Indonesia

In our first bulletin of the year, in light of the fact that 2011 has been declared the International Year of Forests, we shared with you the idea of defining the forest by its true meaning, as a diverse ecosystem that sustains countless forms and ways of life, rich in colours, textures, aromas and sounds.

Kemenyan or locally known haminjon is a fragrant resin of benzoin. It has been cultivated and traded from Batak highlands of Indonesia's province of North Sumatra for centuries. Benzoin is produced from benzoin trees (Styrax benzoin) and is highly valued as ingredient in incense for burning in rituals ceremonies, for traditional and modern medicinal purposes, perfumery and for fragrant cigarettes.

IControlled by the Indonesian Widjaja family, the Sinar Mas group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia engaged in clearing rainforests and destroying peatlands for their several bussinesses, including the pulp and paper industry through the Sinar Mas’ pulp and paper division, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is a giant pulp and paper company which has long been deforesting Indonesian forests in Riau province, Sumatra, destroying Kerumutan’s and Bukit Tigapuluh’s peat forests. Most of the estimated 25 percent deforestation of the original natural forest cover has taken place on carbon rich soils.

Last month, a new Australian-Indonesian Forest Carbon Partnership was announced under the scheme of the International Forest Carbon Initiative (IFCI) - a government initiative, with implementation jointly managed by AusAID and the Department of Climate Change. The A$30 million funded REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) trial project will be implemented in the Indonesian Jambi province located on the east coast of central Sumatra.

An article published on the website EUobserver.com (1) informs that “a draft commission communication offering guidance to EU member states on the use of biofuels has classified palm oil plantations - the source of one of the most destructive forms of biofuels - as "forests."  Essentially, the document argues that because palm oil plantations are tall enough and shady enough, they count as forests.”

There are two realities in the forestry sector in Indonesia. In one, the forests continue to be destroyed, peatswamps are drained, forests are logged, burned and replaced by industrial tree plantations. Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' rights are bulldozed along with the forests. Meanwhile, in the other reality, trees are planted, forests are restored and greenhouse gas emissions will soon become a thing of the past.

Before the plantations came, villagers in Teluk Kabung in Riau province in Sumatra, grew coconuts. A few years ago, thousands of hectares of forest surrounding the village were clearcut and replaced by acacia monocultures to supply Asia Pulp and Paper's massive operations. “As soon as they cut down the trees in the forest, the pests swarmed in, and ate our coconut trees,” a villager told Mitra Taj, a radio journalist from Living on Earth. Dozens of dead coconut trees lie on the ground near the village.

 WRM information sheets on GE tree research First posted: 25 November 2009 Last update: August 2014 Tree species being manipulated: Acacia mangium and Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria). GE trees produced in December 2004. (1) Aim of genetic manipulation

A typical propaganda disseminated by business interests and governments in many tropical countries is to say that plantations will relieve pressure on native forests. They claim that with enough plantations, native forests would eventually be left alone, as the plantations would provide sufficient wood to avoid the need of extracting timber from native forests.

The indigenous people of Teluk Meranti in the Kampar Peninsula, Riau, Sumatra, are resisting efforts by a pulp and paper company to take over their customary lands.

An internal audit has revealed that the World Bank’s private sector arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – has allowed commercial interests to override its social and environmental standards in making major loans to the oil palm sector in Indonesia.. The uncontrolled expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia has become synonymous with widespread clearance of forests and peatlands, massive CO2 emissions and the theft of indigenous peoples’ lands.