Dutch scientists use dna testing to identify illegally logged wood

DutchNews, March 5, 2018

Researchers at Wageningen University are using dna testing to help identify tropical hardwood which has been cut down illegally. 

Around 30 to 90% of all tropical hardwood is logged illegally, and checks on the origin of wood, however thorough, are not particularly effective because documentation may be fraudulent, the universitysays. 

The new method identifies the wood’s dna and is precise enough to differentiate between trees cut down in places that are practically next door to each other. This is important because position can mark the difference between legal and illegally logged wood. 

‘The fact that we can accurately differentiate the origin of timber down to a 14 km radius is new,’ says lead author Mart Vlam of the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Research Group at Wageningen University. ‘Previous studies only managed to do that on a much less refined scale.’ 

The research involved collecting several hundred timber samples in five timber concessions in Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville together with two logging companies. These samples were used to create a reference-database. 

‘We ran a blind test on some of the samples,’ says Vlam. ‘I had 12 pieces of timber of which I knew the origin but the genetic specialists at Wageningen Environmental Research didn’t. I gave them the samples and asked them to identify which concessions they came from. They got it right 92% of the time – that’s a great score.’ 

This study demonstrates that genetic analysis has great potential for use in forensic testing of tropical hardwood. 

‘But a lot needs to be done before these tests can be used as evidence in court,’says lead researcher Pieter Zuidema. ‘We need to collect timber samples from a much larger area and our analyses and labs will have to meet strict criteria. We can’t do that on our own, so we are collaborating in a worldwide network of researchers, labs and authorities.’

Conflict of interest claims over Malaysian timber imports

DutchNews.nl, July 15, 2015

Dutch government ministers have accused environmental groups Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund of having a conflict of interest in the approval of imports of Malaysian timber, Trouw reports. 

The government said earlier this week the Netherlands will support the import of Malaysian timber with an MTCS certificate rather than FCS certification, which is backed by the environmental groups. 

Junior environment minister Wilma Mansveld and junior economic affairs minister Sharon Dijksma say in a parliamentary briefing that ‘in concrete terms, several NGOs which were involved in founding the FSC certification system want to promote it’. 

This, the ministers imply, is why Greenpeace and the WWF do not support MTCS certification. 

However, WWF spokesman Jaap van der Waarde told Trouw the accusations of a conflict of interest are ‘incomprehensible’. 

‘The fact that my organisation forms part of the board of another certification system is irrelevant,’ he said. ‘The Malaysian certification system does not do the job.’ 

Economic interests

Malaysian forests are still being cut down and ‘it would appear that if the economic interests are big enough, certification systems do not need to meet Dutch sustainability targets,’ he told the paper. 

Successive Dutch governments have wrestled with the approval of Malaysian timber and both an independent commission and the Dutch courts have ruled there is no question of Malaysian timber being harvested sustainably, Trouw says. 

The ministers argue that the problems have now been solved and that a ‘final check’ will be made to ensure Malaysian timber imported into the Netherlands does come from sustainable sources.

World Bank Urges Better Resource Management in Indonesia

Indonesia loses $4 billion from its rain forests to illegal logging.

Jakarta Globe, Vanesha Manuturi, Jun 10, 2015

Farming is seen in the protected areas of the Kerinci National Park (TNKS),
in Kerinci, Jambi, in May. (Antara Photo/Wahdi Septiawan)

Jakarta. The World Bank has pressed Indonesia to improve resource management and governance as the country works towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly economic growth over the next five years.

“Indonesia has enjoyed tremendous growth … but not all are benefiting from these achievements and they come with a high price of environmental degradation,” said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director and chief operating officer at the World Bank, on the first day of the Indonesia Green Infrastructure Summit 2015 in Jakarta on Tuesday.

She pointed to Indonesia’s forestry industry as an example of the country’s murky governance track record.

“Every year, Indonesia loses some $4 billion through illegal logging. Meanwhile, revenue from forestry licensing amounts to only $300 million per year,” she said. “This is a problem of governance, manifested in poor performance that impacts the implementation of existing regulations or design of better laws.”

