Panda mania hits Germany as China's cuddly envoys arrive

Yahoo – AFP, Hui Min NEO, June 24, 2017

The excitement at the welcome press conference gave the pandas a taste
of what might be to come in their new home (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Berlin (AFP) - Germany had its first taste of panda mania on Saturday as two furry ambassadors arrived from China to begin a new life as stars of Berlin's premier zoo.

The pair, named Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, jetted in on a special Lufthansa cargo plane, accompanied by two Chinese panda specialists, the Berlin Zoo's chief vet and a tonne of bamboo.

A crowd of journalists and officials on hand to welcome the VIPs let out an "ooooh" as Meng Meng raised a paw after flight LH8415 made an especially gentle touchdown at Schoenefeld airport.

The black and white pair, clearly groggy after the 12 hour 20 minute flight from Chengdu in southern China, lay resting in their travelling crates during the welcome ceremony in a hangar.

Until, that is, the Chinese ambassador to Berlin got a little too close, prompting Jiao Ling, the male, to stand up, roar and beat his paws against the plexiglass sides of the crate.

"From this evening, their German and Chinese handlers will stay with them... we'll do everything to help them calm down so they have a good night, eat well and rehydrate themselves," Berlin Zoo director Andreas Knieriem told AFP.

After just over a week's acclimatisation, the pair will be unveiled to the public by no less than Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping, most likely two days before the G20 summit of world leaders hosted by Germany.

The pandas were flown in on a special cargo flight from China (AFP 

Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Famed for its "panda diplomacy", China has dispatched its national treasure to only about a dozen countries as a symbol of close relations.

Export giants Germany and China have nurtured increasingly close economic ties, and over the last year the have also taken on the leading role in championing free trade as Donald Trump shifts the US away from market liberalisation with his "America First" push.

"The Chinese see the pandas as Chinese brand ambassadors. China obviously has an image problem in Europe and giving pandas is a very smart and easy way to win hearts," said Bernhard Bartsch from the Bertelsmann Foundation think tank in Berlin.

The "pandas will lend a very positive spin in German media to the visit by Xi Jinping in July," he added.

Bamboo snacks, absorbent mats

The excitement over the two bears was clear as the zoo published a daily update on its blog in the run-up to their arrival.

The flight to Germany was carefully prepared, with "bamboo snacks" to keep the pandas happy and absorbent mats to ensure the transport box stayed dry and odourless.

And their new home at Berlin's zoo will measure about 5,500 square metres (59,000 square feet) and comes fitted with a wooded climbing area and an artificial stream.

Meng Meng means "dream" in Chinese, while Jiao Qing translates as "darling", though the Chinese characters are a composite of "tender" and "festive" or "celebration".

The Berlin Zoo built a special enclosure for the two pandas it is receiving from 

China just a few days before a G20 summit in Germany (AFP Photo/Wolfgang Kumm)

But the honour of hosting them does not come cheap.

The zoo will pay $15 million (13.4 million euros) for a 15-year contract to host them, with most of the money going towards a conservation and breeding research programme in China.

And the pandas' main dish -- bamboo -- will cost tens of thousands of euros each year.

The zoo will probably look to offset part of its outlays through panda-themed merchandising.

Ultimately, it hopes that the pair will produce babies, even if experts have warned that panda reproduction is a fine art.

Panda expert Jerome Pouille said that "the female is only receptive to a male for about 24 to 48 hours a year", adding that there was little chance of a cub within the first three years.

China has previously given three pandas to Germany, but the last one, 34-year-old Bao Bao, died in Berlin in 2012, having become the oldest male panda in the world.

About 1,864 pandas remain in the wild in China, up from around 1,000 in the late 1970s, according to the environmental group WWF.

Just over 400 pandas live in zoos around the world, in conservation projects set up with Beijing.

Related Article:

Panda-mania in The Netherlands as Wu Wen and Xing Ya make their public debut

Giant pandas head for the Netherlands, and the bamboo is on order

DutchNews, April 12, 2017

Workers carry the female giant panda Wu Wen to a transport cage.
Photo: Chinatopix Via AP

Two giant pandas destined for a 15-year stay in a Dutch zoo, left China for the Netherlands on Wednesday. 

