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When both you and the journalists who are accompanying you start getting arrested and deported it's usually a sign that you're doing something right. At least that's the case if you work for an organisation that takes direct action against injustice.
Amidst the detainments and deportations, tensions and tears in Indonesia - there is good news! The Indonesian government has just suspended the license of paper and pulp giant APRIL on the Kampar Peninsula. This means that they are forbidden to destroy any carbon-rich forests or peatlands in this area - pending a review of the company's permits.
Our activists have been stopping forest and peatland destruction on the peninsula and highlighting the significant role this destruction plays in climate change. With just 17 days before the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen they have clearly been ruffling a few feathers in Indonesia. But they have also significantly raised the level of international attention on the deforestation issue.
As the authorities are removing our activists, we're calling on the President of Indonesia to permanently remove the real offenders - and show real leadership in the run up to Copenhagen and stop the ongoing forest destruction by major corporations - click here to take action and support this call.
It is unclear at the moment if anyone from outside Indonesia or from the press is going to be allowed to visit the camp, despite their status either as legitimate guests of the country or journalists. There is also of course the risk that the authorities will try and close the camp down again. We simply can't afford to let that happen. The Indonesian authorities need to stop intimidating peaceful activists who are trying to help President Yudhoyono fulfill the commitment he has made to cut Indonesia’s massive CO2 emissions.
When the police tried to shut down our camp last time they were stopped by overwhelming numbers of local people coming out in support of the camp. Once again the local community have returned to the camp to show support despite the fact that police surveillance still hangs over the camp like a dark cloud. We can't be sure what will happen next...
But here's a message with even more good news from Chiara, an Italian activist from Sicily, who wrote this as she was about to be deported from Indonesia earlier today. She was detained by police before she even reached the camp!
Hello forest fighters!]]>As you maybe already know I'm one of the most "dangerous Italians in Indonesia" and I will leave the country in few hours to come back Italy. By now I am sure that many of you are aware of what's been happening to our activists at the Climate Defenders Camp.
Tom, Corinna and the 2 journalists who were accompanying us to the camp were given the deportation order two days ago and yesterday we came back to Jakarta where Raimondo (journalist) and I were picked up by the people of the Italian embassy - who took us under their authority.
Tom and I participated in a press conference which was organised by the Greenpeace South East Asia office so that we could tell our story to international and local media.
Since we were stopped by the police just a few kilometres away from the camp - the Greenpeace office in Italy started issuing press releases and faxes. They also made calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here. They did an excellent job and this produced STRONG outcomes in the media - making waves to ALL political levels in Italy.
I gave dozens of interviews with national newspapers, radio and
magazines. Yesterday the Espresso published an interview with Raimondo together with a beautiful photo gallery.And the response is overwhelming! The Italian government has now publicly declared a strong position on forest protection in order to save the climate - for the first time!
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also demanded an explanation from the Italian ambassador in Indonesia - just as the Indonesian Vice President and his delegation is arriving in Rome for a diplomatic visit.
In a few hours I will be escorted by the ambassador to the airport to get my passport and then I am being deported to Italy. I really would like to send the strongest embrace to all the people at the camp that I couldn't join. I'm very proud of what you did and will keep doing!
Please stay tuned. It is far from over - and we really need your support!
baci e abbracci a tutti
Chiara
Indonesian authorities have ramped up Intimidation tactics against Greenpeace activists, independent media and local community members supporting our Climate Defenders Camp on the Kampar Peninsula on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Yesterday Riau police detained Indian and Italian journalists along with Greenpeace activists from Germany, Belgium and Italy, who were en-route to the climate defenders camp. They are still being held by the authorities and were questioned through the night.
The activists and journalists are traveling on valid business and journalist visas, and were on their way to meet the villagers of Teluk Meranti, who had mobilised to support Greenpeace climate defenders on Sunday.
]]> Immigration authorities have already deported eleven international Greenpeace activists who participated in the non-violent direct action at a site of forest and peatland clearing by APRIL, one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper companies.The 11 foreign activists who have been deported over the last few days.