Sri Mulyani — who was a former finance minister in the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration before resigning in 2010 — also noted “an information gap” among government agencies in Indonesia, which has led to a lack of transparency and efficiency in resource management.

“The energy sector, for example, needs more and better data on simple energy use and emissions,” she said.

Still, the World Bank managing director praised the government’s moratorium on new fishing permits for large operations as an “encouraging development.”

“A well-managed ‘blue’ economy can ensure food security, promote sustainable tourism and build resilience. But degradation through overfishing and dumped waste exacerbates poverty and undermines food security globally,” she said.

Improving governance of the fisheries sector coupled with large-scale investment in maritime transport and trade infrastructure could double fish production in the next five years, according to Sri.

During the same summit, Vice President Jusuf Kalla admitted the government’s stance to maintaining a sustainable economic growth has been lackluster.

“We’ve always thought about environmental issues after we’re faced with problems,” Kalla said.

“We’ve learnt and we are now learning with economic principles that are sustainable so that we can pass down this country for the next generation.”

Under President Joko Widodo, the government wants to boost growth to 7 percent over the next five years, bolstered by greater investment — both by the government and the private sector — in infrastructure development.

Joko’s infrastructure vision for the country includes the development of new power plants with a total capacity of 35,000 megawatts and nine million hectares of agriculture land across the country.

In a bid to encourage more environmentally-friendly investments, Indonesia currently offers tax allowances to nine business areas relating to environmental preservation, including geothermal power, refining and natural gas processing industry, organic basic chemical industry, and clean water reservoir and purification industry.

In April, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said that the ministry plans to offer more incentives — such as soft-loan facilities, business permit extensions and free import duties — to local and foreign investors with technology which reduces pollution and conserves energy.

GlobeAsia

11 Arrested Over Illegal Forest Clearing in Riau

Jakarta Globe, Feb 22, 2015

Illegal forest clearing for plantations is a major problem for Indonesia.
(AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Jakarta. Eleven people have been arrested in Riau for illegal forest clearing, a major issue for Indonesia which is grappling with one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world.

Police arrested seven suspects in Bukit Batu subdistrict, two in Bengkalis subdistrict and two more in Pinggir subdistrict, police said on Sunday.

“Police found six wood cutting tools, a jerry can filled with fuel and a motorcycle as evidence,” the chief of Bengkalis Police, Adj. Sr. Cmr. Aloysius Supriadi, told Tempo.co.

Aloysius said the eleven people detained are suspected of illegal land clearing and illegal logging.

The arrests come just days after a new study claimed that more than 30 percent of the timber used by Indonesia’s industrial forest sector is sourced from illegal and unsustainable sources.

The report, published this week by the Anti Forest-Mafia Coalition, an alliance of Indonesian civil society organizations, and Forest Trends, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, found a yawning gap between the legal supply of wood to mills — as reported by the Ministry of Forestry — and the output declared by the industrial forestry sector.

The study, Indonesia’s Legal Timber Supply Gap and Implications for Expansion of Milling Capacity, said raw material used by these mills exceeded the legal supply by the equivalent of 20 million cubic meters.

The report said although the source of the wood was unclear, it is likely to have come from trees chopped down during clearfelling for plantations of palm oil and acacia trees, which are harvested by the pulp and paper industry.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil.

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.”

New species of legless amphibian found in Cambodia

Yahoo – AFP, 16 Jan 2015

A new species of legless amphibian resembling a giant earthworm or a snake is

 shown on the ground in Pursat province, Cambodia in this handout photo released

 by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) on January 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fauna

and Flora International)

Phnom Penh (AFP) - A new species of legless amphibian resembling a giant earthworm or a snake has been discovered in a remote but threatened area of Cambodian rainforest, conservationists said on Friday.

The grey-brown creature -- Ichthyophis cardamomensis -- was found in Cambodia's southwest Cardamom Mountains, an area under threat from habitat loss, according to Fauna and Flora International (FFI).

The new species is often mistaken for a snake, with larger species known to grow up to 1.5 metres (nearly five feet) in length, FFI said.

It was confirmed by scientists earlier this month according to leading Cambodian FFI herpetologist Neang Thy.