The plane carrying the pandas, as well as 200 regular passengers, is due to land at Schiphol airport on Wednesday evening, and the giant mammals, behind sheets of plexiglass, will then be introduced to the Dutch public for the first time. 

However, Wu Wen (Beautiful Powerful Cloud) and Xing Ya (Elegant Star) will not be seen by the zoo public for some time because they will first be held in quarantine for up to six weeks. 

The pandas are heading for the Ouwehands Dierenpark zoo in Rhenen which has spent 16 year campaigning to bring pandas to the Netherlands. The zoo invested €7m on a special compound which was given official Chinese approval earlier this year. 

The cost of the new compound plus the €900,000 a year fee means that entrance tickets will be more expensive: visitors will be paying a so-called ‘panda tax’. 

Bamboo

The pandas are expected to go through 500 kilos of bamboo a week, which will be sourced from a bamboo grower in Asten and delivered weekly. The company Bamboo Giant, also supplies the food from a selection of different types of bamboo, for pandas in Vienna and Edinburgh. ‘The pandas are choosy,’ director Bennie Nielen told the NRC. ‘Every week the keepers in Vienna and Edinburg send us an overview of what they have eaten and what they have not touched so the menu can be adapted.’ 

The pandas are accompanied by a keeper and a vet from China who will stay with them for at least three months. And in case the pandas do decide to procreate, the female Wu Wen has a bigger enclosure with room for a baby.

Good news, pandas recently have been removed from the endangered species list! What is it about pandas that makes them so universally loved? pic.twitter.com/U4xLhUL5Qe

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 13, 2017

Bamboo-zled: Panda surprises with birth of twins

Yahoo – AFP, 23 Aug 2015

Washington (AFP) - A rare giant panda called Mei Xiang gave birth to twin cubs at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, apparently surprising delighted zoo officials who had expected just one baby.

A first tiny cub -- pink, hairless and only about the size of an adult mouse -- was born at 5:35 pm (2135 GMT) and Mei Xiang reacted by tenderly picking up the cub.

This image released August 22, 2015

courtesy of the Smithsonian's National

Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute 

shows giant panda Mei Xiang in labor 

(AFP Photo)

Immediately after the zoo announced the birth, the live video feed from her straw-lined enclosure appeared to have crashed, likely due to a high volume of viewers, the zoo said.

"All of us are thrilled that Mei Xiang has given birth. The cub is vulnerable at this tiny size but we know Mei is an excellent mother," zoo director Dennis Kelly said.

Pandas are famously challenging to breed in captivity, but just when conservationists thought they had heard all the good news, the zoo tweeted just a few hours later: "We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07. It appears healthy. #PandaStory."

The birth of the twins appeared to be a surprise because the zoo's Twitter feed had only previously referred to the expected birth of a single cub.

The mother panda's care team had begun preparing after they saw Mei Xiang's water break about an hour before the first birth. They hope to carry out neonatal exams in the coming days and won't know the cubs' sex until a later date.

Paternity tests

Mei Xiang ("beautiful fragrance"), 17, was artificially inseminated in April with frozen semen from a male giant panda named Hui Hui that resides at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province.

Giant Panda Mei Xiang, who gave birth to twin cubs at the Smithsonian National

 Zoo in Washington, is shown in a file picture from last year keeping a watchful eye

on her earlier cub Bao Bao (R) (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

She was also inseminated with fresh semen from the zoo's male giant panda Tian Tian. DNA tests will establish which is the father.

Mei Xiang had a cub in 2005 which was sent to China, and another, Bao Bao is now two years old and lives with her in Washington.

But she also lost at least two other cubs, one that was stillborn in 2013 and another that lived just six days in 2012.

This year, Mei Xiang exhibited signs of pregnancy in July that included sleeping more, eating less, building a nest and spending more time in her den.

The zoo said Mei Xiang will spend almost all her time in her den for the next two weeks. The enclosure will be closed to provide quiet, though online "panda cams" provide a video stream of the creatures.

