W Sumatra needs to diversify gambier to increase export

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - West Sumatra was expected to diversify gambier (ingridient traditionally used in betel chewing, leather tanning and dyeing) as a raw material for medicines for diarrhea and oral ulceration as well as shampo, an expert has said.

Gambier growers should thus be encouraged to develop the commodity in an effort to increase West Sumatra province`s export quantity and quality, Chairman of the Centre for the Study of Medicinal Plants at the Andalas University, Prof. Amri Bahktiar, said here Sunday.

"Gambier as a raw material for drinks and anti-oxidant products against cigarette smokes and fumes of cars among other things needs to be developed," Amri said.

More than 80 percent of gambier to the world market hailed from West Sumatra whose main production centre is located in the 50 Koto district and the southern coastal area.

In 2002, West Sumatra produced 10,729 tons of gambier from a 17,800 hectare plot of land. The province exported the commodity to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Japan and the United States as well as Europe and the Middle East besides other countries in different parts of the world.

Meanwhile, Indonesia`s total export of gambier in 2003 was recorded at more than 5,178 tons valued at US$5,178,050. The biggest export with the volume of 4,875.988 tons was to India.

West Sumatra should pay special attention to gambier as one of its prime commodities, Amri said, adding that Indonesia is the biggest gambier producer in the world.

"The constraint being faced by West Sumatra in developing gambier is the poor processing technology as the commodity is still sold in a raw material, low quality and without diversification," he noted.

Gambier is used at home still as a raw material for betel chewing, leather tanning and dyeing substance in making batik clothes.

Government to radically reduce National Park funding

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Malang

The government will make eight of the 50 national parks in the country autonomous by 2009 in a bid to save Rp 32 billion (US$3.5 million) in state spending, said a forestry official in Malang, East Java.

The move means the parks will no longer receive operational funds of up to Rp 4 billion each year, said director of the forest conservation at the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and Forest Protection (PHKA), Banjar Yulianto Laban.

On the surface, the changes do not seem to favor the parks or their overall management and upkeep, however, Banjar said it was a positive move.

"Other than saving state funds, (this move means) the operators of (newly-autonomous) national parks will eventually be able (to manage their funds independently)," he said.

"They (will be able to grow) their (own) earnings and gain profits of up to three-fold."

The eight national parks to undergo said management change include Komodo (East Nusa Tenggara), Bunaken (North Sulawesi), Bromo Tengger Semeru (East Java), Gede Pangrango (West Java), Mount Leuser (North Sumatra), West Bali (Bali), Meru Betiri (East Java) and Wasur (Papua).

Today, 60 percent of Rp 4 billion is used for security purposes for these national parks, while 40 percent is used to maintain infrastructure and facilities.

"If they manage their own finances, I estimate they will be able to increase profits three (fold) -- and this will amount to around Rp 12 billion annually," said Banjar.

In a bid to realize the plan and as part of the restructure process, 21 of the 50 national parks in the country will become model national parks.

Autonomous national park operators will maintain existing procedures, including public accountability, self-financing and sustainable forest management.

They will independently handle government non-tax revenue and every legitimate income stream so the parks can be managed in a sustainable, effective and efficient manner.

"I'm assured activities that could harm the ecosystem inside the national parks will not become practice.

"Because, under autonomous management, the only losing party will the be management teams when they eventually suffer declining profits," said Banjar.

It's essential park staff work together to ensure the parks are managed professionally, Banjar said.

Funds the government will accumulate as a result of these changes may later be used to upgrade park accessibility, he said.

A study conducted by Hendra Gunawan from the Nature Conservation and Forest Protection Research Center indicates only 32 percent of the 50 national parks in the country have vehicle access up to their offices or gateways.

Hendra said visitors were less eager to visit national parks due to limited access and the long journey required to each park.

"It's a 10-hour round-trip from the provincial capital or nearest airport to get to most of the national parks in Indonesia," he said.

"Those located outside Java can only be reached by air or water, proceeded by hours and hours overland."

Banjar said it was a considerable disadvantage for foreign tourists eager to spend their time in tropical forests -- of which Indonesia boasts the most worldwide.

"It would not cost a great deal should the government want to build facilities, including airports, near the Komodo National Park, which could accommodate flights directly from Australia or Jakarta," he said.

"And tourists can fly directly to Sulawesi from there.

"At the moment visitors who wish to visit the Komodo National Park have to go through Bali and resume their journey by sea to the location.

Those who want to go to Sulawesi have to return to Surabaya or Jakarta first, which I think will be too taxing."

Govt to revitalize lakes, rivers

The Jakarta Post

BOGOR: The government is allocating Rp 850 billion (US$95 million) to revitalize rivers and lakes in Greater Jakarta and will order developers to stop constructing buildings in such areas.

"If we interrupt any part of the lakes and waterways, it would have an impact to the whole system," said Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto after signing a joint agreement on the revitalization plan with Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban and Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono.

The plan was launched in Situ Cikaret, Bogor, in West Java to commemorate National Water Day.

The Forestry Ministry is also planning to replant 110,000 hectares of land under the program

Modern VCO factory to be built in North Sulawesi

Manado, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - North Sulawesi will have a modern virgin coconut oil (VCO) factory which will be build at an investment value of Rp1.3 billion from provincial budget, an official has said.

"Bid for a contract to build the factory will finish this year and the factory will be operated next year," North Sulawesi Plantation Office head Rene Hosang said here Tuesday.

The proposed factory would use stainless steel machinery in a bid to maintain quality of VCO which was widely known as panacea, he said.

"Operation of the VCO factory will be handed over to a private firm which is required to make contribution to the provincial coffer. The VCO will be produced based on Indonesia`s National Standard (SNI) that it can be exported to many countries," he said.