“We are calling on President Yudyhono to step in and stop these extreme and embarrassing actions against Greenpeace activists who are carrying out their peaceful activities along with the local communities to help our President fulfil his internationally announced emission reduction targets,” said Hidayati.
“When the company is stopped from destroying the forest, and the local community’s rights secured, Greenpeace will leave the climate defenders camp.”
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From Sarah Burton in Jakarta - who wrote earlier from our Climate Defenders Camp).
I have learned that in campaigning things can change overnight, of course, and in this campaign, I have learned that things can change two or three times overnight. Here's what happened overnight.
Yesterday one of our volunteers at the climate camp, a technical specialist from Brussels, was removed by the local police to their local station. Meanwhile a couple of journalists from India and Italy and a few more Greenpeace activists and campaigners were on their way from Pekanbaru to the camp. The police car hauling our volunteer away saw them coming down the road. The upshot is that all were detained at a local police station and questioned to the wee small hours. Then they were put up for the night locally and made to return next morning (that would be this morning actually) for more questioning.
And the story the authorities tells keeps changing: they are being detained on immigration charges, they are being detained but not charged, they are on the wrong visas, they have the wrong (or no) paperwork to travel in the region. But we can see what is happening, there is a fear of international attention for the campaign.
]]> And this is what gets me - this is not a local issue for Riau province, this is not even a national issue alone (for Indonesia I mean): the preservation of the rainforest is a global issue if ever there was one. The destruction of Indonesia's rainforest actually makes Indonesia the 3rd largest climate gas emitter after the Uand China! How extraordinary is that? The Indonessan President has started making commitments to address that at Copenhagen in December. His committments to reduce emissions were made on the international stage. So saving these forests, stopping the destruction, is an issue for us all to help make happen. And, as members of the international community, we must ensure that the Indonesian authorities responsible for this intimidation hear that loud and clear.Oh, yes, more on the ground things happening of course. The local community members who came out in such strong support for Greenpeace and our work in the forest when I last reported, are returning to the camp, furious at the removal of our Belgian volunteer, and wanting to defend the camp and the campaign. It is their campaign as much as ours of course, and we are delighted with that strong and evident support.
I expect that over the next hours and days things will change and change again. But what I know (for certain) is that this campaign will go on. That Greenpeace's global community and the community beyond that with whom we work to preserve the forests will also do what is right and support our continued work here. That in this moment, on this issue, when we are effectively a few working days away from the Copenhagen summit, we will not falter and we certainly will not stop.
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Satu, campaigner onboard our ship the Arctic Sunrise - writes from the Baltic Sea:
The Baltic Sea was rather calm and the weather surprisingly warm for November, when six activists from the Arctic Sunrise boarded the cargo ship Happy Ranger in Fehmarn Belt, the straits between Denmark and Germany. The ship is carrying steam generators - one of the main components of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant, which is being built in Finland. The construction of the plant has been plagued by problems since the very beginning, and at the moment it is over three years delayed and more than double over budget. And the same companies that own the new reactor are now investing in new fossil fuel plants!
]]> The activists intend to stay on board and continue their peaceful protest until the ship arrives in Finland. Here's an sms update from Lauri, one of the activists on board the Happy Ranger:"As I'm writing this more than thee hours after our boarding, things have calmed down. We had most of the crew, about 15 people, around us in the beginning. We explained that we are here to protest against a dangerous and costly French nuclear experiment, not their ship or company. One crew member was quite upset about us being onboard and cut a few banners in half with a knife, while others took pictures with their cellphones and chatted with us. We went to meet the captain on the bridge and agreed with him that we would stay in one place on the deck and stay visible for his peace of mind, as well as not point our headlamps towards the bridge during dark hours. Then we had one crew at a time keep us company for some time, now we are the only people on deck. We are eating and agreeing watches for the night before we go to sleep. The temperature of the seawater is still 8 degrees celsius, so we are counting on the sea to keep us warm. And we certainly hope our action can help in putting an end to this nuclear madness and make this the last shipment of the kind."
