In the next few days I will embark a trip to eastern US to give talks on sun bear and their plights at different zoos that supported my sun bears works for the past many years.
The title of my talks will be:
“The ecology, conservation, and plights of the sun bear: how are we going to save this little bear?”
The followings are the information of these talks:
Minnesota Zoo www.mnzoo.org:
Date: Monday, June 29th, 2009.
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Venue: Minnesota Zoo’s Indoor Theater (located next to Guest Services).
13000 Zoo Boulevard, Apple Valley, MN 55124
Brookfield Zoo http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Discovery Center Orientation Theater, Chicago Zoological Society (for zoo staffs volunteer only)
Bronx Zoo- WCS http://www.bronxzoo.com/
Date: Wednesday July 8th, 2009.
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Venue: 2nd Floor conference room at – Center for Global Conservation
Columbus Zoo http://www.columbuszoo.org/default.aspx:
Date: Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Time: 4:30 pm, Venue: Pavilion 3, Columbus Zoo
Menu: hamburgers; veggie burgers; sides; dessert; drinks
RSVP to Becky at 3409 or Rebecca.Rose@columbuszoo.orgby July 9th - space is limited.
In addition of these 4 talks, Alexander Abraham Foundation and LEAP have co-organize a fund raising for Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center on Thursday, July 9 -8 pm, hosted by Nancy and Arnold Moss in New York City. Please RSVP or get more information from Brienne Walsh brienne@aabrahamfoundation.org.
6/23/09
6/17/09
Are you Homo sapian?
Are you Homo sapian? If you claim you are, then you have to spend 1 hour and 30 minutes of your life watching “HOME”- a documentary of a planet that we call HOME to learn what have we done to our HOME.
Do not blink, do not talk, just listen carefully to every single words in the documentary. Please pay special attention at the 49th minute about what is happening to Borneo.
This is serious issue. It is a matter life and death, not just to Home sapian, but every single life forms that share this planet Earth that we all call “HOME.”
Please tell your other H. sapian friends to watch it as well. I am sure the 1:30 hour of your life will be well spent!
Do not blink, do not talk, just listen carefully to every single words in the documentary. Please pay special attention at the 49th minute about what is happening to Borneo.
This is serious issue. It is a matter life and death, not just to Home sapian, but every single life forms that share this planet Earth that we all call “HOME.”
Please tell your other H. sapian friends to watch it as well. I am sure the 1:30 hour of your life will be well spent!
6/11/09
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/090610/8/1l10h.html
罕見規模 廣西查獲173熊掌走私
更新日期:2009/06/10 17:34 尤美心
大陸南方盛行吃珍稀野味，不論是熊掌還是穿山甲都還有人盜賣，廣西警方最近就破獲一宗近來罕見規模的熊掌走私案，一口氣查獲多達173隻熊掌，總重量近4百公斤，算一算至少有40多隻黑熊被殺！
連掌帶腿的熊掌足足有30公分長，它們一隻隻被拿出來，算一算，總數竟然高達173隻；173隻熊掌，就等於至少有43隻黑熊遭受無辜殘害，這個數字，讓熊掌一字排開的畫面，更顯得怵目驚心。
這是廣西警方查獲的大型野生動物走私案，被查獲的走私熊掌總重量有384.5公斤，最重的一隻熊掌重4公斤、最輕的也有1公斤。而不只有熊掌，另一旁還有巨蟒蛇皮和一隻穿山甲。
走私集團以運廢紙的名義掩護，要將這批野生動物產品走私到廣東，因為在華南一帶嗜吃珍奇野味，以熊掌來說，1公斤可以賣到1000元人民幣，約台幣1萬元。光這173隻熊掌，售價已經近400萬台幣。在暴利的引誘下，不惜殘忍殺害野生動物。
罕見規模 廣西查獲173熊掌走私
更新日期:2009/06/10 17:34 尤美心
大陸南方盛行吃珍稀野味，不論是熊掌還是穿山甲都還有人盜賣，廣西警方最近就破獲一宗近來罕見規模的熊掌走私案，一口氣查獲多達173隻熊掌，總重量近4百公斤，算一算至少有40多隻黑熊被殺！
連掌帶腿的熊掌足足有30公分長，它們一隻隻被拿出來，算一算，總數竟然高達173隻；173隻熊掌，就等於至少有43隻黑熊遭受無辜殘害，這個數字，讓熊掌一字排開的畫面，更顯得怵目驚心。
這是廣西警方查獲的大型野生動物走私案，被查獲的走私熊掌總重量有384.5公斤，最重的一隻熊掌重4公斤、最輕的也有1公斤。而不只有熊掌，另一旁還有巨蟒蛇皮和一隻穿山甲。
走私集團以運廢紙的名義掩護，要將這批野生動物產品走私到廣東，因為在華南一帶嗜吃珍奇野味，以熊掌來說，1公斤可以賣到1000元人民幣，約台幣1萬元。光這173隻熊掌，售價已經近400萬台幣。在暴利的引誘下，不惜殘忍殺害野生動物。
Arrest of Cambodians highlights rising poaching concerns in Malaysia’s protected areas
