Singapore otters' lockdown antics spark backlash

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine Lai, May 30, 2020

With the streets empty, the creatures have been spotted hanging out by a shopping
centre, scampering through the lobby of a hospital and even feasting on pricey
fish stolen from a pond (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore's otters, long adored by the city-state's nature lovers, are popping up in unexpected places during the coronavirus lockdown but their antics have angered some and even sparked calls for a cull.

With the streets empty, the creatures have been spotted hanging out by a shopping centre, scampering through the lobby of a hospital and even feasting on pricey fish stolen from a pond.

While many think of tiny Singapore as a densely populated concrete jungle, it is also relatively green for a busy Asian city, and has patches of rainforest, fairly clean waterways and abundant wildlife.

There are estimated to be about 90 otters in Singapore, making up 10 families, and appearances at popular tourist sites around the city-state's downtown waterfront have transformed them into local celebrities.

They featured in a documentary narrated by David Attenborough, are tracked avidly by the local media -- and have been spotted more frequently since people were asked to stay home and workplaces closed in April to fight the virus.

While many think of Singapore as a densely populated concrete jungle, it is also
relatively green and has patches of rainforest, fairly clean waterways and abundant
wildlife (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

"When there's restriction of movement, there's less vehicles and there's less people, so the urban space opens up," said N. Sivasothi, a biologist at the National University of Singapore known as "Otterman" due to his work on the animals.

But their newfound freedoms appear to have emboldened the otters, and they are now facing a backlash.

'More daring'

The most high-profile incident was a raid on a pond at a spa shuttered due to the pandemic. The creatures gobbled several fish including an arowana, a prized species that can sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

Actress-turned-entrepreneur Jazreel Low, who owns the spa, posted pictures on Facebook of fish parts scattered around the pond and lamented a "massacre".

"They probably realised that there was nobody there and became more daring," Low told entertainment news website 8 DAYS.

With the streets empty, the creatures have been spotted hanging out by a shopping
centre, scampering through the lobby of a hospital and even feasting on pricey fish
stolen from a pond (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

The case sparked a debate about whether more should be done to stop otters rampaging through the city, with a widely discussed letter in a local newspaper calling for air horns and rubber bullets to be used as deterrents.

"Wild boars have never been encouraged to enter urban areas, neither should otters be just because they look cute," wrote Ong Junkai in the correspondence to the Straits Times, which triggered calls from some for a cull.

In other incidents, a video showed a group charging into the lobby of a children's hospital before being shooed away, and the creatures were also filmed frolicking in the empty streets outside a popular shopping centre.

The otters' more frequent forays onto the streets of Singapore are part of a global trend triggered by virus lockdowns, with animals increasingly slipping cover to explore the streets of some of the world's biggest cities.

'Coexist and thrive'

Still, otter experts believe the anger is an overreaction and that the creatures are likely just enjoying the extra freedom to venture to new places.

Fans say people should celebrate the return of an animal that was driven out 

of Singapore by coastal development and water pollution around the 1970s, and 

only started reappearing in the 1990s as waterways were cleaned (AFP Photo/

Roslan RAHMAN)

NUS's Sivasothi criticised calls for a cull as "quite an uneducated response", and said such a move would be ineffective.

He also said many recent sightings were likely of the same family of smooth-coated otters, which have been searching for a new home along the city's rivers. Most of Singapore's otters are the smooth-coated variety, classified as "vulnerable".

Fans believe people should be celebrating the return of an animal that was driven out of Singapore by coastal development and water pollution around the 1970s, and only started reappearing in the 1990s as waterways were cleaned.

"I simply don't understand anyone who could not like them. They are really cute," said Pam Wong, a 35-year-old Singaporean.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong weighed in on the debate Friday, posting a photo he took of otters before the lockdown on his Facebook account.

"Rather than being focused on protecting 'territory', we must find ways to coexist and thrive with our local flora and fauna," he wrote.