Mei Xiang eats a bamboo breakfast January 6, 2014, inside her glass enclosure

at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

On Tuesday, Malaysia announced that a giant panda at its National Zoo, Liang Liang, had given birth. The newborn's sex has yet to be determined.

There are fewer than 2,000 pandas now left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, as their habitats have been ravaged by development.

Roads and railways cut through the bamboo forests they depend upon in China's Yangtze Basin, their primary habitat.

Pandas rely on bamboo and eat almost nothing else. Given their low birthrate, captive breeding programs are key to ensuring their survival.

This image released August 23, 2015 courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Zoo shows
 the second of two giant panda cubs being examined by veterinarians (AFP Photo)

Related Article:

Newborn panda twins vocal, 'very, very active': US zoo

Hong Kong giant panda Jia Jia becomes oldest ever

Yahoo – AFP, July 28, 2015

Giant panda Jia Jia stands next to her cake made of ice and fruit juice to mark

 her 37th birthday at an amusement park in Hong Kong on July 28, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Hong Kong (AFP) - It may not be considered a landmark birthday for humans, but turning 37 on Tuesday made Hong Kong's Jia Jia the oldest-ever giant panda in captivity, and she celebrated in style.

The equivalent of more than 100 years old in human terms, Jia Jia was presented with a towering birthday cake made from ice and fruit juice with the number 37 carved on top in her enclosure at the city's Ocean Park theme park.

"Jia Jia has achieved two Guinness world record titles -- the oldest panda living in captivity and the oldest panda ever living in captivity," said Blythe Ryan Fitzwilliam, adjudicator of Guinness World Records, during a ceremony at the park.

He offered her his congratulations, saying it was an "amazing longevity achievement".

Jia Jia was born in the wild in Sichuan, China in 1978 and was given to Hong Kong in 1999 to mark the semi-autonomous city's handover by Britain two years earlier.

The previous record was held by a male panda called Du Du, who was also caught in the wild and died in July 1999 at the age of 36 in a zoo in China's Hubei Province.

Vet Paolo Martelli said Jia Jia was still "moving about" though she suffered from cataracts and high blood pressure.

"She is sleeping more, so is doing everything less. But she is ageing gracefully, just like your grandma," he said.

Jia Jia was born in Sichuan, China in 1978 and was given to Hong Kong in

1999 to mark the handover by Britain two years earlier (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Because she eats less bamboo she relies on fibre supplements, Martelli added.

Jia Jia, whose name translates as "excellence", picked at fruit slices and bamboo around the ice cake to celebrate her big day.

Although the exact birth dates of Du Du and Jia Jia are unknown because they were born in the wild, Guinness said that based on the evidence, they've concluded that Jia Jia had claimed the title by a few months.

There are fewer than 2,000 pandas now left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, as their habitats have been ravaged by development.

Roads and railways cut through the bamboo forests they depend upon in China's Yangtze Basin, their primary habitat. Pandas rely on bamboo and eat almost nothing else.

Given their low birthrate, captive breeding programmes have become key to ensuring their survival.

Frozen semen earmarked for Washington giant panda

Yahoo – AFP, 22 April 2015

Mei Xiang eats a bamboo breakfast on January 6, 2014 inside her glass
enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC (AFP
 Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Washington (AFP) - The National Zoo in Washington is hoping to get its giant panda Mei Xiang pregnant this spring after taking delivery of frozen panda semen from China for the first time.

Caitlin Burrell of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute returned to the US capital on Sunday with semen that had been stored at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base in southwest China.

The semen was drawn for a nine-year-old giant panda in China named Hui Hui that has yet to sire any cubs, the National Zoo said in a statement Tuesday.

It's famously difficult for pandas in captivity to get pregnant, but the zoo hopes to inseminate Mei Xiang when she goes into estrus for 24 to 72 hours in the coming weeks.

"Scientists are working to preserve 90 percent of the genetic diversity of the giant pandas living in human care for the next 200 years," the zoo said.