Arrest of Cambodians highlights rising poaching concerns in Malaysia’s protected areas
en Français
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26 May 2009—Three Cambodian poachers with a stash of Wild Boar and argus pheasant meat, agarwood and snares have been nabbed by the National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) at their hideout in a forest reserve in Malaysia’s northern state of Perak.
The trio was part of a larger group of seven men who had been poaching protected species in the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in Ulu Lawin, near the town of Gerik.
Perak Perhilitan director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the department deployed a team of 15 enforcement officers on Saturday after a tip-off.
“My men managed to catch three of them while the rest slipped into the forest under the cover of darkness,” she told the press.
The seven, who had earlier hunted the protected animals in the forest, were resting when they were surprised by enforcement officers.
Officers seized 9.5 kg of smoked Wild Boar meat, 1.9 kg of smoked Wild Boar meat with heads, ribs and limbs, 1.4 kg of argus pheasant meat, 2.6 kg of agarwood and a sack full of argus pheasant feathers.
They also found 52 snares of various sizes, four machetes and three axes.
“TRAFFIC applauds the department and urged it not to stop at catching poachers, but to follow the trail to the illegal wildlife traders they supply,” said Julia Ng, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Senior Programme Officer.
“These traders must also be caught, prosecuted and handed out the maximum permissible fines, as they are the ones that fuel the demand for wildlife from the poachers,” she added.
Poaching in protected areas is an issue of increasing concern in Malaysia, and the high market value of agarwood, known as gaharu in the Malay language, is often the reason for organized groups spending long periods in the forest, feeding themselves on whatever wild animal species they can capture.
Areas like the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve where the Cambodian poachers were arrested are home to many threatened species such as Sumatran Rhinoceros, Clouded Leopard and Sambar deer.
The area is also is an important tiger landscape as outlined in Malaysia’s National Tiger Action Plan and it is not the only area being targeted by poachers.
The State of Perak which lies in the north and borders Thailand has already seen several arrests of poachers in protected areas this year after authorities stepped up enforcement efforts.
On 15 January, officers from Malaysia’s Anti-Smuggling Unit detained two Thai nationals attempting to smuggle seven Pig-tailed Macaques from a forested area in Bukit Berapit, near the Malaysia–Thailand border. They were sentenced to a MYR4,500 (USD1,282) fine or two months jail each.
On 4 March, three more Thai nationals were caught with several protected birds in Felda Kelian Intan, in Pengkalan Hulu district. The case is now before the courts.
In operations on 28 and 29 April in Sungai Mendelum, which lies within Perak state’s premier park—the Royal Belum Forest Reserve—authorities also uncovered poaching camps and confiscated six wire snares. WWF-Malaysia’s previous surveys in Perak have also found signs of local and foreign encroachment and poaching along highways that provides the access points into such forest complexes
en Français
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26 May 2009—Three Cambodian poachers with a stash of Wild Boar and argus pheasant meat, agarwood and snares have been nabbed by the National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) at their hideout in a forest reserve in Malaysia’s northern state of Perak.
