Greenpeace ship visits Indonesia to promote forest conservation

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, will arrive in Indonesia on October 6 to promote forest and climate conservation as part of the environmentalist organization`s `Forest for Climate` campaign, a spokesperson said.

The Esperanza would arrive in Jayapura, Papua, on October 6 and remain until Nov 15 to spotlight the need to defend the last remaining natural forests in Indonesia, according to Greenpeace media campaigner Nabiha Shahab in an e-mail to Antara on Saturday.

Norwegian wealth fund sells stake in Rio Tinto

The opencast Grasberg mine in West Papua, Indonesia, has been called one of

the worst eyesores in the world

From The Times
September 10, 2008

David Robertson, Business Correspondent

One of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders has sold its £500 million stake in the company over concerns about the Grasberg goldmine, which has been called one of the world’s worst eyesores.

The $375 billion (£213 billion) Norwegian sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday that it had sold its shares after failing to persuade Rio to improve operations at the West Papua mine.

The Norwegian Finance Minister publicly shamed Rio in a statement that accused the company of “severe environmental damage”.

The Grasberg operation in West Papua, Indonesia, is the world’s largest goldmine and the third-largest copper mine, but it is notorious among human rights and environmental campaigners.

Greenpeace says Indonesia mustn’t encroach on Papua forests in oil palm push

A very important warning from Arief Wicaksono of Greenpeace

Posted at 08:12 on 22 May, 2008 UTC in RNZI

Greenpeace says that without good governance, Indonesia’s plans to utilise millions more hectares in its Papua region are unlikely to be sustainably managed.

Indonesia’s agriculture ministry says that since Sumatra and Kalimantan have become too dense for new palm oil plantations, the only land available is in Papua.

Indonesia, which is the world’s largest palm oil producer, has three to four million hectares of land suitable for palm oil plantations in the Papua region.

However Indonesia’s already the third largest carbon emitter in the world and Greenpeace Southeast Asia Political Advisor, Arief Wicaksono, says oil palm plantation expansion will only increase the rate.

He says such plans usually mean more deforestation and ongoing hunger for land.

“The government should have stronger and stricter controls on how the plantations not encroaching the forests. If you look back to early 2007, the Agriculture Minister said that to become number one palm oil producer [in the world], we don’t have to encroach natural forests.”

Arief Wicaksono of Greenpeace

U.S. firm to invest $4 bln in Indonesian pulp factory

Related to the logging industry pressure to loosen Papua Log Export Ban, an international pulp factory plans to invest and to destroy our forest. Do we need investment that only for the benefit of business elites? Forest is our mother, please help her to be green and protect our soul from greediness.

Source of Information: Xinhua and  Pulp.Inc

Papua log export ban

Papua log export ban is very serious, and all Papuan should support the Papua Log Export Ban. Log export ban is under pressure now. It seems that both Papua local government and central government of Indonesia are showing a tendency to loosen the regulation. We should questioned the purpose of cutting trees and deforestation in Papua.

STOP DEFORESTATION  !!!

SAVE PAPUA TROPICAL FOREST !!!

Tropical deforestation accounts for approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia is the world’s third largest emitter largely due to deforestation. If Indonesia’s government is serious about saving its forests and tackling climate change, it should fully support the Papua log export ban.

BP Shattered illusions

I am sure that well educated Papuan either activist or government employee should read the article on BP business in Papua.  As I mentioned earlier in my writing on Multinational Projects that Papuan should watch closely all multinational projects in the land of Papua. The importance of this is not only watching but also push BP to take serious attention on the survival of the Papuans. We should prevent BP from doing a continuously destructive project on our forests and our trees. We also should fight againts BP projects that pollute the rivers and seas.

The article by John Vidal is must reading for all Papuan Watcher and Papuan Environment activist.

Papua and the Blessing of Its Natural Resources

 

Grasberg Gold Mine, West Papua

Natural resources like oil,  copper and gold in Papua is a blessing. It is true that countries with abundant natural resources are blessing, and Papua is the place in Indonesia should enjoyed the exploration of natural resources .

Avoiding deforestation will help eradicate poverty

Jakarta Post, Friday, December 7, 2007 10:49:08 AM

Many understand that deforestation contributes a lot to global warming, but few are aware that forest plundering will lead to poverty. On the sidelines of the UN climate change conference in Bali, Papua’s Governor Barnabas Suebu, one of Time’s Hero of the Environment awardees, talked to The Jakarta Post contributor I. Christianto about his efforts to combat poverty through the protection of 31-million hectares of forest remaining in the province.

True Hero of West Papua

BARNABAS SUEBU, the Governor of Papua, works for West Papuan people and peacefully channels West Papuan aspirations to the central Government of Indonesia which has legally and helpfully developed the land of WEST PAPUA, for many years.

Now the American magazine “TIME” has called him a “Hero of the Environment”. They have invited him to London for a “Heroes Awards Ceremony”. They say he is a “hero” because he wants Western countries like Britain and the USA to pay millions of dollars to Indonesia not to cut down the forests.