"There are currently 392 giant pandas living in human care; scientists hope to grow the population to 500 bears."

Mei Xiang has already given birth to two surviving cubs fathered by Tian Tian, the National Zoo's only male giant panda attraction.

This time around, however, the zoo said a cub sired by Hui Hui "would be more genetically valuable," based on a calculation of the best genetic matches for all the world's eligible breeding pandas.

Mei Xiang made international headlines in August 2013 when she gave birth to Bao Bao, who now lives separately from her mother at the zoo.

Bao Bao is set to go to China when she turns four years old, following in the footsteps of her older sibling Tai Shan, born in July 2005.

About 1,864 giant pandas live in the wild, according to the latest figures from China's State Forestry Administration, released in February.

Home cheap home: Vietnam architect's quest for low-cost housing

Yahoo – AFP, Cat Barton, 25 Jan 2015

Farmer Vo Van Duong rests inside a S-House 2 built in his garden in Vietnam's

 southern Mekong delta province of Long An on December 11, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Hoang Dinh Nam)

Long An (Vietnam) (AFP) - Vo Van Duong's bamboo and coconut leaf house looks much like others deep in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. But unlike them, his seemingly simple abode is designed to withstand typhoons, flooding and earthquakes -- and at a cost of less than $4,000 could herald a new wave of cheap, sustainable housing.

The natural materials on its surface belie the hi-tech internal structure of the farmer's new home, which uses steel struts and wall panels as a defence against the elements in this natural disaster-prone region.

Architect Vo Trong Nghia speaks during 

an interview with AFP in Ho Chi Minh City

on December 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang

Dinh Nam)

"The new house is safer, I'm not afraid that it will collapse," the 48-year-old papaya farmer told AFP inside the house he moved into nine months ago.

Duong is testing a prototype by an award-winning Vietnamese architecture firm looking for low-cost housing solutions for communities vulnerable to climate change.

His S-House 2 was free, but if rolled-out on a wider scale could be sold for less than $4,000.

"There was water coming down from the roof in my old house. Sometimes, when there was a strong wind, I was so afraid the house wouldn't survive," Duong said, adding his new home was the envy of his neighbours.

The eco-home is the brainchild of Vo Trong Nghia, who joins other architects around the world in trying to fill a demand for cheap and easy to assemble housing -- from flat-pack refugee shelters to shipping-container homes for tsunami victims.

He says all architects have a duty to help the poor.

"What about those with low income, billions of them, how can they live?" Nghia told AFP. "They have the right to live in comfortable, functional places."

But he wants to go further, creating a home residents can take pride in.

"I don't want people to be looking at it as 'cheap houses' but as resort-quality accommodation close to nature, so (residents) can live a life of the highest quality."

Farmer Vo Van Duong in the garden of a S-House 2 in Vietnam's southern Mekong

delta province of Long An on December 11, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)

Flat-pack homes

The design is still being refined by his team, who are eventually aiming to create a flat-pack home. The newest version, S-House 3, can be built by five people in three hours.

"Our goal for S-house is for the owner to construct it by themselves," said Kosuke Nishijima, a partner at the firm.

The latest design also allows for multiple houses to be tacked together, a function that could allow, for example, the construction of a storm-proof school easily transportable to remote areas or a larger family home.

Nghia has already been approached by NGOs in disaster-prone Bangladesh and the Philippines, but is not yet ready to supply the house commercially.

From saline-intrusion and flooding in the Mekong Delta to typhoons along the central coast, Vietnam is also home to communities living in high risk areas.

For decades, Vietnamese families have adapted their houses themselves, many building ad hoc mezzanines to avoid flooding.

In more recent years organisations including the Red Cross and Women's Unions, as well as local authorities, have been trying to help people develop more resilient housing.

A bedroom inside an ecologically conscious traditional Vietnamese tube house

 designed by architect Vo Trong Nghia's company, in Ho Chi Minh City on 

December 12, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)

But in order to ensure such projects are successful, "private architects' support is critical", according to Boram Kim, an urban specialist with UN-Habitat in Vietnam.