The proposed VCO factory could be utilized by household business to purify their homemade VCO, Rene said.

North Sulawesi Coconut Farmer Association chairman Marthen Nelwan said the upcoming VCO factory would help improve quality of VCO which was mainly produced as home industry in many North Sulawesi households.

Spectacular supernova a preview of blast to come

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

NASA astronomers Monday reported the biggest and brightest star explosion ever recorded, a blast whose light began reaching Earth in the past year from 240 million light years away.

The remnants of the explosion pose no threat to people or electronics on Earth, but the blast offers hints of a future fireworks display from another, much closer star — a mere 7,500 light years away — that has been on astronomers' death-watch list for some time.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite images show the exploding star, or supernova, SN 2006gy, blew apart a distant star some 150 times heavier than our sun, says Chandra team leader Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley.

Massive stars explode when they finish consuming their own envelope of gases, essentially collapsing under their own weight and enriching surrounding space with radioactive ash. Discovery that a massive star can retain most of its mass before blasting apart, instead of shedding weight in a long series of preparatory eruptions, defies explanation.

"The fact the star retained most of its mass before exploding is startling," says Smith

Read More ....

Two die and four missing as flashfloods hit Parigi Moutong

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Parigi Moutong

Flashfloods hit Parigi Moutong regency in South Sulawesi in the early hours of Sunday, killing two and injuring another, with four more people reported missing.

The waters also damaged hundreds of houses and inundated hundreds of hectares of agricultural land.

The regency administration report that they two dead were Juluhi, 50, and Zulkifli, 45. The injured victim, Amrina, 40, is being treated at Pariku Moutong Hospital.

Missing are Adnan, 45, his wife Arida, 40, and their two children Janrah and Dharma. A landslide is believed to have swamped their home and residents and officials are now searching the area.

Heavy rain stopped the search effort at about noon, with police concerned more flashfloods would hit the area.

"The heavy rainfall forced us to temporarily halt the search and rescue activities," Parigi Moutong Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhammad Kilat said.

Parigi Moutong Regent Longky Djanggola said that his officers had evacuated 224 families from Petapa village, where many houses were destroyed by the floods, to safer areas.

"We've evacuated the residents who lost their houses," Longky told The Jakarta Post.

Longky further said that the flashfloods hit five villages, Petapa, Olaya and Baliara in Parigi district, and Lemusa in South Parigi district, as well as Bantaya at Parigi Moutong district.

According to Longky, Sunday's flood was only the second to hit the area and the first since 1973, when six people were killed.

He said he believed the floods were caused by excessive logging in the surrounding forest by local residents bribed by wealthy businessmen.

He said that residents did not know why they should stop felling the trees and it continued because they were paid large amounts of money to do so.

"This is difficult to wipe out," he said.

Longky suggested that regency encourage those involved in illegal logging to stop and invite them to become police themselves.

"As soon as you see people involved in illegal logging, report it to the authorities and we will together catch the perpetrators," he said.

Japan Announces New Cooperation on Climate Change and Investment Promotion

Asian Development Bank

KYOTO, JAPAN - Japan will support developing countries in Asia and the Pacific in promoting investment and tackling climate change through a new cooperation initiative with ADB of up to US$2 billion over five years, and two funds totaling up to $100 million.

The initiative was announced by the Chair of ADB’s Board of Governors, Japan’s Minister of Finance Koji Omi, at the opening ceremony of ADB’s 40th Annual Meeting in Kyoto today.

Read his address in English and Japanese.

About ADB

Global Warming Report: Convincing Asia

Friday, May. 04, 2007 By Bryan Walsh, Time

Jakarta: In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, traffic moves as slowly as blood through a corpse. Streams of motorcycles part for SUVs and diesel-spewing buses, and everyone gets nowhere fast. The air is clogged from the vehicle exhaust and from the frequent forest fires that break out around Indonesia.

Once home to some of the most extensive rainforests in the world, Indonesia is now losing trees at a faster rate than any other nation in the world, to flames but also to rampant logging. Since equatorial trees soak up carbon dioxide when they're alive and release the gas when they're cut down or burned, Indonesia's rapid deforestation is the main reason why this country of 245 million is the third-biggest carbon emitter in the world after the U.S. and China.

But like other developing countries, the Indonesian government says it needs to focus on economic growth to raise its people out of poverty — and that likely means that trees will be cut, cars will be added and carbon emissions will only go up.

Read More ....

World applauds climate change recommendations

By Deutshe Presse Agentur, dpa

Governments have unanimously welcomed the Bangkok Report on global warming - which warned that there were only eight years left to act but said reducing emissions could be achieved with about 0.1 per cent of the world's annual economic output.

The third report by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in Bangkok Friday, said that global emissions must start declining by the year 2015 to prevent the world's temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrialised levels - a threshold expected to pose serious risks to human beings.

Bringing carbon dioxide back down to acceptable levels would cost less than 3 per cent of global gross domestic product in total, or less than 0.12 per cent of global GDP per year, by improving energy efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energy alternatives, the report said.

"It is now time for the rest of the international community to follow our lead and commit to ambitious reduction targets," European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

The 27-member EU earlier this year vowed bold action in the fight against climate change, setting a binding target of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020, followed by a 30-per-cent reduction in emissions provided other industrialised nations like the United States follow suit.

US officials emphasised the importance of this latest report, but said their country would not adopt corrective actions that would seriously damage the economy.

Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said that spending 3 per cent of GDP on combatting global warming was untenable.

"Well that would, of course, cause a global recession," Connaughton told reporters. "No leader in the world ... is going to be pursuing a strategy that would drive their economies into a deep recession."