"These discoveries are important to demonstrate that much of Cambodia's biodiversity remains unknown and unstudied by science, and many more areas need to be searched," Thy, who has been researching amphibians and reptiles since 2003, told AFP.

The creature is caecilian -- an order of amphibians that look like snakes or earthworms and are generally found underground.

Once a stronghold of the toppled Khmer Rouge regime, the bio-diverse Cardamom Mountains are home to an array of rare species, including the Asian elephant, but the area faces widespread deforestation.

Conservationists warn that illegal logging and other habitat destruction could mean new species become extinct shortly after discovery.

Myanmar arrests 102 Chinese loggers

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-01-09

A timber market in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 31, 2011. (File photo/CFP)

Over 100 Chinese nationals have reportedly been arrested by the army of Myanmar for unauthorized logging and the smuggling of local resources, reported China's state-owned Global Times on Jan. 8.

The operation is believed to have taken place in early January. A total of 102 foreign nationals believed to be Chinese and 20 locals have been caught, along with more than 470 vehicles of all sorts carrying timbers and hoists.

Six packets of opium, a large quantity of ephedrine and 12,000 yuan (US$1,930) were also found at camp sites in the logging area, in addition to a logging permit signed by a Kachin Independence Army official, said the report.

The Kachin Independence Army is a rebel militia fighting for autonomy for the northern Kachin region within Myanmar.

The government banned the export of logs in April, 2014, to reduce deforestation and the country's heavy reliance on pallet exports. According to the forestry department, Myanmar is going to slash the amount of logged wood in the fiscal year of 2014-2015 down to 40% of that in 2010-11. Logging activity will be reduced in Homalin in the northwest and Tanintharyi region in the south of the country. In the northernmost region of Kachin, logging is prohibited.

According to local media reports, the Myanmar army started taking action against jade smuggling last year in the Kachin region, where both local and Chinese smugglers trade jade and other commodities near the border with China. The army subsequently spotted unauthorized logging activities and embarked on a three-day operation from Jan. 2 to 4, 2015 to track those responsible in the mountainous area.

"Illegal logging has been going on in the north despite the official ban on the export of logs announced last April," said a Myanmar forestry official. "Military operations were conducted because the region is largely controlled by rebel forces and is inaccessible to forestry personnel."

Rabobank under fire over Indonesia palm oil investments

DutchNews.nl, Saturday 28 June 2014

A palm oil plantation (NOS/AFP)

Environmental group Milieudefensie has made a formal complaint against Rabobank with the OECD, saying the bank is breaking rules on deforestation.

Milieudefensie says the bank has some €47m invested in Indonesia palm oil company Bumitama which it says operates illegal plantations and is guilty of illegally cutting down forests. This, in turn, is threatening the habitat of orangutans, the organisation says.

Rabobank says it is in talks with Bumitama in an effort to improve its operations but Milieudefensie says this is taking too long. ‘Rabobank has showed itself to be extremely naïve in this and has a blinkered view,’ spokesman Geert Ritsema told the Volkskrant.

Illegal deforestation is not only against Rabobank’s own policy but against OECD agreements on socially responsible business.

If the OECD upholds the complaint, Rabobank could be excluded from taking part in trade missions and from some subsidies, the Volkskrant said.

Related Articles:

Rabobank world's biggest investor in mega factory farms: Trouw

Rabobank fined €774m for interest rate scandal, CEO resigns

Sumatra Sees Surge in Hotspots After Relative Lull

Jakarta Globe, Jun 10, 2014

A worker pours water to extinguish a fire that is burning through his pineapple
 plantation in the haze-affected district of Tanah Putih in Rokan Hilir, part of Riau
province, on June 26, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawihart)

Jakarta. Satellites on Sunday detected 227 hotspots across Sumatra — the highest number in three months, after a relative lull — including 37 in the hard-hit Riau province, where blazes have caused school cancelations and widespread respiratory illness.

According to information obtained by NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites, fires were burning over the weekend in Aceh, Jambi, North Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra and West Sumatra, state-run Antara news agency reported.

“There are three helicopters on standby, as the [rental] contract expires in September,” National Disaster and Mitigation Agency (BNPB) information division head Agus Wibowo said on Monday, as reported by Antara. The helicopters could carry a combined 8,600 liters of water, he said.