"State and local government authorities are well aware that such houses are needed for the poor, but have little technical knowledge for realising their ideas," she told AFP.

"Architects have technical knowledge for reducing the housing construction cost while making it storm proof," she said, cautioning that it was important for designers to listen to the needs of local communities.

Architect for the poor

Nghia's firm found that one of the problems facing rural Vietnamese living in traditional bamboo shacks or stilted river-bank dwellings is the costly upkeep they require to withstand increasingly extreme weather.

Although the S-House 2's outer casing of coconut leaf may need replacing every four years, the structure itself should require no expensive maintenance, said engineer Lien Phuoc Huy Phuong.

A series of concrete slabs and gaps filled

 with plants in the facade of an ecologically

 conscious traditional Vietnamese tube house

 designed by architect Vo Trong Nghia's 

company, in Ho Chi Minh City, on December

12, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang Ding Nam)

"It can last a long time, the structure is sound," he told AFP during a tour of the small building. 

Despite its solid exterior, the house is spacious and airy inside, with large windows and doors to bring residents closer to nature.

"We tried to design this house with the best ventilation system, with spaces by the roof and windows for better air flow," Phuong said, pointing out strategic gaps that should reduce the need for electric fans.

Architect Nghia, who used bamboo as a key element in Vietnam's country pavilion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, has long sought to incorporate natural and local materials into his work.

One of his first projects in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City was an ecologically-conscious take on a traditional Vietnamese tube home, known as Stacking Green house.

Built in 2011 for around $150,000, the building is made of a series of concrete slabs and gaps filled with plants to provide privacy while still allowing plenty of air and light.

Nghia is in strong demand for high-end projects from hotels to private houses, but said the low-cost S-House is his personal obsession.

"I want to live in S-House. If my family will agree," he said.

UN’s Ban Ki-Moon Meets Young Eco-Warriors at a Bali School

A green school makes the effort in nurturing its students' potential in becoming green leaders

Jakarta Globe, Nadia Bintoro, Sep 07, 2014

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon greets young students in Sibang Kaja,
Bali on Aug. 28, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Green School Bali)

Putting theoretical discourse into real action, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Green School in Sibang Kaja, Bali, on Aug. 28, to learn about and witness firsthand sustainable education from a group of future leaders.

Accompanied by several significant figures in the political movement for climate change, including Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morten Hoglund; Ambassador of Norway to Indonesia Stig Traavik; founder of the Green School Bali, John A. Hardy; and head of school John Stewart.

Ban and the delegation were warmly welcomed by 412 students of Green School, from pre-kindergarten to high-school level.

Equally excited to salute the secretary general on stage was Green School’s own deputy secretary general of the campus’ Model United Nations Club, Clover Horan.

The 10th grader leads the Green School’s own version of the UN, which aims to expand students’ knowledge on international issues and policy making.

Together with Ban, the delegation took the stage to give their remarks on the importance of young leaders to create a more sustainable future ahead.

In his opening speech, the UN secretary general shared his amazement over Green School’s commitment in molding the younger generation into future green leader of the world.

“This is the most unique and impressive school I have ever visited. Thank you very much for your strong commitment and vision to [making] this world green,” Ban said.

Recognizing the alarming threat climate change poses on the development and betterment of the world’s poorest communities, Ban noted that around today’s world leaders have had “though choices to make,” especially in the months leading up to the Sept. 1-4 Climate Summit and its post-2015 Development Agenda.

Onlookers as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the school
on Aug. 28, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Nadia Bintoro)

He encouraged his young audience to take an active part in the world’s ongoing efforts to combat climate change by developing into global citizens.

“Tomorrow you are going to be [our] leaders. And today, we need to be together working very hard to make the world of tomorrow much better for all its people,” Ban appealed to the crowd of enthusiastic students.

He especially congratulated “Bye Bye Plastic Bag,” an initiative led by Green School students Isabel and Melati Wijsen, which aims to collect one million signatures to ban the use of plastic bags in Bali. Ban said he hopes children all over the world could have the drive and passion to start a similar campaign.