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday that a climate catastrophe can be prevented if the world acts quickly, echoing comments by a number of European officials Friday.

"We have no time to lose," Gabriel said, appealing for a more widespread use of technology needed to increase energy efficiency and expand the production of bio-fuels.

"It's important that we set the right course at the climate conference in Bali in December," he said in reference to negotiations planned on the Indonesian island for a new international treaty.

The so-called Kyoto Protocols, which have subjected member countries to targeted emissions reductions since 2005, must be renewed by the year 2012. Friday's report provided a solid basis for the Bali negotiations on a follow-up treaty, according to Yvo de Boer, the UN's top climate official.

De Boer said the next treaty should lay down firm targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but added that he did not believe emerging economies like China, India and Brazil were ready to accept binding goals.

He told a news conference in Berlin that large developing countries could make a contribution through their own energy efficiency programmes and inclusion in carbon trading schemes.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon echoed De Boer's comments, urging governments to demonstrate the political will to work out a comprehensive solution to the climate problem.

"A comprehensive package on the way forward needs to be urgently launched at the IPCC in Bali in December," Ban said in a statement. "I call on all parties to the Convention on Climate Change to work towards this aim with the political will to decisively abate climate change and its impacts on our planet and people."

But officials in the US, which did not sign the Kyoto Protocols, said that until emissions are brought under control in developing countries like China and India, nothing will change.

"Some two-thirds to three-fourths of (the) growth is going to come from developing countries," primarily due to the generation of electricity from coal, said Dr Harlan Watson, the senior US climate negotiator.

The IPCC report suggested that one way to mitigate climate change is switching from coal to gas for electricity, but US officials made clear they expect coal to remain king.

"China will use its coal to develop, the United States will use its coal as part of our overall energy profile," Connaughton said.

Reporters repeatedly asked whether the US would support any of the target emission levels suggested in the IPCC report, similar to the EU's aim for one of the lower levels.

The US officials said such targets were meaningless, since reductions in one country could be offset by increases in other countries, like China or India. Instead, they referred to President George W Bush's targets set in January for reductions, including a push for more use of renewable, less polluting fuels like ethanol.

"In America, culturally, our people are just much more responsive" to specific amounts, Connaughton said. Americans say: "Tell me how much I need to achieve in a particular sector by when," Connaughton said.

New Zealand on Saturday said the IPCC report showed that action to counter global warming is both affordable and practical.

"The report confirms that with technologies that are available today, and that are currently being developed, we can cut emissions and avoid the worst projected impacts of climate change," David Parker, a cabinet minister dealing with the environment, said in a statement.

RI 'honored' for forest destruction

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia is set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, but it is not an achievement the country will want to brag about.

Guinness has agreed to a proposal by Greenpeace to cite Indonesia in its 2008 issue, to be published in September, for the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005.

An area of forest equal to 300 soccer fields is being destroyed every hour in the country.

The citation in the publication will read: "Of the 44 countries which collectively account for 90 percent of the world's forests, the country which pursues the highest annual rate of deforestation is Indonesia with 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) of forest destroyed each year between 2000-2005."

That figure is still lower than the Forestry Ministry's estimate of 2.8 million hectares of forest lost annually.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Hapsoro said Thursday a temporary ban on commercial logging in natural forests, a full-blown reforestation effort and stricter law enforcement to stop illegal logging were necessary to halt this worrying trend.

Indonesia is estimated to have lost 72 percent of its approximately 123.35 million hectares of ancient forests, and half of what remains is threatened by commercial logging, frequent forest fires and land clearance for palm oil plantations.

While the Forestry Ministry and the State Ministry for the Environment have vowed a massive reforestation program, green activists say such efforts will be useless as long as the government continues to approve new forest concessions for industrial purposes.

Indonesia is a key exporter of timber, paper and palm oil to China, Japan, South Korea and a number of European nations.

Greenpeace also said frequent fires in Indonesia's peatland, resulting in the release of massive amounts of carbon dioxide, have made the country the third-largest greenhouse gas polluter after the U.S. and China.

Environment ministry, WB team up for ozone layer

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Ministry for the Environment and the World Bank are teaming up to help 600 buildings in Jakarta switch over to more ozone-friendly air-conditioning systems.

Targeted buildings include hotels, shopping malls, hospitals and government offices, all built before 1985 and all employing centrifugal chillers.

These chillers are used for large buildings in a centralized air-conditioning system. One centrifugal chiller uses about 40 metric tons of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs-12), far higher than the 250 grams usually needed for air conditioners in individual housing.

Ministry head of ozone protection Tri Widayati said Thursday her office would initiate the replacement of the chillers through a scheme to be jointly designed with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program.

"Hopefully, we can begin replacing the chillers with ones that are only compatible with ozone-friendly products, after completing the financing scheme by the middle of this year."

State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia has agreed to provide soft loans for building operators to replace their chillers. The estimated cost for replacing one centrifugal chiller is about US$150,000.

Erik Pedersen, a World Bank technical adviser on the environment for East Asia and the Pacific, said the bank might subsidize 25 percent of the cost for each chiller replacement.

"We are discussing how to convince owners to replace the chillers because if they replace them, they will save significantly on energy consumption."

He said reducing energy consumption could help ease the impacts of global warming.

"The replacement (of 600 chillers) could save one power plant in Indonesia."

Centrifugal chillers are obsolete in many countries, including Thailand, Mexico and Venezuela, having been phased out as part of the global campaign to reduce the use of ozone-depleting substances.

"China, India and Malaysia are to soon start (phasing out the chillers)," Pedersen said.