Rampaging elephants force Myanmar villagers into tree-top refuges

Yahoo – AFP, January 16, 2016

Residents stand near a tree house in the Kyauk Ye village on the outskirts
of Yangon on January 14, 2016 (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

Taik Kyi (Myanmar) (AFP) - Pushed from their forest home by encroaching farm land, wild elephants are driving fearful villagers in a Myanmar township to seek refuge in tree houses while the animals storm their rice paddies looking for food.

The elephants have trampled crops, destroyed homes and even, villagers say, killed people in their path -- forcing families in Kyat Chuang to build new shelters made of wood and bamboo on higher ground.

"We have had to move our huts into the trees, so we are safe," explained San Lwin, who dashes several metres up a tree to his thatch-roofed shelter when the elephants are near.

Villagers in Kyat Chaung, a farming community 100 kilometres north of Yangon, told AFP they yearned for the days before the elephant rampages started three years ago.

A man climbs up to a tree house in Taik Kyi village on the outskirts of 

Yangon on January 14, 2016 (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

Now they scamper up home-made bamboo ladders to their elevated huts whenever they hear the thundering sound of elephant feet, which is usually several times a week.

"We want them to be taken away ... so we can live peacefully," said Than Shin, a 57-year-old farmer.

Spurred by the loss of their forest habitats, the elephants, and villagers they have been terrorising, are some of the casualties of Myanmar's alarming rate of deforestation, one of the fastest in the region.

The country lost almost 20 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2010, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Experts say the chief drivers of forest loss are logging and large-scale land concessions for commercial agriculture handed out under decades of opaque junta rule.

Myanmar's population of wild Asian elephants is thought to be one of the largest in the region, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Wild elephants are driving fearful villagers in a Myanmar township to seek

refuge in tree houses (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

But the endangered species is increasingly threatened by habitat loss, a thirst for ivory, and traffickers who smuggle the animals into Thailand for the tourist industry.

The newly-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) -- the pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi that swept to a thumping majority in landmark elections in November -- said Thursday it would address Myanmar's medley of environmental issues after assuming office later this year.

"We will try to restore the environment in Myanmar that has been ruined for many decades," Soe Nyunt, vice chairman of the NLD's Environmental Conservation Committee told AFP.

"It will not be easy," he added.

Malaysian quake toll hits 13 dead, 6 missing

Yahoo – AFP, Satish Cheney, 6 June 2015

A strong earthquake that jolted Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu has killed at least

 11 people and left another eight missing on Southeast Asia's highest peak, 

a government official says (AFP Photo)

Kundasang (Malaysia) (AFP) - A strong earthquake that jolted Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia has left 13 people dead and another six missing on Southeast Asia's highest peak, an official said Saturday.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck early Friday near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from its wide, 4,095-metre-high (13,435-foot) crown.

A Malaysian soldier carries victims body

 parts inside a rucksack, a day after a 

powerful earthquake Mount Kinabalu, on

June 6, 2015 (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

"There are 13 (dead) bodies. Two yesterday and 11 today. We've got six people still missing. I cannot confirm with you where they are from," Mohammad Farhan Lee Abdullah, police chief of the town of Ranau near the mountain, told AFP.

Malaysian media reports have said the dead included members of a Singapore primary school group on an excursion to the mountain, including a 12-year-old girl who was killed, as well as a local Malaysian climbing guide.

"It's very sad. The Singapore children were so happy when they arrived here, but now..." Masidi Manjun, tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, told reporters.

Rescuers earlier on Saturday finished escorting down to safety 137 hikers who were stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours after the quake damaged a key trail and they faced the threat of continuing rockfalls.

Crews and officials engaged in further search and rescue efforts were kept on edge, however, by aftershocks including a Saturday afternoon temblor that Malaysian officials rated at 4.5-magnitude.

It sent staff and journalists scurrying out of the park's headquarters.

Reports said most people on the mountain when the quake hit were Malaysian but that they also included hikers from Singapore, the United States, the Philippines, Britain, Thailand, Turkey, China and Japan.

Pieces of paper showing various Malaysian rescue teams mark their current

 positions on a summit trail information board, heading towards Mount Kinabalu 

(AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

'Rocks raining down fast'

Authorities have not provided a breakdown or given details on the number of injured.