During his visit, the secretary general also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Green School Bali, the National Redd+ Agency and the United Nations Office for Redd+ Coordination in Indonesia (UNorcid).

The joint endeavor, called “Green Schools for Sustainable Development,” details a collaborative framework between the three parties involved for the implementation of sustainable development in Indonesia’s schools and other educational institutions.

The MOU will serve as a guide for facilitation and development of green schools across Indonesia.

The three signatories are committed to recruiting one million Green Youth Ambassadors in schools across the archipelago by 2017.

“The Green School is an outstanding proof of concept. The next step is to achieve proof of scale. Supporting [the development] of green schools and strengthening environmentally sensitive educational curricula are two of the ten imperative actions of the National Redd+ Agency in 2014,” said Heru Prasetyo, head of the Indonesian National Redd+ Agency (BP Redd+).

The international delegation’s visit continued with a tour around Green School, showcasing several of the institution’s efforts to promote sustainable living and green education.

The event came to an end with the secretary general and his wife releasing two Bali starlings, which were bred by the Begawan Foundation — located within the school’s premises — to limit the risk of the species’s extinction.

As the magnificent white birds soared into the blue Bali sky, so did the hopes of those in attendance that day, for a greener and better future.

UN Secretary General Ban was in Bali on Aug. 28-29 for the Alliance of Civilizations’ Sixth Global Forum, which this year carried the theme of “Unity in Diversity: Celebrating Diversity for Common and Shared Values.”

Renowned conservationist Jane Goodall was the star of a recent conference
in Bali on sustainability. (Photo Courtesy of Green School)

Related Article:

Jane Goodall, an Eco Legend, Preaches Love for All in Bali

Pandering to the crowd: panda accused of faking pregnancy in bun fraud case

Ai Hin showed all the signs she was expecting but only wanted extra food and the trappings of celebrity, say keepers

theguardian.com, AFP, Beijing, Thursday 28 August 2014

Giant panda Ai Hin put on a ‘phantom pregnancy’, possibly because she wanted
special treatment, her Chinese keepers say. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Hopes that tiny panda paws would be seen in the world’s first live-broadcast cub delivery have been dashed after Chinese experts suggested the “mother” may have been focusing more on extra bun rations than giving birth.

The slated star of the show, giant panda Ai Hin, had shown signs of pregnancy at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre, according to state news agency Xinhua.

A live broadcast of the event was planned but Xinhua said her “behaviours and physiological indexes returned to normal”, citing experts saying she experienced a “phantom pregnancy”.

The breeding centre, in China’s south-western province of Sichuan, commonly moves pandas that are thought to be pregnant into single rooms with air conditioning and around-the-clock care.

“They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life,” Wu Kongju, an expert at the base told Xinhua.

Phantom pregnancy is said to be common among the endangered animals. Many continued to display pregnant behaviour after noticing the difference in treatment they received, Xinhua said.

Six-year-old Ai Hin showed reduced appetite, less mobility and a surge in hormones when her “pregnancy” was first detected, the news agency said, before further observations concluded it was fake.

The giant panda’s natural habitat is in the mountainous south-west of China. But they have a notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors such as habitat loss.

China has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild and another 300 held in captivity.

“Only 24% of females in captivity give birth, posing a serious threat to the survival of the species,” Xinhua said.

Jane Goodall, an Eco Legend, Preaches Love for All in Bali

Jakarta Globe, Nadia Bintoro,  June 24, 2014

Renowned conservationist Jane Goodall was the star of a recent conference
in Bali on sustainability. (Photo Courtesy of Green School)

It was the day that many conservationists and environmentalists in Bali had been awaiting for quite some time, the inaugural “Sustainability and Conservation Conference,” set in Bali’s  famous Green School, amid the lush forests of Banjar Saren near Ubud.

The conference was special in many ways, yet the most intriguing aspect for many was that it featured Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned ethologist, environmental leader and UN messenger of peace.

The one-day conference aimed to ignite discussions and initiatives to ensure the sustainability of Bali’s nature and culture. The conference was packed with talks and discussion panels featuring some of the key players in Indonesia’s conservation efforts.

