‘Multi-door approach’ to address forest-related crimes in Indonesia
Every adversity is an opportunity in disguise. Today marks the International Day of Forests, a moment of global celebration to raise awareness of the importance of forests to the ecosystem and to humanity.
This day is of particular significance to Indonesia, home to the world’s third largest tropical forested area, and offers a great opportunity to highlight existing solutions to address one of the country’s most challenging issues: annual forest fires and forest-related crimes.
source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/21/multi-door-approach-address-forest-related-crimes-indonesia.html
15 Bornean rhinos discovered in Kalimantan?
Indonesia’s environment and forestry ministry will convert a former gold mining site into a sanctuary for the Sumatran rhinoceros in East Kalimantan province, after conservationists identified 15 of the critically endangered creatures in the area.
The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) was until recently believed to be extinct in Kalimantan. Then in 2013, scientists on an orangutan search discovered rhino footprints in the Kelian Protected Forest in West Kutai district.
Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/a-new-sanctuary-for-the-sumatran-rhino-in-borneo/
Govt to revise wildlife law as protected animals face extinction
After the deaths in rapid succession of Sumatran elephants and other protected animals over the past few years, the government and the House of Representatives have agreed to revise the natural resources conservation law to place heavier sanctions on hunters and traders.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Monday that the government and the parliament were in the process of revising Law No. 5/1990 on natural resources and ecosystem conservation.
source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/01/govt-revise-wildlife-law-protected-animals-face-extinction.html
$1m for devising best way to map Indonesia’s peatlands
Want to make a million dollars? Find the most efficient way to map Indonesia’s peatlands.
That’s the ticket to winning the Indonesian Peat Prize, announced by the cartographically challenged Southeast Asian country last month.
The competition will establish a national standard for mapping peatland extent and thickness, a process deemed essential to stopping the annual forest and peat fires which grow more devastating by the year. Last dry season, they burned an area the size of Rwanda, afflicted half a million people with respiratory problems, pumped an enormous amount of carbon into the atmosphere and cost Indonesia $16 billion, according to government and World Bank figures.
source: http://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/1m-for-devising-best-way-to-map-indonesias-peatlands/
Minister orders early containment of fires in Kalimantan, Sumatra
The Home Ministry has ordered local administrations in Kalimantan and Sumatra to launch preventive measures to contain forest fire after the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) discovered a growing number of hot spots in the two provinces.
In Sumatra, small fires were detected in 68 locations on Sunday, which, if not tackled immediately could grow bigger to become forest fires in the near future. Satellite data also showed 38 hot spots in East Kalimantan and one in North Kalimantan on the same day.
source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/29/minister-orders-early-containment-fires-kalimantan-sumatra.html