Major earthquakes are rare in Malaysia and the tremor was one of the strongest in decades, jolting a wide area of Sabah and sending people fleeing outdoors.

But there have been no reports of major damage, nor any casualties outside of those on the mountain.

Masidi said all climbing would be suspended at Mount Kinabalu for at least three weeks to allow for repairs to damaged trails, accommodation and other facilities.

Malaysia's Bernama news agency quoted a climber describing his terror as the quake unleashed a shower of large stones from the rocky peak.

"Rocks were raining down fast, like rock blasting," Lee Yoke Fah, a 60-year-old Malaysian who suffered minor injuries, was quoted as saying.

"I am not going to climb again, I am scared."

Mount Kinabalu is among the top tourist attractions in a state famed for its rainforests, wild rivers and coral reefs.

A member of a Malaysian rescue team talks with his mobile phone at the 

Timpohon gate checkpoint as they wait for victims to be evacuated a day after

 an earthquake in Kundasang, a town in the district of Ranau on June 6, 2015

(AFP Photo/Mohad Rasfan)

Around 20,000 complete the relatively easy climb each year, usually taking two days.

The force of the tremor was so strong that it toppled one of the two "Donkey's Ears", towering twin rock outcroppings that form a distinctive part of the peak's profile.

Mount Kinabalu is sacred to the local Kadazan Dusun tribe, who consider it a resting place for departed spirits.

Malaysian social media users and some officials have suggested the quake was a sign the spirits were angry after a group of 10 apparently Western men and women tourists last weekend snapped nude photos at the summit and posted them on the Internet.

"This will certainly bring misfortune... we can't play with the spirit of the sacred mountain," deputy state chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan told reporters Saturday.

He called for the tourists to be brought to justice.

Activists Urge Jokowi to Renew Forest Clearing Ban

Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s moratorium on deforestation will soon come to an end

Jakarta Globe, Kennial Caroline Laia, May 06, 2015

Indonesia has the third largest area of tropical rainforest on the planet, but
also one of the fastest rates of deforestation. (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Jakarta. Environmental activists have called on President Joko Widodo to extend and strengthen a forest-clearing moratorium that runs out this month.

The moratorium on issuing permits to clear peat and primary forests was introduced in May 2011 by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and slated to run for only two years. Yudhoyono extended it in 2013 on a temporary basis, and activists say Joko now has the chance to make a lasting positive impact by giving the moratorium a firmer legal basis.

Any extension to the moratorium “must stipulate punitive measures for people or companies that violate it,” Zenzi Suhadi, a forest campaigner for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

“This is needed to curb [the illegal] issuance of licenses for forest exploitation, whether for mining or for large-scale plantations,” he added.

He noted that the moratorium as enforced by the Yudhoyono administration was for all practical intents toothless, noting that the Forestry Ministry issued mining and agriculture concessions for 12 million hectares of forest land, much of it ostensibly off-limits under the moratorium, between 2011 and 2014.

“During this period, there was no punishment for the violators,” Zenzi said. “The next moratorium should include punitive measures to ensure that no one hurts the environment.”

He also said it was important that the moratorium be supported by a new agency “to supervise its implementation as well as enforce the law.”

“The government must consider extending the moratorium period. It’s been proven that a two-year moratorium isn’t as effective as expected.

Making it longer will help the government prioritize its to-do list, from evaluation to license review to management refinement,” Zenzi added.

The original moratorium was enacted as part of a deal that would see Norway provide up to $1 billion in funds for climate change mitigation projects in exchange for demonstrable protection on Indonesia’s part of high conservation value forests, including peat forests, which store enormous amounts of carbon dioxide.

Critics, though, have long argued that the moratorium does far too little to protect such areas, given that it applies only to new concessions and not to existing ones on peat and primary forests.

In the time since the moratorium went into force, nearly 970,000 hectares of peat forest have been cleared, half of that total coming from the heavily logged Sumatran provinces of Riau and Jambi, according to a study by Walhi and environmental nongovernmental organization Kemitraan.