The trio was part of a larger group of seven men who had been poaching protected species in the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in Ulu Lawin, near the town of Gerik.
Perak Perhilitan director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the department deployed a team of 15 enforcement officers on Saturday after a tip-off.
“My men managed to catch three of them while the rest slipped into the forest under the cover of darkness,” she told the press.
The seven, who had earlier hunted the protected animals in the forest, were resting when they were surprised by enforcement officers.
Officers seized 9.5 kg of smoked Wild Boar meat, 1.9 kg of smoked Wild Boar meat with heads, ribs and limbs, 1.4 kg of argus pheasant meat, 2.6 kg of agarwood and a sack full of argus pheasant feathers.
They also found 52 snares of various sizes, four machetes and three axes.
“TRAFFIC applauds the department and urged it not to stop at catching poachers, but to follow the trail to the illegal wildlife traders they supply,” said Julia Ng, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Senior Programme Officer.
“These traders must also be caught, prosecuted and handed out the maximum permissible fines, as they are the ones that fuel the demand for wildlife from the poachers,” she added.
Poaching in protected areas is an issue of increasing concern in Malaysia, and the high market value of agarwood, known as gaharu in the Malay language, is often the reason for organized groups spending long periods in the forest, feeding themselves on whatever wild animal species they can capture.
Areas like the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve where the Cambodian poachers were arrested are home to many threatened species such as Sumatran Rhinoceros, Clouded Leopard and Sambar deer.
The area is also is an important tiger landscape as outlined in Malaysia’s National Tiger Action Plan and it is not the only area being targeted by poachers.
The State of Perak which lies in the north and borders Thailand has already seen several arrests of poachers in protected areas this year after authorities stepped up enforcement efforts.
On 15 January, officers from Malaysia’s Anti-Smuggling Unit detained two Thai nationals attempting to smuggle seven Pig-tailed Macaques from a forested area in Bukit Berapit, near the Malaysia–Thailand border. They were sentenced to a MYR4,500 (USD1,282) fine or two months jail each.
On 4 March, three more Thai nationals were caught with several protected birds in Felda Kelian Intan, in Pengkalan Hulu district. The case is now before the courts.
In operations on 28 and 29 April in Sungai Mendelum, which lies within Perak state’s premier park—the Royal Belum Forest Reserve—authorities also uncovered poaching camps and confiscated six wire snares. WWF-Malaysia’s previous surveys in Perak have also found signs of local and foreign encroachment and poaching along highways that provides the access points into such forest complexes
6/9/09
Can REDD or RSPO save Borneo?
Over the last few years initiatives such as Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) have been established to seek balance between the demand for oil and timber commodity and conservation needs to save endangered species. Both initiatives supported by the government, cooperates, and certain level of conservation NGOs. The programs maybe the best solution to seek a win-win situation and balance between the demand for oil and timber produces from the expansion of oil palm plantation and logging, and the need to conserve biodiversity and wildlife habitat. However, are these programs really work on the ground? Mongabay.com recently interviewed Hardi Baktiantoro, founder and director of the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP).
Here is the interview:
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0601-orangutan_guerilla_interview_cop.html
An interview with Hardi Baktiantoro, Director of the Centre for Orangutan Protection
Despite worldwide attention and concern, prime orangutan habitat across Sumatra and Borneo continues to be destroyed by loggers and palm oil developers, resulting in the death of up to 3,000 orangutans per year (of a population less than 50,000). Conservation groups like Borneo Orangutan Survival report rescuing record numbers of infant orangutans from oil palm plantations, which are now a far bigger source of orphaned orangutans than the illicit pet trade. The volume of orangutans entering care centers is such that these facilities are running out of room for rescued apes, with translocated individuals sometimes waiting several months until suitable forest is found for reintroduction. Even then they aren't safe; in recent months loggers have started clearing two important reintroduction sites (forests near Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra and Mawas in Central Kalimantan). Meanwhile across half a dozen rehabilitation centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, more than 1,000 baby orangutans—their mothers killed by oil palm plantation workers or in the process of forest clearing—are being trained by humans for hopeful reintroduction into the wild, assuming secure habitat can be found.