In attendance from early morning to late afternoon, the conference attendees were happily roaming around, moving between the distinct traditional bamboo architecture at the Green School, attending the various talks, panel discussions and activities that appealed most to their interests.

The event was divided into three venues: the main field, the Mepantigan building, and the Turtle room.

Among the speakers in the main field were Steve Lansing, a specialist on subak, the Balinese traditional irrigation system, who presented a talk on the topic “Survival of Subak”; Ian Singleton from the Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Program; as well as David Metcalf, who shed some light on the Dayak tribes of Kalimantan and the challenges they face from the loss of their forests to mining and plantation concessions.

There were also presentations and discussions from nongovernmental organizations and conservation groups, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Coral Triangle Center, Conservation International, Eco Bali, Kopernik, Threads of Life and more, each sharing their expertise and concerns on conservation issues and challenges.

The Turtle room was reserved for “lighter” presentations in the form of movie screenings. Inside the eye-catching bamboo structure, characteristic of the Green School, and amid a cool breeze flowing in beneath the thatched roof, dozens of conservation enthusiasts crowded around to watch movies including “Let Elephants be Elephants” and “Rise of the Eco-Warriors.”

Following the latter, there was a panel discussion featuring two of the “eco-warriors” from the movie, Kodi Twiner and Paul Daley. The talked about their experiences, concerns and insights from filming the movie.

But the highlight of the day was without a doubt the talk by Goodall. A world-leading primatologist, Goodall — who has been passionate about animals since her childhood — began her extensive research on the behavior of chimpanzees in the 1960s in Tanzania. Her unorthodox research methods were initially controversial; for instance, the mere fact that she gave the chimpanzees names instead of numbers, as was common practice among researchers to avoid emotional attachment, raised many eyebrows.

However, Goodall’s research eventually became the foundation for future primate research in the world, and thanks to her findings the scientific community at the time was challenged in some their long-standing beliefs where the animals were concerned, especially with regard to their social behavior and diet.

Goodall has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career and has been twice appointed a UN messenger of peace, in 2002 and 2007. Her Jane Goodall Institute currently operates 19 offices around the world.

Jane Goodall conversing with children participating in the conference.
(Photo courtesy of Green School)

Rights of animals

As the sun slowly set over Bali, dozens of attendees sat cross-legged in the main tent, listening attentively to Goodall’s soft voice, enchanted by her heartfelt talk “Where the Hope Lies.”

Here, Goodall shared her personal stories of how she became a world-renowned primatologist, on the tremendous supports from her mother — who accompanied her daughter to Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park in 1960 out of concern for her safety — and on her belief and conviction on non-human rights. She stands firm that animals possess emotions and personalities just like humans do, and that they therefore deserve ethical treatment as well.

“In what terms should we think of these beings, non-human yet possessing so very many human-like characteristics, how should we treat them?” she asked. “Surely we should treat them with the same consideration and kindness as we show to other humans; and as we recognize human rights, so too should we recognize the rights of the great apes and other animals.”

Goodall also emphasized the importance of planting environmental awareness in young minds through specific programs such as Roots & Shoots, which she first founded back in Tanzania.

Roots & Shoots aims to bring together youths of all ages, from preschool to university, to work on environmental, conservation and humanitarian issues. The program now has chapters in more than 132 countries, involving 100,000 youth.

A day prior to the conference, the first Plastik Tidak Fantastik Festival (Plastic Isn’t  Fantastic Festival) was held by the student-led initiative Bye Bye Plastic Bag.

Hosting Goodall herself during the festival were Isabel and Melati Wijsen, the founders of the BBPB campaign. The sisters, aged just 11 and 12, who are also students at the Green School, accompanied Goodall throughout the day that was filled with various entertaining and socially responsible workshops; a fund-raising fun-run; a trash fashion show; and live musical performances, all prepared and presented by the students.

“Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right,” Goodall told the attentive Bali kids from BBPB.