The study also found that in some regions, up to four-fifths of the primary and peat forests identified as off-limits for new concessions are already protected under prevailing zoning regulations, hence the moratorium is doing little to expand the scope of forest protection.

Progressive revisions have also seen the map of areas protected under the moratorium shrink, with dozens of concessions issued across the country for land that was at one point included in the moratorium map, says Hasbi Berliani, Kemitraan’s program manager for good governance.

The forest area that falls outside the moratorium map “is really wide.”

“It is really crucial for the government to strengthen [a] few points in the moratorium to protect other areas [that] haven’t been included within. As long as the moratorium doesn’t include it, it’s useless,” Hasbi said.

Zenzi echoed the sentiment, saying that what Indonesia really needed was not a moratorium on new concessions, but a termination program for existing licenses.

“The situation is critical,” Zenzi said, noting that when the moratorium was renewed in 2013, it included new concessions for energy and food production, thanks to what he called corporate lobbying. “This cost the country 1.2 million hectares.”

“This year, there’s the possibility of intervention from the biofuel and food lobbies, and exemptions for border regions,” Zenzi added.

Strong government commitment, he said, was key to an effective moratorium.

“However big the intervention, once the government is committed to the people, it won’t compromise or make any exceptions unless it’s in the interests of the people,” Zenzi said.

The Forestry and Environment Ministry says it wants to extend the moratorium as part of a wider program to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 26 percent by 2020, and has welcomed suggestions of environmental groups in drafting an extension.

Edited by Hayat Indriyatno

'I crossed over': Survivors of near-death experiences share 'afterlife' stories

Today, Lindsay Sobel Dyner and Chris Serico, April 3, 2015

For many, the question of what happens when we die is a mysterious one — a recent TODAY survey found that 55 percent of people are absolutely certain there is an afterlife, 37 percent are not certain, and 8 percent are certain there isn't an afterlife.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

But for some who have been through near-death experiences, the question has a clear answer.

Take public speaker Anita Moorjani, who shared her story with Maria Shriver on TODAY.

“I believe that I died, yes — that I crossed over into the afterlife and back,” said Moorjani, adding that the afterlife is “like being in a really unlimited space and time.”

Anita Moorjani now shares the story of her

 near-death experience in talks around the 

world. Courtesy of Anita Moorjani

Diagnosed with lymphoma in 2002, Moorjani — who considers herself more spiritual than religious — was losing her cancer battle, withering down to just 85 pounds and battling tumors from the base of her skull to her abdomen. She slipped into a coma in February 2006.

She says that’s when she died and crossed over to an afterlife.

“I felt as though I was above my body,” she said. “It was like I had 360-degree peripheral vision of the whole area around. But not just in the room where my body was in, but beyond the room.”

According to Moorjani, who now shares her near-death experience with international audiences, she was reunited in that state with her late father, who told her to turn back.

“He said that I've gone as far as I can, and if I go any further, I won't be able to turn back,” she said. “But I felt I didn't want to turn back, because it was so beautiful. It was just incredible, because, for the first time, all the pain had gone. All the discomfort had gone. All the fear was gone. I just felt so incredible. And I felt as though I was enveloped in this feeling of just love. Unconditional love.”

Citing an “incredible clarity where everything started to make sense,” she said she decided to return to her body because she believed “it would heal very, very quickly.” It did.

“Within four days, my tumors shrunk by 70 percent, and the doctors were shocked,” she said. “And I kept telling everyone that, ‘I know I'm going to be okay. I know it’s not my time to die.’”

Moorjani isn’t alone in connecting a "crossing over" experience to healing.

Annabel Beam was diagnosed at age 4 with
 a chronic digestive disorder. Courtesy of
Christy Beam

Diagnosed at age 4 with a chronic digestive disorder, 8-year-old Annabel Beam experienced intense pain and frequent hospital visits. “She was always so sweet and gracious,” her father, Kevin, told TODAY. “She wasn't making a big deal out of it, and she was suffering in silence.”

But the suffering started to overwhelm Annabel.