Dismayed by the rising orangutan toll, a grassroots organization in Central Kalimantan is fighting back. Led by Hardi Baktiantoro, the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) has mounted a guerrilla-style campaign against companies that are destroying orangutan habitat in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The group rigorously investigates new clearing, documenting environmental transgressions through video, photography, and GPS. It then stages colorful demonstrations and issues media statements presenting evidence against plantation firms, government officials, and even NGOs. COP is also active in schools through its campus program which highlights threats to orangutans and tells students what they can do to help. COP's activities have not been welcomed by the palm oil industry. Facing threats, Hardi has had to hide his family and the group's base of operations. The COP web site has been hacked and its communications tapped, while palm oil companies have offered Hardi tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in an effort to avoid COP's scrutiny. But Hardi is defiant.
Orangutan with a garden hoe wound from a palm oil worker at a plantation run by Carson Cumberbatch PLC.
"I don't care if [forest clearing] is legal or illegal. My opinion is that as long as long as orangutan habitat is being destroyed we have to stop it," he told mongabay.com during a meeting at a COP field site. "Anyone who destroys orangutan habitat and kills orangutans is my enemy." Hardi is particularly suspicious of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry-led initiative to improve the environmental performance of palm oil production through a certification scheme. Hardi says that the RSPO is presently little more than a cover for greenwashing. Pressed for more details, Hardi opens his laptop showing a collection of photos of new plantings by an RSPO member. The pictures reveal what is clearly well-developed rainforest—complete with a tiered canopy structure—being torn down with bulldozers and chains. In nearby areas thousands of palm seedlings dot the overturned earth. Other pictures—including ones taken last week at a site where a plantation company purchased land at $50 per hectare—show canals draining ink-black waters from peat swamps, ecosystems that serve as a massive carbon store and a buffer against flooding. Peat swamp drainage in Indonesia accounts for up to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in some years, making the country the third's largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States.
But much of the clearing documented by Hardi is technically legal. While the central government in Jakarta has at times issued declarations banning conversion of rainforests and peatlands for oil palm plantations, the decentralized administrative structure of Indonesia means that these statements are purely political and carry no legal weight. Land-use decisions are made in provinces, regencies, and cities—not by the national government. Further, corruption and political patronage can weaken what environmental rules may be in place, providing opportunities for developers to gain access to forest lands at low cost. In some cases land granted by local officials may already be claimed by communities for traditional use, sparking social conflict. Hardi says that ensuring the rights of local communities is also part of COP's goal, since these communities, as users of resources from living forests, tend to be better stewards of the land than industrial plantation companies. "The fact that forest still exists in these areas shows communities are using resources in a responsible way," he said. "When a plantation company comes in, all that forest is cleared for a monoculture crop. The plantation isn't going to provide food for families and it isn't going to provide enough jobs to make up for what is lost by cutting down the forest. These people don't want to work on plantations anyway." Hardi discussed these issues and more during a interview with Rhett Butler in mid-May at a site in Central Kalimantan.
AN INTERVIEW WITH HARDI OF THE CENTER FOR ORANGUTAN PROTECTION
Mongabay: Why did you start COP?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I was working at BOS rescue center in Central Kalimantan. In 2006 we rescued 265 orangutans, which could represent 1500 orangutans killed in the field.
It's like an endless rescue. It's useless. If we want to help the orangutan we have to deal with the root of the problem — destruction of their habitat. I decided to quit BOS and start against the companies directly. In March 2007 me and several of my friends founded the Center for Orangutan Protection.
Mongabay: And what is your objective?
Hardi Baktiantoro: The objective is to save the last remaining forests for orangutans. We have to stop all of the destruction. The best way to protect the orangutan is to protect their habitat.
Mongabay: What is your approach?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We tell people the truth from the field using video and photos. I am a former photographer and I think pictures are the best way to tell people. We gather evidence from the field and send it to the media.
Mongabay: So the palm oil companies don't like you much.
Hardi Baktiantoro: Of course. We don't make the palm oil companies happy. They track me. I've had to hide my family, my phones have been tapped, and last year the COP web site was hacked. Some of the big international conservation organizations are also not happy with my group because they just want to make things look good -- like the government.
