WRI: A Chance for Forests, if Government Can See Past the Trees

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra, Jun 07, 2014

Indonesia's resource-driven economic book has taken a heavy toll on the
 nation's forests, and environmental experts warn that the situation has become
untenable. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s economic ascendancy from the crippling financial crisis of the late 1990s has seen the country become one of the biggest economies in the world.

But the boom has been built in part on a high rate of natural resources extraction — including coal mining and the wholesale clearing of forests to make way for oil palm plantations — that is not sustainable, experts warn.

“With the booming economy and rise of the middle class, we’re putting a lot of stresses on our natural environment, including power, wood, minerals, oil, gas and food,” says Andrew Steer, the president and chief executive of the World Resources Institute, an organization that focuses on the overlap between the environment and socioeconomic development.

Steer, speaking at the opening of the WRI’s Indonesian office on Wednesday, Steer said those stresses were responsible for Indonesia being a major emitter of greenhouse cases, mostly from deforestation.

“Over the last decade, Indonesia’s economy has become the third-fastest-growing economy in the world. With a massive 35 million people emerging into the middle class, or consuming class, we are trying to drive people to consider their consumption with the environmental sector,” he said.

“Indonesia has contributed to climate change and should be part of the solution to make it more resilient,” he added.

Steer said it was not all gloom and doom, though, noting that his institute was encouraged to open an office here because of the government’s commitment to extending a moratorium on issuing new land-clearing permits in primary and peat forests.

The moratorium was issued in May 2011 and was initially set to run for two years. However, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided last year to extend it to May 2015.

Dino Patti Djalal, a board member of the WRI in Indonesia, said there was an increasing number of environmentalists, activists and civil society groups raising awareness about environmental and economic issues.

He said the country was also witnessing the rise of a new generation of local government leaders coming up with innovative ideas to address their local economic and environmental challenges.

He cited the example of an Islamic boarding school, or pesantren , in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, that had begun using e-books after finding a way to generate electricity from waste.

“They also grow tree seedlings and give them to members of the local community to take care of the trees,” said Dino, the former Indonesian ambassador to the United States. “So from the local [government] level to pesantren, university and civil society level, many people are adopting new techniques to promote environmental stewardship.”

Dino, who also mounted a failed bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, said the central government needed to do more in terms of adopting and propagating environmentally friendly technologies for sustainable development.

“They have to know what they want, what the demands of development truly are, and what types of technologies are needed to fulfill those needs,” he said.

Among the technologies that the government has often been criticized for being slow in adopting is mapping technology to assess the true condition of forests across the country.

The first few months after the implementation of the forestry moratorium were marked by numerous instances of plantation companies being issued forest-clearing permits in areas that clearly fell within the no-limit zone defined in the government’s moratorium map. The map has since been updated several times.

The WRI has proposed the use of its Global Forest Watch platform, which it says combines innovative technologies, open data and crowdsourcing at a global scale for everyone to see the real condition of forests all over the world.

“Global Forest Watch is accessible to everyone, from governments and nongovernmental organizations and indigenous communities, to buyers, suppliers and the media,” said Nigel Sizer, the director of the platform.

He said the government could use the online map, at globalforestwatch.org, to inform forest policies and regulations, observe concessions, and identify illicit deforestation.

NGOs, meanwhile, can use it to identify deforestation zones and fire hot spots to mobilize real action and collect evidence to hold the government and companies to account for their forest-related commitments.

“Citizens can also share their experiences on forest-related issues,” Sizer said.

Rudi Putra, an environmental activist who won the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize for his successful efforts to tackle illegal oil palm plantations in Aceh’s Leuser Ecosystem — whose omission from the original moratorium map was a major source of controversy — says there needs to be a greater understanding about the importance of forests, not just for local biodiversity but also for communities.

He welcomed any new technology that would help in the monitoring of forest conditions. Such innovations, he said, would allow people to combat illegal logging and forest encroachment, deforestation and degradation.

Besides the issue of forests, Steer said Indonesia should look to develop its wealth of renewable energy.

The country has the world’s biggest reserves of geothermal energy, but to date generates less than 5 percent of its total electricity this way. The bulk of electricity here is generated by coal-fired plants.

“Indonesia is pretty dependent on fossil fuel, so it needs a revolution in the energy sector,” Steer said.WRI: A Chance for Forests, if Government Can See Past the Trees

Jakarta Globe, Vita A.D. Busyra, Jun 07, 2014

Indonesia's resource-driven economic book has taken a heavy toll on the nation's forests, and environmental experts warn that the situation has become untenable. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s economic ascendancy from the crippling financial crisis of the late 1990s has seen the country become one of the biggest economies in the world.

But the boom has been built in part on a high rate of natural resources extraction — including coal mining and the wholesale clearing of forests to make way for oil palm plantations — that is not sustainable, experts warn.

“With the booming economy and rise of the middle class, we’re putting a lot of stresses on our natural environment, including power, wood, minerals, oil, gas and food,” says Andrew Steer, the president and chief executive of the World Resources Institute, an organization that focuses on the overlap between the environment and socioeconomic development.