“I told my mom, ‘Mama, I want to die, and go to heaven with Jesus where there is no more pain. I don't want to be in this much pain for the rest of my life,’” she said. “And so I was so committed to just giving up that sometimes whenever I couldn't sleep I'd kinda try and figure out what would happen if I did die. Then I decided, my mom would come with me. My dad would stay and watch my sisters.”

Annabel’s mother, Christy, refused to believe what she’d heard. “I remember thinking, ‘That's not what she said,’” Christy recalled. “She doesn't know anything about giving up. She's a fighter.”

Days later, Annabel said she fell 30 feet from a tree branch that cracked while she was sitting on it with her sister, Abbie. She claims that after bumping her head three times on the way down and falling into the hollowed-out base of the tree, she died and went to heaven.

Read an excerpt of Annabel's story from 'Miracles from Heaven' here

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“It was really bright, and I sat on Jesus’ lap and he told me, ‘Whenever the firefighters get you out, there will be nothing wrong with you,’” Annabel recalled. “And I asked him if I could stay and he said, ‘No, I have plans you need to fulfill on Earth that you cannot fulfill in heaven.’”

The Beam family in front of the tree that Annabel says changed her life. 
Courtesy of Christy Beam

A few days later, she told her family about her experience.

“She was very matter-of-fact: very ‘This is what happened,’ not at all animated, just, ‘Here are the facts,’” Christy said. “And then she stopped talking, and looked out the window for the rest of the trip.”

Now symptom-free, Annabel has gone from taking 10 daily medications to none.

Hachette Books

“She fell 30 feet head first, without any injuries or one bug bite,” her mom said. “She came out of that tree hours later wet, muddy, and with scratches. And she’s well.”

The tree, which recently toppled due to weather, remains in the Beam family front yard, beside a cross Kevin carved after the accident.

“I’m glad that I didn’t ever try and cut it down,” he said. “I do think that this tree was actively involved in a miracle.”

His wife — who turned Annabel’s story into the book “Miracles from Heaven” — agreed. “It had a purpose,” Christy said. “It was a vessel.”

Annabel, who continues to climb trees, feels fortunate. “Most kids aren’t ever healed,” she said. “And so anytime I see [the tree], I'm just grateful, and happy.”

Related Articles:

Anita Moorjani's Near Death Experience clears in 4 days, grade 4B lymphoma cancer

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“… When a Human almost dies, they get close to the veil, very close. They are ever so close to the creator's energy and just barely touched by it. When their heart was stopping and their breathing was almost gone, before they were brought back to life with science, they got to touch the hand of God for just an instant. What they saw was magnificent! The energy before them was filled with love and light, filled with family, filled with beauty. There was no strife there. There was no punishment there or even the hint of it. And when they came back from that experience, listen to what they told you. It changed their lives, didn't it? Listen to each one talk about it, for they continued to say, "There is nothing to fear and death is something you experience as a normal transition." Blessed is the Human Being who experiences both death and birth and has the wisdom to report, "Oh, it's uncomfortable, but I'll get through it, because I've done it before." The person who has experienced a near-death experience is no longer afraid to die! What does that tell you? They have seen what is there and they embrace it! …”

"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part 1, Text version Part 2)

"... Some of you will walk into the forest and you'll feel it. It surrounds you with its love and beauty. Gaia speaks to you. The trees are pushing out oxygen with a benevolent system of photosynthesis. The plants give you oxygen and you give them carbon dioxide. What a system! Look around. Science will say that system happened by accident - a random occurrence. Do you believe that? What a beautiful system! The trees themselves know who you are. You walk into the forest and you feel it hug you, but perhaps another is next to you who came with a chainsaw. They don't care and they don't feel it. To them, the forest is only a resource. What's the difference between the two of you? There's no judgment here, I'm just asking you. What do you think the difference is? The answer: You're letting multidimensional awareness in and they are not. You see, you are becoming more aware of multidimensional soul communication. In this case, it's your enormous soul energy communicating with the other parts of the planet who are also multidimensional.

When you make the decision that it's OK to feel this energy, it will be there. Most of humanity so far has not made that decision. They block it. The law is this - this communication will come to you only with your allowance. The moment you open the door of allowance, you may begin to feel it. Those are our rules.