Mongabay: So greenwashing by NGOs — working with corporations without really changing things for the better — is a problem?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes there is a lot of greenwashing. It makes the company look clean.
Mongabay: After you've done a campaign have any companies been fined or changed their behavior?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We have several victories. Several companies stopped their illegal activities and stepped back from the forest, saving thousands of orangutans. But I don't think there are any permanent victories. Companies don't want to lose their money and when the focus is off them they will resume their activities. It's a battle all the time with them.
Mongabay: How do you stop deforestation before it happens?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Usually we get information from our field staff, local people, the media, and informants that a company is starting to clear an area. We send our team out to document the evidence -- whether it is orangutan habitat or primary forest. We make the documentation and then publish it.
Mongabay: And you use technology like GPS and Google Earth to document it?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Of course. It's a very technical investigation. We use Google Earth -- the ordinary version -- to show before and after. It is very helpful.
Mongabay: What are your thoughts on RSPO? Do you think it will ever work?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I think RSPO is just a shield for organized crime. RSPO has criteria but members still cut down the forest and kill the orangutan. For example in November 2007 during the RSPO meeting the IOI Group was still clearing the forest. So it's like a big joke for me. It is a PR game. RSPO makes Wilmar and Sinar Mas look good but I rescued several orangutan from the Wilmar plantation in 2006 and 2007. Earlier this year I visited sites where they are still clearing conservation value forest -- forest that is home to orangutans.
Mongabay: Is Wilmar clearing peatlands?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Wilmar was not clearing peatlands at the sites we visited in Central Kalimantan but I can't speak for other areas. It is a big company.
Mongabay: What about sub-contracting? Do you encounter instances where a big company with a good reputation is outsourcing clearing to smaller corporations which are depicted as "small-holders"?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, this is a big problem. As I told you before, it is like organized crime. If we find something wrong in the field the company can easy say, "No that's not us -- they are a contractor. We have a very strict standard but it is not easy to enforce on the because people on the ground are not educated people."
Mongabay: Some of this forest clearing may be environmentally damaging but is legal from a provincial government standpoint. The companies can say they are not doing anything illegal and perhaps even that the government is encouraging the activity, right?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I don't care if it is legal or illegal. My opinion is that as long as long as orangutan habitat is being destroyed we have to stop it. It's very common in Indonesia to legally clear the forest but the definition of who controls the forest can be questionable -- it is often disputed.
For example we recently visited a site in Champaka, Central Kalimantan. According to the government, this is degraded land — grassland only. But in fact it is very good forest. Forest with very high conservation value and lots of orangutans and sun bear — so many animals there. But according to the government it is degraded land so it's legal to clear.
Mongabay: Are there cases of companies protecting "high conservation value" forest that isn't good forest?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. Once more, this is an example of the PR game. For example several companies designate high conservation value forest on the map but when we checked on the ground they are just setting aside areas that are not suitable for planting. For example, land where there is still conflict with local people or the soil is too rocky for a plantation. So the companies just put up a sign that says conservation forest even if it has few animals or little conservation value. It's totally "bullshit".
Mongabay: Companies designate HCV in areas where they don't have legal rights to the land? Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, this is common.
Mongabay: Was there social conflict at site you investigated near Mawas last week (a conservation area home to a large population of orangutans)?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. It is a very sad fact actually. The land price was US$50 per hectare. So it's very cheap for the company but for the local people this is very valuable land and when the forest is gone they are starving because this is where they get food and rattan, their main source of cash income. The plantation isn't giving them any jobs.
Mongabay: $50 is a very low price. Did local officials sign off on this deal?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. Local officials were part of it.
Mongabay: It sounds like you still see a lot of greenwashing in the palm oil industry.
Hardi Baktiantoro: There is a lot of greenwashing -- not only by companies but by environmental groups. Some environmental groups are not trying to save the forest -- they are just covering the government's failure to protect the forest. Big international groups submit publications that don't talk about anything wrong in the field but the forest is still coming down and orangutans are being killed.