Lauri is also delivering images to us from on board the ship. You can see them here on Flickr. Lauri will continue posting new images until the ship reaches its destination. Stay tuned!
]]>Well, when I finished writing yesterday, I really thought that I would be going to the Climate Defenders Camp to bear witness to a peaceful demonstration of activism being disrupted and our team and local community representatives being evicted.
What a difference a day makes. I did bear witness, indeed, but to something altogether more inspiring...to people power in its most direct form.
Sarah applauds the local communities for their efforts to protect their forests and thanks them for their support of Greenpeace. ©Ardiles Rante/Grenpeace
]]> We left Pekanbaru at daybreak to get to the camp in late morning. On the way I heard from Rob, our local team leader, that we'd have some of the local community and NGO leaders join us for lunch, and we'd make a small informal occasion of it, with us handing over the keys to the camp to them, as a show of solidarity and cooperation continuing even if we were forced to leave. I was asked to do this on behalf of Greenpeace International, and of course I was delighted to.On the way to the Kampar Peninsula, we stopped to see an area already cleared by the same company whose work we had disrupted in our action last Thursday - an area of devastation, which looked like a firestorm had occurred there, nothing but dead blackened stumps and ditches (canals) filled with water and draining the peaty soil. Nothing could live there now, it seemed. It was a sad sad sight. Our campaign guide Joko called it the 'stupid site' named for the "Age of Stupid" film which premiered earlier this year. I think stupid was too mild a word for what I saw.
But when I reached the Greenpeace camp, after hours of driving and a short boat journey, this was totally different. It turned out that the few community leaders we'd expected were accompanied to the camp - by hundreds of local villagers! And they were mad, yes really mad at the police for wanting to turf Greenpeace off the site.
And our small ceremony? Gone. Replaced by a mass rally, children up front, men and women behind them, and ranged all over the camp, each of them listening intently as Zulfahmi, who has worked tirelessly with the local communities, spoke - his voice breaking with emotion - and then introduced me. I was humbled and happy to be able to tell them that their work, together with the Greenpeace team there, had been seen around the world, and that even if we had to leave, our work to end deforestation would carry on.
As pleased as I could see they were to hear the greetings from Greenpeace, and the news about the intense interest in this campaign to save the forests for them and their children, but also for all of us who need the forests intact to save the climate, they were still not happy about the idea that Greenpeace would be forced to leave.
One local community leader got up to speak on behalf of many of the local people who had joined us - "We trust Greenpeace" he said " We do not trust anyone else to help us preserve our forest, but we trust Greenpeace. They must stay." He suggested that if the police wanted to get rid of us, first they should get rid of the company destroying their forest. He called upon the police, who were on the fringes of the camp, to listen to him. And, apparently they did. Because within a few hours we were told that indeed the camp could stay open, and the Greenpeace activists could stay to complete their work. The local people who felt so strongly about their forest, their environment, and their work with us at the climate camp, had won the day.
This is even more important, I realise now, with the APEC conference ending and world leaders completely failing to do what is necessary to more towards a deal at Copenhagen next month, to not only save forests, but seriously cut greenhouse gas emissions, and to respect the needs of local people in forest areas such as those I had the pleasure to meet today. But if today taught me nothing else it reminded me of this: it ain't over yet. Its not over till its over, and our leaders can still make a climate-saving deal at Copenhagen. The planet requires it, and the people demand it.
>>Read more about the Climate Defenders Camp
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December including a forest fund
In a surprising move, the chief of police of Pelalawan district has revoked yesterdays eviction order after 300 locals from nearby Teluk Meranti village turned up at the camp this morning to show their support.
The eviction notice was delivered in response to pressure from climate criminals after pulp and paper giant APRIL's operations were stopped by Greenpeace activists for over 10 hours on Thursday. An action which was strongly supported by local communities.
