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Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific | |
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-- press releases -- Rainbow Warrior Arrives in IndonesiaJakarta, 21 January, 2004 -- Greenpeace Flagship MV Rainbow Warrior arrived in Jakarta for the first time yesterday to commence the Asia-Pacific leg of its global campaign to protect forests and marine ecosystems. Greenpeace is being hosted in Jakarta by WALHI - Friends of the Earth Indonesia, the largest forum of environmental organisations and community groups in the country. Next month, Malaysia will host the 7th Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The meeting, dubbed by Greenpeace as the "Summit for Life on Earth", will see world leaders discussing protection of the world's forests and oceans, many of which suffer from massive destruction. Greenpeace will call on delegates at the CBD to propose strong action to stop the destruction of the world's ancient forests and oceans. Greenpeace believes that the Convention on Biological Diversity is the most important forum for governments around the world to take concrete steps to protect life on earth today. In Jakarta, Greenpeace aims to learn about environmental issues currently facing the country through a series of meetings with NGOs, community groups and government agencies. "We are looking forward to learning more about the pressing issues that are currently facing Indonesia, and we will also be finding out what can be done to stem the tide of environmental destruction in this region. We hope our discussions will provide valuable lessons, and possibly the foundations, for any Greenpeace work or campaigns in Indonesia in the near future," said Greenpeace International Campaigner Stephen Campbell. "There has to be a change in paradigm in the current model of conservation because so far it has excluded and disrespected the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples," said Longgena Ginting, Executive Director of WALHI - Friends of the Earth Indonesia. "The delegates at the CBD must come up with serious measures to tackle the problem of illegal logging especially in national parks. We are also calling on the delegates of consumer nations not to receive illegally sourced timber into their countries," said Hapsoro, Director of Telapak, another local NGO. The diverse tropical forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea and the nearby archipelagos form the Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific. These predominantly evergreen rainforests include mangrove, evergreen, coastal and swamp forests as well as lowland rainforests. Greenpeace has an active and successful campaign operating in the Asia-Pacific region in Papua New Guinea (PNG) where the group has been active for over a decade. Working with traditional landowners and other NGO's in that country, Greenpeace has helped to save around one million hectares of primary rainforest in the Western and Milne Bay provinces. Photos of the Rainbow Warrior and electronic version of the Summit for Life on Earth brochure available upon request. ### back to the top University Students Encouraged by Greenpeace Presence in IndonesiaJakarta, 27 January, 2004 -- Representatives of the environmental pressure group Greenpeace spoke to about 80 students Tuesday (Jan 27) at the University of Indonesia (UI) on environmental and Greenpeace campaign-related issues. A Greenpeace campaigner, a crew member of the Greenpeace flagship the SV Rainbow Warrior and an activist from the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea (PNG) shared their stories of Greenpeace activities and actions worldwide. The SV Rainbow Warrior docked at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port last week. Greenpeace has been in Jakarta for two weeks at the invitation of Indonesia's Environment Minister as part of its Asia-Pacific biodiversity campaign in the lead-up to the United Nations Summit for Life on Earth, the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next month. "Now we know we're not alone. Greenpeace is here to help us," was the response of Tadjid, a member of the University's environmental group Mapala-UI following the Greenpeace presentation. Sep, a Greenpeace activist from Papua New Guinea's Western Province told students of his people's struggle against illegal logging operations in PNG and of their success last August in stopping a large logging company from destroying their forests, homes and livelihoods. "We intend to offer our people alternatives now that the illegal and destructive logging has stopped. We are going to ask aid donors to provide funding for ecotourism projects to enable our people to survive," he said. Greenpeace campaigner Stephen Campbell said that Greenpeace was encouraged by the interest generated by the UI students. "It was an excellent opportunity for Greenpeace to be invited by the student group. Greenpeace learnt a lot about issues of concern to them such as illegal and destructive logging, climate change and toxics and we are keen to work with them in these areas," he said. Greenpeace is working in close collaboration with its Indonesian counterparts WALHI and Telapak as part of Greenpeace's campaign to protect the forests and the oceans the Asia-Pacific region and its build-up to the UN Summit for Life on Earth next month. ### back to the top Rainbow Warrior Sets Sail from JakartaJakarta, 29 January, 2004 -- Greenpeace flagship the SV Rainbow Warrior sailed out of Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok port today with national NGO representatives, to visit areas of environmental concern in the Indonesian region. The SV Rainbow Warrior set sail after spending nine days in Jakarta at the invitation of the Indonesian Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim and local NGO environmental organisations. Greenpeace representatives have spent their time in Jakarta working in close collaboration