Steer, speaking at the opening of the WRI’s Indonesian office on Wednesday, Steer said those stresses were responsible for Indonesia being a major emitter of greenhouse cases, mostly from deforestation.

“Over the last decade, Indonesia’s economy has become the third-fastest-growing economy in the world. With a massive 35 million people emerging into the middle class, or consuming class, we are trying to drive people to consider their consumption with the environmental sector,” he said.

“Indonesia has contributed to climate change and should be part of the solution to make it more resilient,” he added.

Steer said it was not all gloom and doom, though, noting that his institute was encouraged to open an office here because of the government’s commitment to extending a moratorium on issuing new land-clearing permits in primary and peat forests.

The moratorium was issued in May 2011 and was initially set to run for two years. However, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided last year to extend it to May 2015.

Dino Patti Djalal, a board member of the WRI in Indonesia, said there was an increasing number of environmentalists, activists and civil society groups raising awareness about environmental and economic issues.

He said the country was also witnessing the rise of a new generation of local government leaders coming up with innovative ideas to address their local economic and environmental challenges.

He cited the example of an Islamic boarding school, or pesantren , in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, that had begun using e-books after finding a way to generate electricity from waste.

“They also grow tree seedlings and give them to members of the local community to take care of the trees,” said Dino, the former Indonesian ambassador to the United States. “So from the local [government] level to pesantren, university and civil society level, many people are adopting new techniques to promote environmental stewardship.”

Dino, who also mounted a failed bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, said the central government needed to do more in terms of adopting and propagating environmentally friendly technologies for sustainable development.

“They have to know what they want, what the demands of development truly are, and what types of technologies are needed to fulfill those needs,” he said.

Among the technologies that the government has often been criticized for being slow in adopting is mapping technology to assess the true condition of forests across the country.

The first few months after the implementation of the forestry moratorium were marked by numerous instances of plantation companies being issued forest-clearing permits in areas that clearly fell within the no-limit zone defined in the government’s moratorium map. The map has since been updated several times.

The WRI has proposed the use of its Global Forest Watch platform, which it says combines innovative technologies, open data and crowdsourcing at a global scale for everyone to see the real condition of forests all over the world.

“Global Forest Watch is accessible to everyone, from governments and nongovernmental organizations and indigenous communities, to buyers, suppliers and the media,” said Nigel Sizer, the director of the platform.

He said the government could use the online map, at globalforestwatch.org, to inform forest policies and regulations, observe concessions, and identify illicit deforestation.

NGOs, meanwhile, can use it to identify deforestation zones and fire hot spots to mobilize real action and collect evidence to hold the government and companies to account for their forest-related commitments.

“Citizens can also share their experiences on forest-related issues,” Sizer said.

Rudi Putra, an environmental activist who won the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize for his successful efforts to tackle illegal oil palm plantations in Aceh’s Leuser Ecosystem — whose omission from the original moratorium map was a major source of controversy — says there needs to be a greater understanding about the importance of forests, not just for local biodiversity but also for communities.

He welcomed any new technology that would help in the monitoring of forest conditions. Such innovations, he said, would allow people to combat illegal logging and forest encroachment, deforestation and degradation.

Besides the issue of forests, Steer said Indonesia should look to develop its wealth of renewable energy.

The country has the world’s biggest reserves of geothermal energy, but to date generates less than 5 percent of its total electricity this way. The bulk of electricity here is generated by coal-fired plants.

“Indonesia is pretty dependent on fossil fuel, so it needs a revolution in the energy sector,” Steer said.

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"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part 1, Text version Part 2)

"... Some of you will walk into the forest and you'll feel it. It surrounds you with its love and beauty. Gaia speaks to you. The trees are pushing out oxygen with a benevolent system of photosynthesis. The plants give you oxygen and you give them carbon dioxide. What a system! Look around. Science will say that system happened by accident - a random occurrence. Do you believe that? What a beautiful system! The trees themselves know who you are. You walk into the forest and you feel it hug you, but perhaps another is next to you who came with a chainsaw. They don't care and they don't feel it. To them, the forest is only a resource. What's the difference between the two of you? There's no judgment here, I'm just asking you. What do you think the difference is? The answer: You're letting multidimensional awareness in and they are not. You see, you are becoming more aware of multidimensional soul communication. In this case, it's your enormous soul energy communicating with the other parts of the planet who are also multidimensional.

When you make the decision that it's OK to feel this energy, it will be there. Most of humanity so far has not made that decision. They block it. The law is this - this communication will come to you only with your allowance. The moment you open the door of allowance, you may begin to feel it. Those are our rules.

It's not just allowance for communication from the creative source, but also from an amazing number of what we would call other benevolent energies. These others are represented by groups with names that you have given them. They also cannot get through to you unless you allow it. That's their rule as well. Your names for them are Pleiadians, Arcturians, Sirians, Hathors or those from Orion. There are many more, but unless you open to the possibility of them, they can't communicate either.

Most of humanity will stand next to you as you communicate and think you're not well. That's the way it looks to them. Listen, dear ones, the benevolent groups who represent your DNA essence [your seed biology] and who know who you are are many. The amount of help you have on this planet is staggering, yet the majority of humanity will not allow awareness of it or let the possibility into their reality.. ..."