Riau officials said that plans for cloud seeding and water bombing were underway.

As of Friday, two days before the surge, NASA only detected eleven Sumatra hotspots, and only two in Riau.

BNPB predicted that El Nino, at the end of June, would bring hot, dry weather, causing blazes to flare up again.

Extinction stalks Myanmar's forests

Yahoo – AFP, Ye Aung Thu, 7 May 2014

A worker carries a saw where teak trees once grew in the Bago Region of 

Myanmar after the land was scorched ahead of replanting, April 5, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

A worker carries a saw where teak trees once grew in the Bago Region of Myanmar after the land was scorched ahead of replanting, April 5, 2014

Bago (Myanmar) (AFP) - Ashen earth strewn with the limbs of once-mighty trees is all that is left of the fearsome forest in central Myanmar that Wa Tote remembers from her youth.

"We would only dare enter in a big group. The forest was deep and had many wild animals. Now we cannot even find a tree's shadow to shelter under when we are tired," the 72-year-old told AFP.

At one point tigers were so common in the area that their bones were traded cheaply. Now they have vanished into memory.

Large swathes of the undulating landscape of the Bago mountains have been stripped bare by logging firms over recent years and the last remnants of wood are being burnt.

Locals say there are plans to replant the area with valuable teak trees -- though even if they do, these will take up to 80 years to reach maturity.

Logging in Myanmar exploded under the former junta, as the generals tossed aside sustainable forestry practices in their thirst to cash in on vast natural resources.

Experts say an insatiable world appetite for precious hardwoods is threatening rare species and helping to drive deforestation in one of the last major areas of tropical forest in Asia.

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

Widespread degradation of the most densely wooded areas means that so-called "closed forest" more than halved in size, from 30.9 million to 13.4 million hectares.

Experts say corruption and poor protection have enabled rampant illegal logging that lines the pockets of crony businessmen, soldiers and rebels groups alike.

A quasi-civilian government that replaced outright military rule in 2011 has sought to stem the flood of timber from the country with a ban on the export of raw logs which took effect on April 1.

"Our ban will be very effective. There will be cutting, distribution and finishing of timber products locally, so that we can also increase employment opportunities," said the director general of the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Tin Tun.

Wildlife group WWF said the biggest driver of forest loss has been large-scale conversion for agriculture, often after woodland is degraded by logging or the collection of wood for fuel.

It welcomed the export ban and said the government has also slashed quotas for teak and other hardwoods by 60 percent and 50 percent respectively for the coming fiscal year compared to 2012/13.

"But given the high volume of illegal logging and exports in Myanmar, it will take a long time before we see how effective the ban will be," said WWF's Myanmar conservation programme manager Michelle Owen.

Appetite for destruction

In mountainous northern Myanmar close to the Chinese border, logging roads score the landscape as firms drive ever deeper into pristine forests.

"Stopping logging has to happen now," said Frank Momberg of conservation group Flora and Fauna International, which is struggling to protect the newly discovered and critically endangered Myanmar snub nosed monkey.

There are thought to be barely 300 of the flat-faced primates left in the dense forests of Kachin state at the eastern tip of the Himalayas.

Large scale mechanical felling is stripping even steep hillsides, with the loss of tree cover causing landslides and further environmental destruction, conservationists warn.

A worker clears the area where teak trees once grew in the Bago Region of

 Myanmar after the land was scorched ahead of replanting, April 5, 2014 (AFP

 Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

Chinese workers have flooded into the area, fuelling demand for the monkeys to be hunted for food and traditional medicine, Momberg said.

Other species also inhabit the threatened forests, including the red panda, Blyth's Tragopan pheasant and the Takin, known as a goat antelope.

"A complete ecosystem is being destroyed by this radical logging," Momberg said.

He said the loggers are supplying rare woods for a furniture industry in Tengchong, in China's Yunnan province, using maple trees to make delicate carved tables and protected Taiwania conifers for "luxurious coffins".

Flora and Fauna is setting up the approximately 250,000 hectare Imawbum national park with Myanmar's forestry department and have created hunting-free zones with the support of local villages.