It's not just allowance for communication from the creative source, but also from an amazing number of what we would call other benevolent energies. These others are represented by groups with names that you have given them. They also cannot get through to you unless you allow it. That's their rule as well. Your names for them are Pleiadians, Arcturians, Sirians, Hathors or those from Orion. There are many more, but unless you open to the possibility of them, they can't communicate either.

Most of humanity will stand next to you as you communicate and think you're not well. That's the way it looks to them. Listen, dear ones, the benevolent groups who represent your DNA essence [your seed biology] and who know who you are are many. The amount of help you have on this planet is staggering, yet the majority of humanity will not allow awareness of it or let the possibility into their reality.. ..."

"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part 1, Text version Part 2)

"... Universal communication: When you walk into the forest and the trees talk to you, what is that about? Gaia speaks to you! What does that voice sound like? Am I getting through to you? Do you understand what I'm saying?

You are able to hear these things in your own way, but none of them are synaptic. Are the trees in trouble? Are they crying? Perhaps they are celebrating? All of this information is available to those who can hear it.

"Kryon, is it true that in the forest there are what you would call devas?" Here's my answer: Are you kidding? Of course! Yes! You are asking what they are. They are multidimensional aspects of Gaia. I love how Humans deal with multidimensional energies. They "3D-ize" them. When Human Beings cannot understand a multidimensional energy, they make them entities, dress them [put outfits on them in their minds], give them names, and put them in Human movies. They're beautiful! You know they are, and they're everywhere. Go into the forest and they'll talk to you. Sit down in the grass and let them communicate with you. They're part of the energy soup that is Gaia, which is Mother Nature, the personality that is the love of God in nature.

Dear one, you're not going to receive bad things from a deva. You're not going to get bad information from hugging a tree. You know that, don't you? What does this tell you about how Gaia feels about you? These are just a few things when it comes to the subject of communication from others to you. ..."

Elephant Patrols Seek to Protect Indonesia’s Rainforests

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Feb 11, 2015

In this photograph taken on Jan. 25, 2015, a mahout deployed as forest ranger,
prepares a trained Sumatran elephant at Trumon sub-district in province of
Aceh, Sumatra. (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Trumon, Indonesia. Indonesian men ride on Sumatran elephants as they patrol though dense jungle in the west of the tropical archipelago, warriors on the front line of the fight against illegal logging and poaching.

They trek alongside rivers, over rough terrain and deep into the rainforest in an area that is home to numerous endangered species, from orangutans to tigers, but which has suffered devastating deforestation in recent years.

The sprawling Indonesian archipelago has large swathes of tropical forest but vast tracts are being felled to make way for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations, destroying biodiverse habitats and adding to greenhouse gas emissions.

Much of the logging that takes place is illegal as it happens outside concessions granted to companies, but it is hard for authorities to keep track. Poaching of endangered species is also common, with elephants killed for their ivory and tigers for their pelts.

The elephant patrol project, run with communities in the Trumon district of Aceh province, on Sumatra island, aims to give a helping hand.

It employs local men as “mahouts”, or elephant-keepers, who keep a lookout for illegal logging and poaching and report it to authorities to follow up.

Hendra Masrijal, 33, quit his job as a food vendor to become a mahout. He is among a group of around about 25 keepers involved in the scheme, including former separatists who fought against the central government until a peace deal was struck a decade ago.

In this photograph taken on Jan. 25, 2015, mahouts deployed as forest rangers,
ride their trained Sumatran elephants at Trumon sub-district in Aceh, Sumatra for
a patrol in a forested area. (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

“It makes me sad when I see pictures of elephants killed by poachers for their tusks,” Masrijal told AFP. “Their habitat is also being encroached [on] by farmers and villagers.”

The patrols deep into the jungle last between two and seven days, with mahouts normally spending 15 to 20 days a month on expeditions.

The initiative covers a vast area of 27,000 hectares called the “Trumon Wildlife Corridor”, which is wedged between two conservation areas. Authorities are currently trying to push through legislation to give it protected status.