He said replacing the chillers was inevitable, with many CFC producers such as Venezuela and Argentina having stopped production.

"China will stop CFC production by July this year," he said.

Indonesia now imports CFCs from India and China.

CFCs, which are also used in refrigerators, foam production, fire extinguishers, aerosols and solvents, are the main destroyers of the ozone layer, which blocks out the sun's deadly ultraviolet rays.

The ministry has estimated that around 4,000 tons of CFCs are illegally traded in Indonesia every year, 10 times the country's annual quota of 400 metric tons.

Indonesia ratified the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer Protection in 1992, obliging it to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances.

The protocol requires Indonesia to stop importing CFCs by December this year. The ministry recently said Jakarta accounted for 60 percent of all CFCs used in the country.

Delegates to climate change meeting: We have to do something now

The Jakarta Post

BANGKOK (AP): International delegates agreed Friday that the world has the technology and money to limit catastrophic global warming, but that it must act now to reduce the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Promptly adopting biofuels, renewable energy sources, greater energy efficiency and other steps can mitigate worldwide disaster, according to a report adopted by government-appointed delegates from more than 120 countries at a conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

Coming out of the meeting early Friday, delegates said science appeared to have trumped politics - especially opposition from China, which wanted language inserted allowing for a greater buildup of greenhouse gases in the environment before action would be taken.

Beijing and its supporters had argued moves to make deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions risked stifling its spectacular economic growth, delegates said.

According to a partial version of the final document obtained by The Associated Press, China's efforts failed to remove mention of a stringent emission target from the report. The Chinese delegation could not be reached for comment.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of 2,000 scientists, makes plain that the world must act immediately to cap the global temperature increase at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial-age levels.

"It's all done," said Peter Lukey, a member of the South Africa delegation. "Everything we wanted to see was there and more. The message is: We have to do something now."

The week long meeting in Bangkok by delegates from more than 120 countries was contentious as they bickered over how the share the burden of cutting emissions, how much such measures would cost, and how much weight to give certain policy measures, such as advanced nuclear power, an option supported by the United States.

"This is still an excellent report," French delegate Michel Petit said, adding that China and the other developing countries ended up compromising on all major issues. "Nothing important was removed during the process."

Surabaya's customs office head arrested on illegal logs

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (JP): Head of Surabaya Customs Office Dwi Cahyono Thursday was arrested for his alleged involvement in trafficking 10 containers of illegal logs from Kalimantan forests.

"I have led the arrests of two suspects. But we release one of them because there is not enough evidence of his involvement," East Java Police chief Ins. Gen. Herman S. Sumawiredja was quoted by Antara news agency as saying in the provincial capital of Surabaya.

He was accused of being involved in counterfeiting documents of 10 containers of logs Rp 10 billion (US$1.09 million) to be sent to abroad from Kalimantan.

RI losing forest cover faster than any other country: Greenpeace

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia is losing its forests faster than any other country, with the equivalent of about 300 soccer pitches destroyed every hour, environmental group Greenpeace said Thursday.

The group said Guinness World Records had confirmed the country would enter its book next year as the "fastest forest destroyer in the world." Guinness could not be immediately reached for independent confirmation.

"It is a national shame for Indonesia to own this distinction in the record books," Southeast Asia Greenpeace forest campaigner Hapsoro said, holding up an official citation from Guinness. "This is tragic."

Around 1.8 million hectares (4.5 million acres) of forest were destroyed each year between 2000 and 2005, a rate of 2 percent annually or 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) a day, said Hapsoro, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.

Indonesia's forestry ministry did not contest the figures, but said, "We have been doing our best to slow down the rate.""We are very concerned," said ministry spokesman Masyhud.

In addition to massive commercial logging for timber, Indonesian forests are also being decimated by fires and land clearing for palm oil plantations.

Masyhud said that since 2003 the government has launched several conservation initiatives, including signing agreements with Japan and the European Union banning the import of illegally logged products.

Greenpeace called on Indonesian to temporarily stop all logging to allow forest regrowth.

WHO: Fighting global warming a 'win-win' to prevent health problems, save money

The Jakarta Post

BANGKOK (AP): Countries that start battling global warming now won't have to wait generations to see the rewards: burning cleaner fuels can yield immediate health benefits that save lives and money, world health experts say.

Big developing countries like China and India can play a huge role in improving health by expanding their use of cleaner energy sources, said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a scientist on global environmental change and health at the World Health Organization in Geneva.

"The policy options that you choose to try to cut (carbon dioxide) emissions also have very important health effects," he said by phone. "If you choose the right ones, then you can certainly have a win-win at cutting CO2 emissions and directly benefiting health."

Urban air pollution, for example, kills about 800,000 people a year globally. More than half of those deaths occur in China, the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after the United States.

Promoting walking or bicycling instead of driving could further reduce major health problems like diabetes and heart disease that are striking many rapidly developing countries, Campbell-Lendrum said.

A climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN network of 2,000 scientists, was being hammered out for a fourth day Thursday in Bangkok by delegates from more than 120 countries. A final version was expected by Friday.

Much of the talks have centered around the high cost of promoting greener policies, but WHO experts said governments should consider how much they could save in medical costs by taking measures now to minimize heat waves, disease and water scarcity that will come as temperatures rise.

"Prevention is cheaper than cure," said Hisashi Ogawa, regional adviser for healthy settings and environment at the WHO's regional Western Pacific office in Manila. "Disease and deaths will occur, but the economy will be affected because sick people cannot produce services and products, so GDP will godown."

North Sumatera earns $12.7 mln from cocoa exports

Medan, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - North Sumatra earned US$12.7 million in foreign exchange from cocoa exports in the first three months of 2007, a local official said.