'Extinction frontier'

China recorded importing 10 million cubic meters of round logs from its impoverished neighbour between 2000 and 2013 -- almost twice Myanmar's officially registered global export trade of 6.4 million cubic meters for the period, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) campaign group.

Some 84 percent of logs imported into China went by land, despite longstanding rules barring exports from any other route than through Myanmar’s Yangon and Dawei ports, making them "legally questionable at best and downright illegal at worst," the EIA said.

In a recent report based on Myanmar forestry documents and global trade data, the EIA said the country was believed to have exported up to 3.5 times more logs than the volumes officially recorded between 2000 and 2014.

"Such a gap is indicative of widespread criminality and corruption in Myanmar's timber sector," the report said, estimating this vast shadow industry was worth up to $5.7 billion.

And despite the export ban, trucks loaded with logs were seen around the Yangon port after April 1, while more than 60 tonnes of illegal timber were recently found in trucks disguised as anti-logging festival floats.

Tony Neil, forest governance advisor at Myanmar environmental group EcoDev, said the current dry season has seen an "unprecedented" amount of timber crossing the China-Myanmar border, with several hundred trucks a day making the journey.

Demand is driven from all over the world, with timber "laundered" through ports in Malaysia and Singapore and the price of prized logs such as rosewood shooting up.

"It's like an extinction frontier," he said.

Police Warn Riau Fire Starters as SBY Lands in Province

Jakarta Globe, Mar 16, 2014

An Indonesian motorbike rider dives on a hazy street in Pekan Baru,
Riau on March 14, 2014. (EPA Photo)

Pekanbaru. The chief of the National Police has sent a strong warning to anyone caught illegally slashing and burning land in Riau: stop immediately or risk being shot for resisting arrest.

“If anyone fights back and endangers [officers or others], just shoot them,” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said in Pekanbaru on Saturday.

He said the same policy should be applied to security or government officers allegedly involved in land burning.

“Shoot them as well,” Sutarman said according to Indonesian news portal republika.co.id.

He added that police have so far named 60 suspects for allegedly igniting fires in Riau.

Most of the suspects have been identified as local farmers. One plantation firm — National Sago Prima, a subsidiary of publicly-listed Sampoerna Agro — was also named a suspect, however.

Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Condro Kirono, meanwhile, said his office had formed a special team consisting of 558 officers tasked exclusively with hunting down those responsible for setting land and forest fires in Riau.

The resulting haze from the fires has disrupted flights and has caused tens of thousands of local residents to suffer from respiratory illnesses.

The haze has also spread to neighboring provinces such as Jambi and West Sumatra. Jambi on Saturday reported nearly 56,000 of its residents also suffered from respiratory illnesses, kompas.com reported.

Condro said the team involved different organizations, including the Indonesian Military (TNI) as well as forest rangers, and was split up into nine smaller groups. Five of the groups have been sent to Bengkalis district and four to Pelalawan district.

“[The Pelalawan teams] will focus on Meranti Bay, which borders the Kerumutan Wildlife Conservation,” Condro said. “There have been lot of hotspots likely caused by  illegal logging [there].”

The Bengkalis teams, meanwhile, will concentrate on the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere Reserve in the subdistrict of Bukit Batu. “The Bengkalis teams can also cross to Rupat island, where there are a lot of hotspots.”

Police made these statements as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono landed in Pekanbaru on Saturday to inspect the situation.

Upon arriving in Pekanbaru, the president and his entourage took a road trip to Rimbo Panjang village in Kampar district to see firsthand the remnants of the burnt lands. On Sunday, after a meeting with Riau Governor Annas Maamum, the president was scheduled to take another trip 120 km away to Siak district, which is among the regions worst hit by the fires.

“It’s better that we listen to the residents’ stories — of what our brothers have seen and witnessed, of their hopes,” Yudhoyono said in Pekanbaru on Sunday  according to the president’s official website. “Proper solutions will usually arise after we hear all of [the stories].”

The President, irritated by local officials’ slow response to the fire and haze issues, on Friday said he would take over and lead emergency measures himself if local officials and cabinet ministers continued to fail to address the problems.