with local NGOs WALHI and Telapak identifying key areas of environmental and biodiversity concern to Indonesia. “It is great to be continuing our work with Indonesian NGOs in order to raise awareness to the environmental crisis facing this region,” said Stephen Campbell of Greenpeace. “Greenpeace has wrapped up roundtable talks with government officials, politicians, NGOs, University students and the diplomatic and donor communities over the past few days. We are extremely pleased with our collaboration and with the information that we have gathered regarding the environmental crisis facing Indonesia.” Longgena Ginting, Executive Director of local NGO WALHI, said he hopes that the collaboration established with Greenpeace will draw international attention to the plight of forests in Indonesia and highlight the issue of illegal logging in his country. “Indonesia is facing real environmental problems and these will not be effectively tackled without international pressure. The Indonesian government also needs to take concrete steps in (the area of) forest reform and implement international laws on the environment,” he said. Telapak Director Hapsoro said his organisation was happy that Greenpeace had come into the region and that it would continue to work with Greenpeace to explore ways to save Indonesia’s forests from destruction. The SV Rainbow Warrior is likely to be at sea for the coming 10 days. The ship has been gathering information on environmental issues in the region in the lead up to the Summit for Life on Earth, the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next month. ### back to the top Greenpeace confronts illegal logging in Indonesia and calls on world Governments to stop the destructionJakarta, 5 February, 2004 -- Greenpeace activists from the Rainbow Warrior today exposed the loading of suspected illegal plywood in the mouth of Lamandau River. The area, located on the west side of Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia, is home to a rapidly diminishing population of orang- utans. Greenpeace is in the region at the invitation of national ngo's and the Indonesian Environment Minister to witness environmental problems facing this highly sensitive and volatile region. The Rainbow Warrior approached and photographed one bulk carrier, the GREVENO, flagged in Valletta - Malta, being used to transport plywood . The plywood was destined for export to the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. These operations are part of a trade that drives the environmental destruction common to the Asia Pacific region. "Greenpeace is here to document the massive and illegal destruction of these forests," said Stephen Campbell of Greenpeace International, speaking from the Rainbow Warrior. “We informed Mr.Wahjudi Wardojo, Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, and called on him to mobilise the relevant authorities to investigate the legality of the shipment and to stop the destruction of these ancient forests”. "However, this problem does not just belong to the Republic of Indonesia," said Campbell. "We are calling on the international community to come to the aid of countries in this region experiencing similar problems". This action is part of the Greenpeace campaign to highlight the crisis being faced by the forests and oceans in the Asia Pacific region and the rest of the world. In the lead up to the Summit for Life on Earth-the meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity which begins next week in Kuala Lumpur, Greenpeace is calling on governments to act immediately to establish a comprehensive network of protected areas around the world with effective law enforcement and management. "The Paradise Forests of the Asia Pacific (1) are riddled with the problems of illegal and destructive logging and the unchallenged operations of unscrupulous individuals and corporations" said Campbell "To find and document destructive logging operations in Kalimantan hammers home the need for governments to urgently work together to end the biodiversity loss in these endangered forests". Orang-utans are on the verge of extinction and the main reason for this is the destruction of their natural habitat. Even in National Parks in Indonesia these endangered animals are not safe from the illegal loggers. Current estimates, according to the Indonesian Government, are that almost 90% of all logging in Indonesia is totally illegal. [Web editor's note: In the weblog I refered to a nearby river by its name on our British Admiralty chart. In this press release the same river is refered to as the Lamandau River, the name Indonesians use.] ### back to the top World governments must stop destruction of forest and marine lifeKuala Lumpur, 9 February, 2004 -- Greenpeace today made an urgent call to delegates attending the Summit for Life on Earth, the UN meeting on the Convention of Biological Diversity beginning here today, to protect life on earth in all its diversity by providing money for protection of life on land and sea. World governments must also ban large-scale industrial activity in all large intact and sensitive areas and establish a network of land and marine protected areas with effective law enforcement and management. The 7th Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity starts today and lasts two weeks. "World governments have a huge task ahead of them,” said Martin Kaiser of Greenpeace. “They must take these next two weeks seriously. Now is the time to ensure the future of the world’s forests and oceans and the life they sustain. Governments must honour their commitments to halt biodiversity loss by 2010." In recent weeks, Greenpeace has highlighted illegal logging operations in Asia Pacific, the bycatch and potential extinction of dolphins in the North Atlantic and the plans to destroy the Patagonian forests in Chile. These are all primary examples of how life on earth is rapidly disappearing. Patagonia is a typical example of an ancient forest under threat from