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DTE publications

A year after the disaster

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

The following report is based on a DTE staff visit to Aceh in December 2005

Looking over the vast expanse of mudflats that stretched to the horizon, I asked where the village had been. The man pointed towards the sea. Apart from the few ragged remaining coconut palms, it was indistinguishable from the land which had been paddy fields and shrimp ponds.

One year on from the December 26th quake-tsunami disaster and the scale of the reconstruction work needed is all too apparent.

Aceh's forests

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

Aceh's forests are being stripped in the name of post-tsunami reconstruction. In reality, the timber becomes part of lucrative international timber smuggling.

The products of illegal logging from South-east Aceh are transported to Sibolga on the west coast of North Sumatra, and from South Aceh to ports near Medan in North Sumatra. From there, they are exported to Malaysia and further afield.

Reconstruction of Aceh Land Administration System (RALAS)

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

Questions are being raised over a World Bank-funded land titling project in post-tsunami Aceh.

Securing land tenure has become one of the priorities in the reconstruction of Aceh, post-tsunami. More than half a million affected people have had to endure changes to the landscape and have been left without evidence of their property rights. According to the national land agency, BPN, approximately 300,000 land parcels have been affected by the tsunami.

KAU - "government has no sense of urgency"

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

Indonesia's Anti-Debt Coalition (KAU) has accused the Indonesian government of lacking any sense of urgency in its post-tsunami reconstruction work. In a statement issued exactly one year after the disaster struck, KAU criticised the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for failing to seize opportunities to reduce Indonesia's debt.

Struggle against logging goes on in Mentawai

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

Will legal action help save forests and livelihoods in the Mentawai Islands? The following is adapted from an Indonesian language report by WALHI West Sumatra and interviews with Yayasan Citra Mandiri, an NGO which focuses on Mentawai issues.

The Mentawai Islands, off Sumatra's western coast, are renowned for the unique culture of their indigenous communities and the rare species that have evolved in this isolated rainforest archipelago.

Communities challenge palm oil industry promises of sustainability

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

After a year of negotiations and pressure from Indonesian and international civil society groups, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) accepted the Principles & Criteria drafted by its working group at its meeting in Singapore on 22 - 23 November 2005.

The challenge of making a living

Down to Earth No 68 February 2006

Ruslani Ruslan has depended on fishing for most of his life. He has produced dried fish and has been a wholesaler of fresh and dried fish in North Jakarta for nearly forty years. He is now head of a fishing co-operative and the NGO Expindo, which supports fisherfolk and coastal communities.