Yudhoyono announced three emergency measures to handle the Riau fires: extinguish them as soon as possible, provide health treatment for affected residents and bolster law enforcement in affected areas. This despite the fact that the governor of Riau had already declared a state of emergency in the province last month.

The “Integrated Emergency Operation” initiated by the president will take place for three weeks, the president said.

Facts on the ground

On Sunday, citing satellite images, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported 171 hotspots in Riau, with Siak district reporting the most hotspots (78), followed by Indragiri Hilir (32) and Meranti (28).

“Officers have put out fires across 15,837 hectares of lands, from a total of 19,538 hectares burned,” the BNPB said. “Yesterday, air officers successfully dropped 60 water bombs on Giam Siak Kecil.”

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported visibility of 2 km at 6 a.m. on Sunday, marking a significant improvement from when visibility was less than 300 meters during the height of the crisis.

The agency also forecast light to heavy rains in Riau over the next two days, as well as showers until April, heightening hopes that fires and the haze could be further reduced.

Related Article:

More Riau Haze Arrests as Singapore Drafts Legislation

Indonesian clerics issue fatwa to protect wildlife

Google – AFP, 5 March 2014

Indonesian policemen show off the remains of preserved Sumatran tigers (L and R)

 and other animals after seizing them in Takengon Central Aceh, in Banda Aceh

on January 27, 2014 (AFP/File, Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Jakarta — Indonesia's top Islamic clerical body has issued a religious fatwa against the illegal hunting and trade in endangered animals in the country, which the WWF hailed on Wednesday as the world's first.

The fatwa by the Indonesian Ulema Council declares such activities "unethical, immoral and sinful", council official Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh told AFP.

"All activities resulting in wildlife extinction without justifiable religious grounds or legal provisions are haram (forbidden). These include illegal hunting and trading of endangered animals," said Sholeh, secretary of the council's commission on fatwas.

"Whoever takes away a life, kills a generation. This is not restricted to humans, but also includes God's other living creatures, especially if they die in vain."

The country of 250 million people is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but it remained unclear whether the fatwa would have any practical impact.

Indonesia's vast and unique array of wildlife is under increasing pressure from development, logging and agricultural expansion.

The government does not typically react to fatwas by implementing specific policy changes.

However, a Forestry Ministry official who asked to remain anonymous told AFP the ministry and the religious council would make a joint announcement regarding the fatwa on March 12, without elaborating on its content.

The WWF called the fatwa the first of its kind in the world, and said the use of religion for wildlife protection "is a positive step forward."

A baby pangolin is released into the wild by government wildlife and conservation

 officers in North Sumatra province on July 31, 2012 after Indonesian police

intercepted 85 endangered pangolins stuffed into sacks by smugglers (AFP/File)

"It provides a spiritual aspect and raises moral awareness which will help us in our work to protect and save the remaining wildlife in the country such as the critically endangered tigers and rhinos," WWF Indonesia communications director Nyoman Iswara Yoga said.

The fatwa was the result of months of dialogue between government officials, conservationists and other stakeholders, said Sholeh, the fatwa commission official.

Acknowledging it was not legally binding, Sholeh said in English: "It's a divine binding."

He said the fatwa was effective from January 22. It was only made public late Tuesday.

The fatwa urges the government to effectively monitor ecological protection, review permits issued to companies accused of harming the environment, and bring illegal loggers and wildlife traffickers to justice.

The clearing, often illegally, of Indonesia's once-rich forests for timber extraction or to make way for oil palm or other plantations poses a severe threat to critically endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger, orangutan, and Sumatran elephant.

Poachers also target wild elephants for their ivory tusks, for use in traditional Chinese medicines.

Under Indonesian law, trafficking in protected animals can result in a maximum of five years in jail and 100 million rupiah ($8,700) fine.

Greenpeace Calls Out Procter & Gamble for Dirty Palm Oil Sourcing

Jakarta Globe, Ethan Harfenist, February 26, 2014

This file photograph taken on June 7, 2012 shows the boundary between the
 remaining rainforest and newly developed palm oil plantation over cleared
tropical forest land in Central Kalimantan province. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. Greenpeace accused the US-based consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble on Wednesday of being complicit in environmentally destructive activities in Indonesia, including encroachment of Sumatran tiger habitats, slash-and-burn clearing and the presence of an “orangutan graveyard.”