"The value of the cocoa exports from January to March 2007 increased by about US$3 million from US$9.4 million in a corresponding period last year," Fitra Kurnia, an official of North Sumatra`s industry and trade office, said here on Thursday.

The volume of the cocoa exports also increased to 7,636 tons from last year`s 7,015 tons in the first three month period of 2006, he said.

North Sumatra`s cocoa exports go to several countries such as Malaysia, China, Singapore and Thailand.

The higher cocoa export earnings happened because of an increase in the world cocoa price and in demand for the commodity, he said.

Moderate earthquake rocks Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh Province (Antara): Banda Aceh and itssurrounding areas Wednesday were jolted by an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located at the coordinate of 5.18 northern latitude and 95.24 eastern longitude, at a depth of 33 kilometers under the sea, some 42 kilometers southwest of Banda Aceh, said Syahnan, head of the Mata Ie Geophysics Office.

The tremor occurred about 2 a.m, which was fifth aftershock within one month. The strongest aftershock hit Banda Aceh on April 27, 2007, measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale.

Aceh Province is frequently jolted by aftershocks reaching up to 15 to 20 times daily following a massive earthquake devastating the province on December 26, 2004.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami devastated Aceh and Nias Island (North Sumatra), killing at least 170,000 people and destroying most of the infrastructures.

Rice as climate culprit? Experts take aim at 'paddy gas' rising into Asian and other skies

The Jakarta Post

BANGKOK (AP): As delegates to a climate conference in the Thai capital debate how to reduce greenhouse gases, one of the problems - and a possible solution - lies in the rice fields that cover much of Thailand, the rest of Asia and beyond.

Methane emissions from flooded rice paddies contribute to global warming just as coal-fired power plants, automobile exhausts and other sources do with the carbon dioxide they spew into the atmosphere.

In fact, the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting this week in Bangkok concludes that rice production was a main cause of rising methane emissions in the 20th century. It calls for better controls.

"There is no other crop that is emitting such a large amount of greenhouse gases," said Reiner Wassmann, a climate change specialist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

"Methane emissions are unique to rice," he said. "If Asian countries are exploring possibilities to reduce greenhouse gas, they have to look at rice production. I'm not saying it's the biggest source, but in Asia it's a source that cannot be neglected."

It's the bacteria that thrive in flooded paddies that produce methane, by decomposing manure used as fertilizer and other organic matter in the oxygen-free environment. The gas is emitted through the plants or directly into the atmosphere.

A molecule of methane is 21 times more potent than a molecule of carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas. Although carbon dioxide is still the bigger problem, representing 70 percent of the warming potential in the atmosphere, rising levels of methane nowaccount for 23 percent, reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

After decades of atmospheric buildup, methane - also emitted naturally from wetlands and from other manmade sources, such as landfills and cattle farming - has leveled off in the past fewyears. Some scientists credit changes in rice production, and some also trace it to repairs in oil and gas storage facilities that can leak methane.

A 2005 study by U.S. scientists focused on China, which produces a third of the world's rice and where rice fields have shrunk by 10 million hectares (24 million acres) in the past decade as farmers shifted to other crops and abandoned marginal land. The study also found that nitrogen-based fertilizer has replaced manure, and many Chinese farmers are using less water on their fields.

Environmentalists push for renewable energy and efficiency at climate change conference

The Jakarta Post

BANGKOK (AP): There's no shortage of ideas for high-tech measures to combat global warming: develop clean biofuels made of corn or palm oil, ramp up production of advanced nuclear power stations, or bury harmful carbon emissions in underground vaults.

Those are the last solutions many environmentalists want to hear about.

For the green lobby pushing this week for forceful action at a UN conference on limiting the rise in global temperatures, such answers either cost too much, delay an inevitable weaning from fossil fuels, or get in the way of the real solutions, such as renewable energy and greater efficiency.

"There are a lot of technologies that are mentioned ... that are not exactly the most sustainable options," said Catherine Pearse, international climate campaigner for the Friends of the Earth environmentalist group. "We may be replacing one existing problem with new ones."

Finding effective mitigation measures at the meeting in Bangkok is crucial to ensuring the world is able to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and keep the atmosphere from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) and avert the worst impacts of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN network of 2,000 scientists that has produced two landmark reports on global warming this year, is working on a third study to be released Friday. This one deals with mitigation measures.

A draft of the report features a lengthy list of possible solutions: improved energy efficiency such as hybrid vehicles, renewable sources such as solar and hydropower, cleaner-burning coal, biofuels and reforestation.

Nuclear energy is also mentioned, and the United States is pushing for that option to get greater emphasis in the final document.

But not all the proposals are equal, environmentalists argue, saying some - such as nuclear power - are even dangerous, while technologies such as renewable energy sources are not given proper emphasis.

The green lobby is a varied group, but the lion's share of them insist mounting concern over global warming should not lead to increased reliance on nuclear energy.

Jakarta will be in for a rainy and windy May: BMG

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakartans should get ready with umbrellas and raincoats, with May slated to see heavy rain and strong wind in the afternoons, according to the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG).

The head of BMG's weather forecasting division, Achmad Zakir, said May will be the transition period between the rainy and dry seasons for most of Jakarta.

"The dry season will occur differently in Jakarta and its upstream areas. Jakarta's northern areas are expected to experience the dry period in the middle of May," Achmad told The Jakarta Post.

"The dry season in Jakarta's southern areas such as Central, South, West and East Jakarta; Bogor; Depok and parts of Bekasi will come at the end of May or in June."

He said the transition between the seasons usually comes in September and April.