"We want Greenpeace to stay in this camp as long as possible. Their presence in Semenanjung Kampar is really helping us to protect this forest from destruction," said Suwandi, a school teacher in Teluk Meranti, "If in the future Greenpeace is forced to leave Kampar, we demand that APRIL should also get out of Kampar" he added.
This is a major win for the dedicated team of climate defenders who have been in the camp for the past few weeks, and for the local communities who must live with the impacts of deforestation and peatland drainage.
“We are overwhelmed and humbled by this extraordinary support from the people of Riau, it confirms our belief that the people of Indonesia wish their forests to be protected.” said Zulfahmi, of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
“This is a very important signal to President Yudhoyono, that his people are willing to help him honor his ambition to reduce emissions from deforestation. He should take immediate action to prosecute those who are destroying forests, while protecting our forests, biodiversity and the people dependent on them.” he added.
The camp has been running for 3 weeks now. Its purpose is to bring urgent attention to the role that rainforest and peatland destruction play in driving dangerous climate change in the run up to the critical UN Copenhagen Climate Summit this December. During this time, our committed and passionate climate defenders have built dams, stopped excavators + unfurled massive banners in extreme conditions. It has been an intense and demanding few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian activists involved with Thursdays action have been released without charge. They have returned to the camp with orders to report to the police once a week for the next four weeks. The 11 international activists are being deported, and as I type, several of them are heading to the airport, with the rest to follow tomorrow.
Local community members with Rob, the camp leader and other climate defenders. ©Ardiles Rante/Grenpeace
>>Read more about the Climate Defenders Camp
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December including a forest fund.
Today I arrived in Pekanbaru, second largest city in Sumatra and a mere 4 1/2 hours away from the climate defenders camp, which is where I was headed, together with local campaigner Joko, and Ilona a young campaigner from our office in Russia who is spending a few weeks in our South East Asian office.
I am the Deputy International Programme Director, normally based out of Amsterdam. A grand title, but what I really like to do is get to where the action is, and at the moment there is nowhere more action-packed than this, I thought.
I was right, it seems. After the wonderful action in the forest last Thursday (a fabulous picture of which is currently taking a full page in the International Herald Tribune's Asia edition, in an ad aimed at President Obama, on a visit to Singapore) the local police took against the climate defenders - rather than the climate destroyers.
I knew that some 11 of our activists had been taken to Pekanbaru to be deported from Indonesia because they are foreign nationals, so I decided to go and pay them a visit at the immigration authority. When I got there it was lunchtime, and a Greenpeace volunteer had just arrived with lunch for the 11 men and women, all of whom seemed to be in very fine spirits despite the depressing circumstances.
Each one came up to shake my hand and introduce themselves. I found that some of them were from Thailand, others from Brazil, Spain, and Germany. They had been at the camp for varying periods of time, from a few days to a few weeks. All were disappointed to be leaving, and wanted to send their love and hugs back to those remaining at the camp. But as I say, their spirits were high, particularly when they saw the image in the newspaper, because they knew the action had been a success, had had good impact around the globe, and brought the climate and forest crisis in Indonesia to many more thousands of people.
I stayed with the activists until it was time for them to leave, then went with them to the local airport to wave them off. They are lovely people, as you would imagine, as only the best people will put themselves on the line like that. They know, as I do, how important it is to protect the forest (even if only for just over a day as they had done), in order to protect the
climate. And we all know the difference between climate defenders, and criminals.
Later today, as I was hearing from the camp, a large number of police arrived to insist that the camp be dismantled, and that Greenpeace leave the site. I will go there tomorrow, at first light, to find out what is happening. I understand that the police have given our people until 6pm to leave. I want to see for myself what happens when the good people get stopped from doing good, while those who profit from destruction are allowed to carry on. I want to do what Greenpeace folks have been doing for decades and bear witness.
>>Read more about the Climate Defenders Camp
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December including a forest fund
>>Check out the full action story here.