As well as keeping a watch for logging and poaching, the program has staff who conduct training in local communities and develop eco-tourism to give villagers who have traditionally lived off illegal practices an alternative livelihood.

Tisna Nando, a spokeswoman for USAID, which has funded the expansion of the project over the past year, said communities were “enthusiastic” about the initiative.

“They see that they can actually benefit economically from protecting the forest in the area, rather than cutting it down,” she told AFP.

A study last year published in the journal Nature Climate Change showed that Indonesia had for the first time surpassed Brazil in its rate of tropical forest clearance, despite a moratorium on new logging permits imposed several years ago.

Agence France-Presse

Related Article:

Elephant Patrol, the Rainforest Guardian

Jokowi Folds Emissions Agency BP REDD+ Into Forestry Ministry

Jakarta Globe, Basten Gokkon & Adelia Anjani Putri, Jan 29, 2015

Indonesia has the third largest area of tropical rainforest on the planet, but
also one of the fastest rates of deforestation. (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has disbanded Indonesia’s BP REDD+ agency, which was established in 2013 to help the country meet greenhouse gas emission targets from deforestation, and merged it with Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

The decision, which was issued via Presidential Decree No. 16/2015 issued on Jan. 23, will see the Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Management Body, as well as the National Council on Climate Change, folded into the ministry.

Both agencies are peak government bodies whose role is crucial to halting Indonesia’s rapid deforestation rates and mitigating climate change.

“The task and function of reducing greenhouse emissions conducted by BP REDD+ as stated in Presidential Decree No. 62/2003 now will be integrated as the ministry’s task and function,” Article 59 of the decree said.

There was no elaboration on the technical arrangements, but the decree said that the authority would be given to minister Siti Nurbaya.

BP REDD+ was founded in 2013 by then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as part of Indonesia’s $1 billion REDD deal with Norway.

In 2009, Indonesia pledged to cut deforestation rates — which are estimated to be some of the fastest in the world — by up to 41 percent by 2020. A year later Indonesia signed a letter of intent with Norway, which outlined Indonesia’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation of peatland, in exchange for payments of up to $1 billion from Norway.

BP REDD took over from the REDD+ Task Force, which was established in 2010, and has since worked on Indonesia’s REDD+ planning, including projects such as the One Map initiative — a centralized forestry map, which is aimed resolving conflicting land claims that have hampered emissions reductions targets.

The decision to disband the agency has met a mixed response from some within Indonesia, but Norway’s ambassador to Indonesia Stig Traavik took a cautious tone when contacted on Thursday.

He said it was natural for a new government to want to “manage things their own way” and Norway was open to some changes.

When asked whether he thought Joko was serious about Indonesia’s environmental pledge, he replied the two countries had a long partnership on climate issues and he was confident things would progress.

“We have heard about the decision but not in detail. The main thing now is how to reach the goal together,” Traavik said.

Abetnego Tarigan, executive director at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, said for certain issues the merger could be positive.

“The previous president formed BP REDD+ with the help of the Norwegian embassy as a debottlenecking attempt in the efforts of solving environmental issues in Indonesia,” he said.

“However, the problems have been that the ministries were not working well because they couldn’t work hand in hand.”

Abetnego said what was important was whether efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were effective.

“If merging BP REDD+ was an attempt to kill it all … I think that would be a colossal mistake,” he said.

“With the merger, the assumption is that there wouldn’t be any difficulties in solving environmental issues, as the ministry is a big institution and also has regional units in many areas.”

William Sabandar, former deputy of operations at BP REDD+, was less affirmative about the decision.

“This is how I see it as a former deputy of BP REDD+. What’s certain is that the presidential decree violates the agreement between the Indonesian government with the Norwegian government which is stated in the Letter of Intent in 2010.”

He said it was sad to see that the merger had not been considered thoroughly in terms of its local, national and international effects.

“The international dimension would be how they would consider Indonesia’s important role in the global climate change movement.

“The national dimension is how serious we are in boosting the country’s forest and land management across the archipelago.

“The local dimension is the BP REDD+’s role in involving the society and boosting welfare.”