She appealed for the students to be the messengers for a brighter and more environmentally conscious future by being aware and taking the initiative to create more harmonious relationships between the environment and mankind.

The event was closed with a book signing by Goodall.

“Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for the living things around us, especially each other,” she said.

Such inspiring words echoed in the tranquil grounds of the Green School as the sun slowly cast its last shadow.

As they found a way into the hearts of the audience, many participants, both young and adult, seemed to feel motivated to create a greener and more sustainable future for Bali and beyond.

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Call for Decree Restoring Forests To Indigenous to Be Implemented

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra, May 16, 2014

Kajang men holding bamboo trees at Amatoa village where the Kajang tribe live
 in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, on Aug. 12, 2013. Deep in a remote forest in the
 archipelago, the Kajang tribe lives much as it has done for centuries, resisting
nearly all the trappings of modern life. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is facing criticism over delays in issuing a decree to implement a Constitutional Court verdict handing over the country’s customary forests to their indigenous people.

One year on, the ruling shows no signs of being realized, civil society groups said on Tuesday, resulting in continued conflict between indigenous groups, companies and local governments over the management of the forests.

The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) and other nongovernmental organizations are planning to send an open letter to Yudhoyono as well as the country’s next leader if the former fails to act during his term, which ends in October.

Abdon Nababan, AMAN secretary general, expressed hope that Yudhoyono would not want to end his term with red marks on his presidential performance record, leaving a legacy of ignoring the plight to save the forests and their inhabitants.

“Therefore, I believe he will consider this issue,” he said during a discussion to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the verdict on Tuesday.

Abdon said a presidential decree would detail instructions to both the central and regional governments on the steps they can take to help empower the country’s indigenous population.

This can be accomplished, he explained, by allowing them to manage and benefit from their own forests without damaging the environment.

Deputy secretary general of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) Iwan Nurdin said the matter has been prolonged by ministries that hold a vested interest in the areas to be transferred.

“Although Yudhoyono has given his commitment, other officials — particularly the Home Affairs Ministry and the Forestry Ministry — are against the idea,” he said, adding that the indigenous people have not received any benefits from the customary lands as part of reciprocal promises the government had made.

“They [ministries] should receive the blame; they issued permits for their own interests, leaving the indigenous people and the country with nothing,” he said.

Iwan also “rent-seeking political elites” failed to prioritize an agenda for a agrarian reform.

“The imbalance in land ownership between corporations and the native inhabitants is still extremely high.”

Agrarian conflict

The indigenous community, people who hail from customary forest areas and their surroundings, have been pushed out from their own homes by agrarian conflicts, activists said.

Data collected by AMAN revealed that the 143 violent clashes recorded in 2013 were just the tip of the iceberg as researchers claimed missing reports and incomplete documents of many other instances were not taken into consideration.

“The agrarian conflicts have violated human rights. More locals will be punished as criminals and poverty will remain high as long as the government does nothing,” Abdon said.

AMAN, in a joint venture with other NGOs including Epistema, HuMa, WALHI, Greenpeace, Forest Watch Indonesia, Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) and Indigenous Territory Registration Board (BRWA) plan to draft a proposal on what the current government can do to bring justice to the indigenous people.

Sandra Moniaga, commissioner of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said her institution has initiated a national inquiry and conducted thorough investigations on issues connected to the status of the basic rights of Indonesia’s indigenous communities, particularly those still living in forests and their surroundings.

“I expect the national inquiry to become a priority, because numerous cases of infringement have caused national concern in the past,” she said, adding that last year’s Constitutional Court (MK) verdict should not only reinstate the indigenous people’s rights, but further expand them and empower indigenous people.

Mirna A. Safitri, executive director of the Epistema Institute, emphasized that local governments had an important role in carrying out orders issued by the MK as the central government has mandated the implementation to the regions in question.

“Each region’s bylaws are still far from satisfactory and, thus, should be improved. We need more regulations that look after the indigenous community’s best interests, preserve their homes and improve their way of living,” she said.

Mirna added that the MK verdict should also help to establish a peaceful relationship between the indigenous communities and the modern society that surrounds them.