However, he said there was nothing anomalous about this year's weather.

Greater Jakarta has experienced rain and strong winds in the last two weeks, which have uprooted trees and damaged buildings.

Achmad said the rain was caused by reflected heat off the ground which caused the formation of cumulus nimbus clouds.

"The cumulus nimbus then trigger the local rain. It's a normal phenomena determining the transition period from rainy season to dry period," he said.

The BMG last week issued its official report predicting the dry season across the country.

The report, made by a team including experts from the Agriculture Ministry and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said the dry season may be shorter by between 10 and 20 days in areas such as North Sumatra, Central Java and Yogyakarta.

"But in general, the dry season is arriving as normal," the report said.

The BMG currently operates 12 automatic weather monitoring stations to measure rainfall, temperature and wind direction in Greater Jakarta.

The agency also has meteorology stations in Tanjung Priok, Halim Perdana Kusuma, Cengkareng, Bogor, Cileduk and Central Jakarta to monitor daily climate conditions.

The team also reported that human-induced global warming had led to higher monthly rainfall in Jakarta and several other provinces.

The BMG reported that Jakarta, Banten and West Java provinces experienced a 12 percent rise in monthly rainfall from 310 millimeters in 1900 to 360 millimeters in 2000.

A green Jakarta begins at home

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Caring for the environment can mean more than just changes to your lifestyle. It can also change how you raise your children.

Television presenter Charles Bonar Sirait drastically overhauled his family's habits after being 'enlightened' by seeing the impact small family lifestyle changes could make on the environment.

Like many parents, Charles used to keep two decorated, colorful and air-conditioned rooms, one for each of his two children.

Before, he kept the children in separate rooms because he wanted to teach them to be independent by sleeping separately from their parents from a young age.

"I taught my children to sleep in their own rooms since they were one-year-old. I wanted them to be independent," Charles told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

But after Charles was elected an honorary member of the leading environmental group the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) last year he changed his family's lifestyle.

"I began to see what we can contribute from our homes. I tried to apply earth-friendly ideas to any decision I made," said Charles, who also teaches at the Tantowi Yahya Public Speaking School.

His first move was to redesign his main bedroom to allow his four-year-old and six-year-old children to sleep in the same room as him and his wife.

"We can sleep together in the room from Monday to Friday. My children are very happy and more importantly we can turn off the two air conditioners (in their rooms)."

On top of this change, Charles also cut the use of air conditioners during the daytime by opening up more ventilation in the house. He also matched his working schedule with his wife so they could go to work together in the same car.

"By doing all this, we could save at least Rp 1,500,000 (about US$161) a month in energy. It seems simple but it makes a difference for the environment," he said.

Charles is one of many people struggling to reduce their carbon emissions, which are blamed by the vast majority of scientists for global warming.

Global warming may sound like too big an issue to deal with, but individuals can make a difference.

The State Ministry for the Environment says Jakarta produces 60 percent of Indonesia's ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions through its air conditioners and refrigerators, among other appliances.

The Jakarta administration argues it cannot force people to stop using CFCs because of a lack of reasonable alternatives.

However, an alternative is in fact readily available in the form of more ozone-friendly hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are more expensive than CFCs and widely used in much of the developed world, where CFCs are banned.

The CFCs used in Jakarta are imported from India and China.

A technician at an air conditioning company in Palmerah Barat, Winarly, said small to middle sized shops tended to be driven by the large price difference to opt for the cheaper CFCs.

"The price difference is threefold. We can't afford to buy the eco-friendly products since most customers also don't want to pay more," he said

Winarly said a 13.6 kilogram tank of CFC cost Rp 600,000, while HFC sold for Rp 2,000,000.

As the government began its CFC phaseout, Winarly said CFC suppliers began illegally filling tanks intended for other gases with CFCs.

"To make things worse, most technicians can't determine whether the freon (the broad family of substances to which both CFCs and HFCs belong) is eco-friendly or illegal since there's no equipment available to test it," he said.

He said many dealers preferred to sell CFCs in smaller one-kilogram tanks for Rp 20,000, finding the lower price to be popular with consumers.

"The quality of the freon in the one-kilogram containers is worse than the CFCs in the 13.6 kilogram tanks because it's leftovers from other countries dumped into Indonesia," he said.

Winarly's workshop uses at least four CFC containers per month.

"We release the freon residue (into the air) since the government doesn't provide a place for us to put it," he said.

CFCs have long been pinpointed as the major source of thinning of the earth's ozone layer, which helps to filter ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Intensive exposures to CFC residue also poses health hazards such as skin cancer and cataracts.

Indonesia ratified the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol on ozone layer protection in 1992 which obliged it to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances.

The protocol requires Indonesia to stop importing CFCs by December 2007.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Suhud of WWF-Indonesia said many air conditioning and refrigeration technicians did not understand how to prevent the escape of CFC residue.

"The solution lies on the hands of the government. They must cut the illegal import of CFCs into the country," he said.

Green group seeks more protection for loris

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Malang

The government has been accused of not taking serious steps to preserve an endangered animal species, by failing to raise the risk-status of the loris.

Executive director of environmental group ProFauna Indonesia, Asep R. Purnama, said the government is being indecisive and the Forestry Ministry's Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation has not responded to the two letters the group sent in December 2006 and April this year.

"They have not stated clearly whether the government supports our proposal or not, and have only expressed their gratitude for the notification, despite the fact that Indonesia is a signatory of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)," said Asep.

A recommendation on the protection of the loris will be submitted at the 14th CITES conference in The Hague, the Netherlands, from June 3 to 15.

The respective CITES signatory countries and non-government organizations dedicated to the cause will meet to discuss new regulations for the protection of endangered animal species.

