Java on brink of ecological collapse
Tough mission: Military personnel and search and rescue team members scour debris for victims following a landslide at Kolongan Beha, Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, on Thursday. Floods and landslides caused by extreme weather in different locations in the past few days have left three people dead, damaged dozens of houses and affected transportation links.(Antara/Stenly Pontolawokang)
Unruly permit issuance and rapid extractive industry expansion have led to a string of disasters in several parts of Indonesia, particularly in Java, which is on the brink of ecological collapse as most of its forest areas have been converted.
source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/24/java-brink-ecological-collapse.html
Flash Floods Damages Rice Fields and Homes in Brebes
TEMPO.CO, Brebes - Flash floods have inundated the village of Adisana in Brebes' Bumiayu District in Central Java on Saturday evening, June 18, 2016 - destroying scores of paddy fields in the area. The floods struck after a heavy showers fell for an entire day. "As a result, the rivers and creeks around the area burst its' banks - and destroyed the levees at the village of Penggarutan," said Adisana Village Chief, Komarudin, on Sunday, June 19, 2016.
The flash floods suddenly inundated scores of homes at around 17:30 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) across three neighbourhood units (RT), namely RT 005, 006, and 007 in Community Unit (RW) 001 on Saturday evening, before slowly subsiding at around 23:00 WIB. Five hectares of paddy fields - which were about to be harvested - were destroyed as a result of the flash floods.
source: http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/06/19/206781282/Flash-Floods-Damages-Rice-Fields-and-Homes-in-Brebes
Kalla Seeks Regional, Not Bilateral, Solution to Forest Fires
Jakarta. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has responded to Singapore's offer to assist Indonesia in mitigating forest and land fires by saying environmental issues needed to be dealt with through a regional agreement, not a bilateral one.
"If the air is clean, all people in Asia – and Singapore – will be able to enjoy it. Therefore, if [the environment] is destroyed, we have to fix it together," Kalla said at the opening of the 20th Environmental and Forestry Week in Jakarta on Thursday (09/06).
source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/kalla-seeks-regional-not-bilateral-solution-forest-fires/
Indonesia to rezone 3.8m of protected peat that was damaged or converted
In May, the Indonesian government announced that nearly half of the peatlands protected under a 2011 forestry moratorium have actually been damaged or converted.
Last week, the forestry ministry said it would issue a regulation to provide legal status for these areas, which amount to 3.8 million hectares – nearly the size of Puerto Rico.
source: https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/indonesia-to-rezone-3-8m-of-protected-peat-that-was-damaged-or-converted/
Indonesia's forest fires threaten Sumatra's few remaining Orang Rimba
Our main goal is to preserve the forest according to the customary traditions of our people. If there’s no forest, there’s no Orang Rimba and the other way round,” says Bepak Pengusai, head of customs in a rombong, or group area, belonging to the Orang Rimba, an aboriginal people in Sumatra.
Indonesia’s devastating forest fires pose a serious threat to the Orang Rimba habitat. From July to late last year, the fires killed a dozen people and caused respiratory tract infections in half a million more.
source: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/07/indonesia-forest-fires-threaten-sumatras-few-remaining-orang-rimba
