitation here is as good as expected," Indarjo said.

He added that he was unable to take part in many of the planned activities because he was too sick.

The weeklong event, which was opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday, is being attended by 21,000 farmers and fishermen from 33 provinces across the country, as well as representatives from Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries and Japan.

The event is designed as a forum to exchange information on the latest development in the agriculture and fishery sectors, including agriculture technology development in the regions.

The event is also intended to help improve communication among farmers and fishermen groups to enable them to help improve their welfare.

Participants are being accommodated in thousands of houses belonging to local residents in 25 villages in Sembawa district. At the event venue itself, many of the provided toilets are not working properly.

Achmad, a participant from Ogan Komering Ilir regency, said he has suffered from diarrhea since drinking water taken from a nearby well.

He said the poor sanitation was aggravated by the large amount of dust blowing through the area, which had caused breathing problems and headaches.

Other participants have complained of flu, toothaches, coughing and digestive problems.

H. Panut of the South Sumatra Health Office, said, "All of them (the complaints) have been caused by poor sanitation at the event venue."

Panut said the office was providing medicines, vitamins and medical services for participants.

Beyond the dragon: Komodo's natural fascinations

Kanis Dursin, The Jakarta Post, Labuan Bajo

Thousands of flying foxes lingered in the sky; fishes of various colors swam languorously in blue sea water; while small waves rippled through mangrove trees on a tiny island.

In the background, speedboats and motorized boats, mostly ferrying foreign tourists back to their hotels that afternoon, charged through high waves between white-sanded islets dotting the park's marine water.

As the sun sank deeper into the sea, some flying foxes came closer to the passing speedboats.

"Catch me if you can," they seemed to tease.

Welcome to Komodo National Park in West Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara province.

You would be forgiven to think the 1,817 square kilometer park in the heart of Wallacea has nothing more but the Komodo dragon (varanus komodoensis) to offer.

After all, most tourism books and promotional leaflets have focused on the endangered species.

The truth is, while the unique dragon remains its main draw, the national park, established in 1980, is pregnant with fascinating natural attractions -- and watching roaring flying foxes is just one of them.

Next time you come to Komodo National Park make sure you tell your guide to drop by a mangrove islet off Rinca village so you can see thousands of flying foxes migrating in droves.

The birds usually leave their caves on Rinca Island at daybreak for the mangrove island, where they spend the day sleeping. They fly back to their caves at sunset to look for food.

The routine voyage becomes a unique fascination as the birds fly back and fro, up and down, in roaring sound before perching on mangrove trees or heading back to their caves.

If you happen to leave the place just shortly after dusk, some flying foxes would fly next to your speedboat -- traveling with you for half your trip home, as if to see you off.

A similar spectacle is found at a mangrove islet off Komodo village, where you can watch flying foxes dangling on mangrove trees during day time.

If you are an adventurer, negotiating high waves on the way to and from Rinca and Komodo islands, where the endangered Komodo dragons are mostly found, is another thrill in the park, particularly if you hire a speedboat.

Hold tight and be ready to get wet when your speedboat cruises through successive walls of waves.

The waves normally do not exceed one meter in height, but are enough to drive your adrenalin especially if you are running the speedboat at a high speed.

One advice, though, hire an experienced skipper familiar with the routes and the characteristics of the park's sea current to avoid bumping into submerged rock mountains.

During the northwest monsoon season from November to February, for example, the waves in the northern end of the park tend to be larger than in the southern end, while during the southeast monsoon between June and August, waves in the southern end tend to be larger than in the northern end.

Waves tend to be largest in the July, which may be too dangerous for small boats to travel.

On the way to and from Rinca and Komodo, you would pass by small limestone islands -- so many it's tempting to think each visitor to the park could enjoy an island each.

Most of the islands appear like hills rising majestically from the sea, some with long white-sanded beaches.

The islets are generally young, oceanic volcanic islands that are constantly changing by rising, eroding and subsiding into the sea.

Privacy and serenity are guaranteed here -- no people live on those small islands, making them ideal places for your personal retreat.