When I heard about this, my first question was, "Can I do the robot?" Turns out the answer is YES! You can upload your own dance video, and it can be any kind of dance.
From the Dance for the Climate website:
Any dance is fine for us, whether it's just you alone or thousands of people at a festival. Make them dance, shout, jump, whatever they like. Get it on video and upload it by following the instructions below.
Stand by for rocking out robot style.
]]>The action, undertaken in the heart of the Sumatran rainforest, successfully prevented APRIL staff from using excavators and heavy machinery, stopping the clearing of carbon-rich peatland and intact forest for 10 hours.
Around 40 activists have been taken to the district police station and continue to be detained for questioning today. Two thirds of these committed activists are from Indonesia, the rest are foreign nationals from around the world.
The call to stop deforestation and peatland drainage was heard all the way to Helsinki, where Finnish global paper giant UPM-Kymmene has stated it will stop buying pulp from APRIL. This is a major win in the fight against runaway climate change as deforestation and peat land degradation are the two major causes of greenhouse gas emission in Indonesia, the worlds third largest emitter of CO2 after the US and China.
>>Read the full action story here
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen including a forest fund
©Ardiles Rante-Greenpeace
In response to our letter that voiced concerns - both from local communities and Greenpeace itself - regarding active clearing in the Kampar Peninsula, pulp and paper company APRIL stated that they had yet to begin active clearing in the area.
Fresh evidence was uncovered earlier this week thanks to satellite image analysis that left no doubts as to new clearing from APRIL, and raised damning suspicions regarding the drainage of peat land areas deeper than three meters - the maximum depth allowed by Indonesian law.
A few hours ago, we brought the evidence to a public meeting held by APRIL in the region capital of Pekanbaru where the company was introducing the latest of a string of High Value Forest Assessments aimed at greenwashing its image.
APRIL has not responded to this statement as yet.
>>Read the full action story here
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen including a forest fund
Heavy rain has began pouring down where the direct action is taking place, and Greenpeace activists are still preventing company personnel from accessing the excavators used to destroy the forest.
As Barack Obama arrives in Asia for his first visit to the region as President and while the United States continues to block progress ahead of the critical UN climate negotiations at Copenhagen next month, a 50-strong international team of Greenpeace activists issued him an urgent call to action from the heart of Indonesia’s threatened rainforests
A number of police arrived onsite earlier from the local town of Teluk Merante to observe the action. They left with no arrests made.
Greenpeace has issued a Press Release highlighting the urgency of halting all deforestation and calling on President Yudhoyono and world leaders to protect forests worldwide and prevent runaway climate change.
One group of activists unfurled a 20x30 meter banner in a freshly destroyed area of rainforest urging Obama to take strong leadership and work closely with other Heads of State to help avert a climate crisis. Another group locked themselves to seven excavators to halt rainforest destruction.
>>Read the full action story here
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen including a forest fund
Earlier this week Greenpeace released fresh evidence of APRIL conducting forest clearing and peat drainage in this area. There are strong indications that the peat is deeper than three meters - illegal to drain under Indonesian law - despite APRIL's statements that it has ceased operations in the peninsula.
Aerial view of the APRIL concession taken yesterday. (c) Greenpeace/John Novis
Greenpeace activists will keep the lockdown and direct action until APRIL issues a public statement in which it commits once and for all to stop all clearing in the Kampar Peninsula.
» Follow the action on Twitter or the Climate Defenders page.
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Greenpeace activists are making their way by boat to the direct action location in the Indonesian forest.
Activists carry material to the direct action site from the Climate Defenders Camp, including a banner saying "OBAMA YOU CAN STOP THIS".
Spanish activist making his way to the site of the direct action where four excavators have been locked down.
Indonesian activists carry material towards the site of climate criminal APRIL, one of the largest pulp and paper company operating in the Kampar Peninsula.
>>Read the full action story here
>>Join the call for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen including a forest fund
Images © Greenpeace/Will Rose
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