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Forests in transition

Down to Earth No 61 May 2004

A recent visit by DTE staff to South Sumatra illustrates the realities of Indonesia's deforestation and the tensions between local communities and the authorities over the use of 'forest lands' in a rapidly changing environment

"Why are you going to South Sumatra to find out about sustainable forest use? There is no forest there!", said people in Jakarta. Even in the provincial capital, Palembang, staff at the South Sumatra branch of the environmental NGO WALHI were gloomy.

Sustainable palm oil: mission impossible?

Down to Earth No 63  November 2004


Palm oil industry representatives, conservation organisations and NGOs met to discuss 'sustainable palm oil' in Jakarta in October.

In Brief... DTE 56 - February 2003

Down to Earth No 56  February 2003


NGO to sue Singapore over sand imports

The Institute of Indonesian Forestry Studies, an organisation based in Riau province, is planning to charge Singapore with destroying the marine environment and mangrove forests as well as causing the disappearance of an island in Karimun subdistrict. The Institute's director, Andreas Herykahurifan, said the Riau administration must also bear responsibility because it had issued licences to sand-dredging companies.

Riau: a customary leader's fight to save the forest

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002


The following is translated from 'Patih 'Pak Garang' Laman', an article by Edi Petebang, Kalimantan Review no. 55/March 2000

Patih Laman is a traditional leader of a Talang Mamak community - an indigenous people who live in the forests of Riau and Jambi, Sumatra. Some, but not all of the Talang Mamak's customary forests lie within Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park. The Talang Mamak follow a traditional way of life, practising rotational use of the forests.

Forests, People and Rights

A Down to Earth Special Report, June 2002

Written by Liz Chidley, edited by Carolyn Marr
and produced with the support of
Forest Peoples Programme and
Rainforest Foundation

Threats to Gunung Leuser

Down to Earth No 52, February 2002


Gunung Leuser, one of the largest protected areas of rainforest remaining in SE Asia, is threatened by local political and economic vested interests.

The 850,000 hectares of tropical rainforest which make up Gunung Leuser National Park is one of the last places in Indonesia where the increasingly endangered Sumatran rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutans all occur.

In Brief... DTE 52 - February 2002

Down to Earth No 52, February 2002

 

West Papua will not receive Freeport's corporate tax

Last minute changes in the Special Autonomy Law have denied West Papua a share of Freeport's corporate taxes - the largest chunk of annual payments - according to The Far Eastern Economic Review. The Review says that BP will end up pumping more money into West Papua's coffers than Freeport, which has been paying Jakarta an average of $180 million a year in taxes and royalties.