The deep tranquility is broken only by small ripples of waves smashing into the islands' pristine white beaches.

Go to any point in the park's marine area and chances are you would find yourself challenged to a race by rare or endangered marine animals.

There are around 1,000 species of fish in the park's water, including endangered and rare species such as dugongs, whales, dolphins, turtles and a number of other protected marine animals.

Dolphins and whales make their presence felt by throwing themselves into the air, trailing behind your speedboat or motorized boats or just swimming in front.

An experienced skipper knows exactly where and when whales or dolphins usually appear.

The real treat of your trip to Komodo National Park is perhaps its numerous diving and snorkeling sites scattering all over the park.

Putri Naga Komodo (PNK), a private company in charge of managing the park since 2004, has identified at least 41 diving and snorkeling sites in and around the park.

Each diving and snorkeling site offers unique sightings and a different experience. (See diving and snorkeling sites in Komodo National Park)

One of the frequently visited diving sites in the park is Pantai Merah on Komodo Island.

Diving in Pantai Merah, or Pink Beach, you would find a great variety of fishes and a good selection of curious critters including leave scorpions fish, blue ribbon eels, crocodile fish and many more frolicking around colorful coral reefs.

It is called Pantai Merah because of abundant destroyed red coral reefs washed ashore.

Until recently fishermen would come to fish in the area using destructive methods such as blasting and bombing. These which methods destroyed coral reefs there.

Such practice has ceased thanks to rigorous law enforcement and a growing awareness among local fishermen to preserve the coral reefs.

Pantai Merah is also an excellent snorkeling site. There is a very good dive to be found around a small area of reef and a steep rocky wall, which is visible from the surface at low tide.

It is also a very good night dive site and can offer excellent macro-photography opportunities.

Waters surrounding the islands in the park are also known to have a high diversity of marine life considered to be some of the richest on the planet.

It's not at all surprising the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared the park in 1986 as a World Heritage Site as well as a Man and Biosphere Reserve.

The park is home to at least 253 species of hard, reef-building corals which are scattered over an estimated 17 square kilometers.

According to PNK, there are three different types of reefs in the park with fringing reefs, which grow along the edges of shorelines of land masses and islands, making up the bulk of it.

Most islands in the park are fringed with coral with patch reefs and seamounts also found in the park.

Patch reefs are stand-alone reefs in areas with a shallow bottom -- they do not rise up past the surface of the water.

They are mostly found in north-eastern side of Komodo island.

Seamounts, on the other hand, are submerged pinnacles encrusted with coral reef and there are a number of these types of reef around Komodo. Seamounts are a favored area for pelagic fish to congregate.

If you decide to dive or snorkel in the park's marine area you must be accompanied by a master diver and even your master diver has to be guided by a local master diver who knows the sea's characteristics.

While the waters directly surrounding islands in the park are only between 30 and 100 meters deep, the Komodo National Park has some of the swiftest currents on the planet -- in fact they sometimes resemble a raging river.

The park forms a bottleneck passage between two large deep bodies of water -- the Pacific Ocean to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south.

During the rising tide, a vast amount of water moves south to the north, and during the falling tide, from north to the south.

As the number of north-south water passages is very limited, an enormous volume of water is forced to travel through the park's narrow passages at a rapid rate, creating some of the strongest current in the world.

The good news is the strong currents and up-welling transport nutrient-rich waters throughout the park's marine area and support a wealth of diverse marine life.

So although dangerous for divers, the strong currents ensure the existence of some of the greatest marine biodiversity on earth.

Once of diving and snorkeling, you can drop by either Rinca or Komodo islands, where you are likely to be greeted by Komodo dragons, the park's ultimate attraction.

During a recent visit to Rinca, for example, our entourage was welcomed by a baby dragon hiding in a small cave near the gate leading to the information office. Trained guides are already ready to bring you around.

And finally, the world's heaviest living lizard comes hand in hand with the islands' ideal places for trekking. Along one of the most scenic walks in the world, you're likely to see Timor deer, wild boars, water buffaloes and wild horses. Enjoy.