The loris is protected by a law, based on a 1973 Agriculture Ministry decree, and clarified by a 1999 government regulation on preserving flora and fauna species.

According to Asep, under the current law some parties are still permitted to trade the loris.

If the CITES conference in The Hague approves the recommendation to raise the risk status of the loris, international trade of the animal could be more tightly controlled.

"Only certain parties would be able to buy lorises. These include zoos and animal research institutions, but not individuals," said Asep.

The government needs to move quickly on this issue as there are still many countries that have yet to list the loris as an endangered species, evident from the rife trade and trafficking of the animal from Indonesia to the international market.

Asep cited a foiled attempt to smuggle 91 lorises from Indonesia to Kuwait through Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta in January 2003.

A similar incident occurred in June 2004, when police were able to prevent an attempt to smuggle three lorises to Korea and Japan through the same airport.

According to data from ProFauna, around 7,000 lorises have been caught and traded since 2000.

Sold for around Rp 175,000 (approximately US$20) each, the nocturnal slow-moving and tailless primate, which survives on bamboo clusters, is not only sold in animal markets, but also at shopping malls in major cities, such as Surabaya, Malang, Medan, Banjarmasin and Bandarlampung.

In Palembang, South Sumatra, the loris trade is carried out on a large-scale at the Enambelas Ilir market, where no less than 40 to 60 lorises are sold each month.

Asep said sale and ownership of a protected animal is unlawful based on a 1990 law on the conservation of natural resources and the ecosystem, and that perpetrators were liable to a five-year prison sentence and a fine of Rp 100 million.

Asep urged the Forestry Ministry and other relevant agencies to take action against those involved in the trade in lorises throughout the country.

"Saving endangered animals is not on the government's priority list, and the rife trade in endangered animals everywhere is clear evidence of this," said Asep.

BSP plans to expand oil-palm plantations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Publicly listed PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations (BSP) plans to expand its oil-palm and rubber plantations to about 83,000 hectares this year by acquiring more land for new plantations, and purchasing existing plantations.

President director Ambono Januarianto said Monday that the expansion plan would include 20,000 hectares of oil palm and rubber plantations that BSP would acquire from other companies, and 10,000 hectares of its own land that would be planted with oil palms and rubber trees at a total cost of Rp 154 billion (US$17 million).

"We have acquired 7,000 hectares from PT Sumbertama Nusa Pertiwi and we need to acquire another 13,000 hectares," he told reporters after the company's annual shareholders meeting.

He said that BSP had recently acquired all of Sumbertama Nusa Pertiwi plantations in Jambi for Rp 260 billion. Sumertama operates 7,000 hectares of plantations, of which 4,300 hectares are under oil palms.

Currently, BSP has about 53,000 hectares of plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan, of which 62 percent are planted with oil palms and 38 percent with rubber trees. It also operates three CPO refineries and three rubber processing plants in Sumatra.

Ambono said that the expansion was part of a long-term plan to triple its plantation area to 150,000 hectares by 2012.

"Assuming that we will plant new trees in the additional areas, we will need to spend about US$270 million," he said.

Last year, BSP commenced the construction of a biodiesel plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year in Batam in collaboration with a local firm. The plant is expected to come onstream next year.

Ambono said that BSP would boost its CPO production to 180,000 tons this year from 158,000 tons last year, and its rubber production to 38,000 tons from 27,000 tons previously.

During the meeting, the company announced that it would pay out a dividend of Rp 34 billion, or about 20 percent of its Rp 172.8 billion net profit for 2006.

"We've decided to disburse only 20 percent of our profit as we need to retain most of it to support our expansion plan," he said, adding that the decision was in line with the company's dividend policy.

He said that BSP was targeting an increase of 20 percent in its net profit to Rp 207.5 billion this year from Rp 172.9 billion last year, and a rise of 35 percent in its revenue to Rp 1.5 trillion from Rp 1.1 trillion previously.

One killed, four missing after landslide in West Sulawesi

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (Antara): Landslide in Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi killed at least one resident and caused four other missing, following heavy rains poured the area.

The incident occurred on Saturday in the slope of Mt. Betteng Batu in a remote village of Sinyonyoi, Kaluku district some 50 kilometer of provincial capital of Mamuju, Antara news agency reported Monday.

But the death body was just found on Sunday in a river near his house, which was hit by the landslide.

The casualty is Pauli, 30, while the four missing people are Samaruddin, 20, Rizal, 19, P. Rambo, 40, and Udin, 22.

The landslide caused dozens of people preferred to stay in tents prepared by the local administration, fearing of other landslides.

Landslides had killed hundreds of people across the country since the start of this year rainy season.

W Sumatra to receive 6,000 tons of imported rice in May

Padang, W Sumatra Province (ANTARA News) - A total of 6,000 tons of rice imported from Vietnam is expected to arrive in West Sumatra in May 2007.

The imported rice would add the rice stock of the province and would be distributed to among others the poor and disaster`s victims, Head of the Provincial Logistic Board (Bulog) of West Sumatra Anton Samawi said here on Monday.

Up to April 2007, the local Bulog warehouse kept a total of 9,000 tons of rice, which 3,000 tons of them would be allocated for the poor monthly.

"The imported rice will be kept as a stock, and will not be sold to the general public," he said.

To deal with a rice shortage, the Indonesian government has set a target of producing 58.1 million tons of (unhusked) rice this year, and set itself to import another one million tons annually to assure the availability of stocks.

Based on the trade minister`s decree no. 222/M-DAG/3/2007, rice imports have been conducted in the country`s cities such as Jakarta, Batam, and Makassar (South Sulawesi), Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara) and Manado (North Sulawesi), to meet domestic consumption.