development, as Canadian company Noranda plans to flood 10,000ha of forest in order to build dams and a highly polluting aluminium smelter known as Alumysa. With the aim of stopping the project, Greenpeace has purchased land in the area to be flooded, and in a ceremony today the land has been demarcated and declared a protected are in an attempt to stop the project. The Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, is continuing to document illegal and destructive logging activities in the area of Asia Pacific and will tomorrow release the findings of the first leg of it’s tour in the region. Ancient forests are home to up to 80 percent of the world's terrestrial diversity of plant and animal species. Millions of indigenous peoples and traditional forest dwellers depend on these forests for their livelihoods and culture. But ancient forests do not only provide goods and services to local people. They provide freshwater for millions of people living in cities far away from these forests. Forests also regulate and maintain hydrological and atmospheric cycles on a global level. Many international pharmaceutical products are based on genetic resources and species from ancient forests. As the life of the oceans is being destroyed, huge ecosystems, once thought to be inexhaustible, are collapsing. 90% of all large fish- both open ocean species such as tuna, swordfish and marlin and the large ground fish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder - have been fished out since 1950. Depletion of these species can cause, among other things, massive shifts in the entire ocean ecosystem where commercially valuable fish are replaced by simpler organisms—such as jellyfish--feeding further down the food web. "Because the convention on biological diversity is really a convention for life on earth, urgent global action needs to be taken by the governments of the world, which means that instead of wasting time talking they should put their money where their mouth is and put up the cash for protection of life," added Kaiser. "To prevent further devastation they should halt all industrial activities in large intact and sensitive areas—in both forests and oceans, until long term and legally binding protection and sustainable use is ensured," he concluded. Visit www.greenpeace.org/protectlifeonearth ### back to the top Environment groups return from Central Kalimantan with positive evidence of continuing illegal loggingJakarta, 10 February, 2004 -- Greenpeace has returned to Jakarta having witnessed evidence of illegal logging in Kalimantan in the company of national NGO representatives. National NGOs WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia, Forest Watch Indonesia and Telapak accompanied the crew of the Rainbow Warrior to witness illegal logging operations in Central Kalimantan. During the last week the organisations have seen evidence of illegal and destructive logging in three locations around Pangkalan Bun, Kuala Pembuang. These locations are all near the Tanjung Puting National Park. "We are glad that we have been to Kalimantan at the request of our partner NGOs, and are deeply moved to have witnessed more evidence of the destruction of the forests of the Asia-Pacific" said Stephen Campbell of Greenpeace. "But the things that we have seen are just the tip of the iceberg. It is clear that the illegal and destructive logging in Indonesia is the number one environmental issue in this country, and we are going to increase our efforts to pressure governments to act." On Thursday the groups discovered a bulk carrier, the GREVENO loading with potentially illegal plywood, and called on the Indonesian government to take strong measures to prevent the shipment. The plywood documented onboard the GREVENO comes from the Korindo Mill, located next to the Tanjung Puting National Park. The Indonesian government has found that this mill has used illegal timber in its operations in the past, and is currently making further inquires regarding the legality of the shipment. "It is difficult to enforce the law when almost every aspect of law enforcement has been cancered by corruption," said Hapsoro of Telapak. "To combat illegal logging is combating corruption. The key- action of law enforcement is timber shipment monitoring, but that's just a start. Serious follow-up actions of any illegal timber transportation must also take place." "As a tip of an iceberg, illegal logging problems have at least these roots: unfair global timber trade, rampant corruption, and non- participatory approach in forest management. A radical solution is needed, and the Indonesian government has the biggest responsibility to solve these problems. If they fail, they will loose their legitimacy", said Rama Ardana of Forest Watch Indonesia. Ade Fadli of WALHI/Friends of The Earth Indonesia said, "To solve destructive logging problems, both illegal and legal, we need a change in the natural resources management paradigm. We call on the Indonesian government to recognize communities' right to manage their own natural resources and to impose a logging moratorium. Also we call on consumer country governments not to buy tropical timber." Greenpeace is highlighting the plight of the world's last remaining ancient forests and the depletion of the oceans in the lead up to the summit for life on earth - the UN meeting of the Convention for Biological Diversity - which is currently taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February. Greenpeace is urging governments to protect life in all its diversity, indigenous people's rights and cultural variety by providing money for protection of life on land and sea. World governments must also ban large scale industrial activity in all sensitive areas and establish a network of land and marine protected areas with effective law enforcement and management. ### back to the top Governments fail to stop destruction of ancient forests from illegal logging;
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