The environmental NGO slammed the company for sourcing “dirty” palm oil from allegedly unscrupulous suppliers in a report titled ”Procter & Gamble’s Dirty Secret.” The report, the result of a yearlong investigation by Greenpeace International, uncovered evidence that Procter & Gamble-linked palm oil companies were involved in the destruction of orangutan and Sumatran tiger habitats and the kind of slash-and-burn land clearing methods responsible for the region’s annual haze.

“[Procter & Gamble] needs to stop bringing rainforest destruction into our showers,” Bustar Maitar, head of the Indonesian forest campaign at Greenpeace International, said in a press statement. ”It must clean up its act and guarantee its customers that these products are forest-friendly.”

Greenpeace urged Procter & Gamble to adopt a “zero deforestation” pledge and undergo a serious review of its supply chain.

“Procter & Gamble should follow the lead of other palm oil using companies like Unilever, Nestlé and L’Oréal, which have already promised to clean up their supply chains,” Bustar said.

Palm oil is the world’s most ubiquitous vegetable oil and a main driver of deforestation in Indonesia. The oil accounted for roughly 40 percent of the world’s vegetable oil production from 2012-2013, and it is a key ingredient in many household products, like Procter & Gamble’s Head & Shoulders shampoo and Gillette shaving gel.

Procter & Gamble purchased some 462,000 tons of palm oil between 2012-2013, much of it derived from plantations located in Indonesia. One of the companies Greenpeace zeroes in on in its report is BW Plantation, a Jakarta-based firm that is a third-party supplier for Asian Agri — a palm oil company owned by Sukanto Tanoto’s RGE Group.

BW Plantation is allegedly responsible for the recent clearance of orangutan habitats in Central Kalimantan. The company is also linked to a police investigation into an “orangutan graveyard” next to the province’s Tanjung Putting National Park, a 416 thousand-hectare nature reserve famous for its orangutan population.

“We’ve been confronting P&G over the last eight months with how it’s exposing consumers to forest destruction,” said Areeba Hamid, forest campaigner at Greenpeace International. “Instead of taking urgent action, the company has been greenwashing its actions.”

Procter & Gamble pledges, according to its website, to “confirm that all palm oil purchases have originated from responsible and sustainable sources by 2015.” In its 2012 sustainability report, Procter & Gamble promised to achieve zero net deforestation, in accordance with the Consumer Goods Forum.

Proctor & Gamble and BW Plantations were not immediately available for comment.

Greenpeace has been engaged in a highly vocal campaign against destructive and unsustainable agricultural business practices in Indonesia for decades. The group has been successful in forcing corporate change through campaigns raising awareness of the involvement of large multinational companies in deforestation in Indonesia and abroad.

In October, a report titled “License to Kill: How deforestation is driving Sumatran tigers toward extinction,” focused on questionable sourcing by Wilmar — the world’s largest palm oil trader. The Singapore-based company has since announced a zero deforestation policy.

Asia Pulp & Paper, the world’s largest pulp company, caved to similar pressure after losing several high-profile clients to Greenpeace’s once-active campaign against the paper company. APP has now adopted similar sustainability goals and invited Greenpeace to oversee the process as an independent observer.

“Greenpeace believes palm oil must make a genuine contribution to Indonesia’s development,” Bustar said. “Progressive palm oil producers in the Palm Oil Innovation Group, along with ambitious commitments from big palm oil players GAR and Wilmar, prove that there is a business case for responsible palm oil.

“There is no excuse for companies like P&G, Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate Palmolive to delay immediate action on deforestation.”

Palm oil production is the largest cause of deforestation in Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. The country was home to nearly half of the world’s palm oil plantations in 2006 after years of concession land grabs, illegal logging and lax law enforcement, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Related Articles:

Top chef accuses Tesco: 'If you care about our oceans, take this tuna off your shelves' - New

Kellogg's to buy only sustainably sourced palm oil

Unilever drops major palm-oil producer

Wilmar to Cut Off Palm Suppliers Caught Burning in Indonesia