Norways to contribute US$500,000 to RI for UNFCC prepatory meeting

New York (ANTARA News) - The Norwegian government will contribute US$500,000 to Indonesia for the preparatory meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCC) in West Java`s town of Bogor in October, Indonesian Ambassador to Norway Retno L. Marsudi said here.

The Norwegian government made the commitment to providing Indonesia with 500 thousand dollars for the UNFCC preparatory meeting when Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar was visiting Oslo on April 26-27, 2007, the ambassador said.

During his visit to Oslo, Witoelar met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Environment Minister Helen Oddveig and Minister for Development Cooperation Erik Solheim.

Retno said that the Norwegian assistance would be provided as a follow up to the results of Norwegain Prime Minister Stoltenberg`s visit to Jakarta on March 28-30, 2007.

During his visit to Jakarta, Stoltenberg and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on energy and climate change.

On the occasion, Stoltenberg said the cooperation on climate change was an important part of Indonesia-Norway`s bilateral ties.

According to the ambassador, when Witoelar visited Oslo, Stoltenberg indicated he would attend the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change to be held in Bali next December.

"The prime minister said he had plan to attend the convention," Retno who accompanied the minister during his meetings with Norwegian state officials, said.

At a meeting with the prime minister, the two sides agreed to discuss later concrete projects the two countries would be doing in connection with eco-friendly housing as suggested by the Kyoto protocol in 1997.

The technical teams of the two nations - Indonesia is represented by two special staffers and one expert staff of the minister - held talks to discuss the project on Friday.

The projects will be funded by private sectors from Norway.

Flood inundates at least 21,790 houses in Bandung

JAKARTA (Antara): Flood in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung and its surroundings has inundated more than 21,790 houses and affected more than 43,200 residents, report says.

Mumuh Muna'im of the West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency said Sunday that the flood hit 16 subdistricts and villages in seven districts in the southern part of the city.

He said that at least one person went missing after he was carried away by the water.

The flood, which has hit the city since Friday, was caused by the overflow of Citarum and other small rivers due following heavy rains pouring those areas.

Antara news agency reported that water level reached between 50 centimeters to two meters.

Government agencies, political parties and non-governmental organizations began erecting tents to accommodate contributions for flood victims.

RI calls on U.S., China, India to join next global climate treaty

The Jakarta Post

COPENHAGEN (AP): Big polluter nations such as the United States, China and India should sign on to the next global climate treaty that will replace the Kyoto accord on greenhouse gas emissions, Indonesia's environment minister said Tuesday.

"I don't see how they cannot join," Rachmat Witoelar said during an environmental conference in Copenhagen. "The most important thing is whether these countries are aware that there is a danger posed by climate change."

His Danish counterpart, Connie Hedegaard, who was hosting the two-day conference of European and Asian environmental officials, concurred.

"It is a European priority to get as many countries and contributors on board as possible," Hedegaard said. "Including of course China and India."

She said she hoped delegates would back Denmark's efforts to achieve a new climate treaty at a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009.

Witoelar called that goal "realistic," adding that action was needed soon. "We cannot quarrel while the boat is capsizing."

The Kyoto Protocol, a U.N. treaty which expires in 2012, requires 35 industrial nations to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases collectively by 5 percent from 1990 levels.

The U.S, which is responsible for about one-quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, has rejected Kyoto, saying it would hurt its economy. It also objects that the protocol allows exemptions for rapidly industrializing economies like China andIndia.

China, the world's biggest producer and user of coal, is expected to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter within the next several years.

Witoelar said Indonesia was already seeing the effect of climate change in devastating droughts and flooding. He declined to say whether the country would agree to emissions cuts under a new climate treaty, but said Indonesia would cut down on carbondioxide emissions by halting uncontrolled land-clearing fires that routinely send a blanket of choking haze to neighboring countries.

"I'm aware of statistics that we are emitting CO2 because of forest fires. So we'll stop the forest fires," he said. "It's as easy as that."

Indonesia takes on illegal logging

Cardonpositive.com, Saturday, 28 April 2007

Three Indonesian provinces have committed to measures to limit logging in their vast tropical rainforests and help the growing international battle against deforestation.

Ten percent of the world’s tropical rainforest lies in Indonesia, much of that in the provinces of Aceh in the West of the archipelago and Papua and West Papua in the East.

Their provincial governors have agreed at a World Bank initiated meeting that they would clamp down on illegal logging and take steps toward a sustainable forestry industry.

Aceh will impose a moratorium on all logging while a review of the forestry industry was carried out. Papua will revoke all licences of logging companies that cannot prove their operations contribute to sustainable forest management.

The recruitment of thousands more forest rangers and the use of helicopters will be part of the provinces’ response.

"We are determined to implement environmentally friendly policies, sustainable development and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," Reuters reports the governors saying.

Environmental groups have estimated that 80 per cent of timber sourced from Indonesia is illegally logged in a $US4 billion annual trade that wipes out 2 million hectares of tropical forest every year.

Some environmentalists express scepticism about developing countries’ stated commitments to stop illegal logging. They say they have failed in the past in places like Indonesia where a vast and poor population is spread over thousands of islands, making law enforcement very difficult.

Indonesia is one of a number of developing countries campaigning for rich countries to pay for protecting their forests, which are vitally important on a global scale as carbon dioxide sinks.

Australia, anxious to court its near-neighbour politically and economically, recently committed $160 million to kick-start an international initiative to stop deforestation. Most of the Australian money would be spent in Indonesia.

Reuters, Environmental News Service, Environmental Investigation Agency 27/4/07