Mongabay: You've said you are not against palm oil per se, only deforestation of orangutan habitat. So if oil palm was established on legitimate degraded lands that didn't have any social conflict, you wouldn't have a problem with that?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, I'm not against palm oil, the plantation company, the government or NGOs. I'm against the destruction. Anyone who destroys orangutan habitat and kills orangutans is my enemy.
Mongabay: Do you have any thoughts on REDD?
Hardi Baktiantoro: REDD is very technical to me but as long as it brings benefits to local people for protecting the forest I will support it. But so far I am just waiting to see what will happen. I am waiting to see if the money goes to the local people. I am afraid that the money will be stolen by the government in Jakarta.
Mongabay: How does your outreach program in schools work?
Hardi Baktiantoro: The objective of this program is to develop public support for orangutan protection. We have two targeted groups: (1) schools in Jakarta and Palangkaraya; and (2) schools in villages surrounding the orangutan habitat. We organize support from school students in Jakarta and Palangkaraya like fund raising and used book distribution for schools in the villages and conservation camps. We tell students in villages about the plight of the orangutan and explain their future if their forests are gone. So far, it runs smoothly. School students in Jakarta collect money and their used books to be distributed in the villages.
Mongabay: How do you work with local communities to protect access to their traditional lands?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We develop a mutualism with local communities on protecting forest. For local people, forest means their livelihood and for COP, forest means for the survival of orangutan. Both of parties has to understand exactly the importance of forest. It is a little bit difficult in the beginning as they questioned our goals: why protecting orangutan, not helping poor people? Then they came to understand that orangutan protection is the most effective ways to protect their daily livelihood from destruction.
Here is the interview:
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0601-orangutan_guerilla_interview_cop.html
An interview with Hardi Baktiantoro, Director of the Centre for Orangutan Protection
Despite worldwide attention and concern, prime orangutan habitat across Sumatra and Borneo continues to be destroyed by loggers and palm oil developers, resulting in the death of up to 3,000 orangutans per year (of a population less than 50,000). Conservation groups like Borneo Orangutan Survival report rescuing record numbers of infant orangutans from oil palm plantations, which are now a far bigger source of orphaned orangutans than the illicit pet trade. The volume of orangutans entering care centers is such that these facilities are running out of room for rescued apes, with translocated individuals sometimes waiting several months until suitable forest is found for reintroduction. Even then they aren't safe; in recent months loggers have started clearing two important reintroduction sites (forests near Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra and Mawas in Central Kalimantan). Meanwhile across half a dozen rehabilitation centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, more than 1,000 baby orangutans—their mothers killed by oil palm plantation workers or in the process of forest clearing—are being trained by humans for hopeful reintroduction into the wild, assuming secure habitat can be found.
Dismayed by the rising orangutan toll, a grassroots organization in Central Kalimantan is fighting back. Led by Hardi Baktiantoro, the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) has mounted a guerrilla-style campaign against companies that are destroying orangutan habitat in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The group rigorously investigates new clearing, documenting environmental transgressions through video, photography, and GPS. It then stages colorful demonstrations and issues media statements presenting evidence against plantation firms, government officials, and even NGOs. COP is also active in schools through its campus program which highlights threats to orangutans and tells students what they can do to help. COP's activities have not been welcomed by the palm oil industry. Facing threats, Hardi has had to hide his family and the group's base of operations. The COP web site has been hacked and its communications tapped, while palm oil companies have offered Hardi tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in an effort to avoid COP's scrutiny. But Hardi is defiant.
Orangutan with a garden hoe wound from a palm oil worker at a plantation run by Carson Cumberbatch PLC.
"I don't care if [forest clearing] is legal or illegal. My opinion is that as long as long as orangutan habitat is being destroyed we have to stop it," he told mongabay.com during a meeting at a COP field site. "Anyone who destroys orangutan habitat and kills orangutans is my enemy." Hardi is particularly suspicious of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry-led initiative to improve the environmental performance of palm oil production through a certification scheme. Hardi says that the RSPO is presently little more than a cover for greenwashing. Pressed for more details, Hardi opens his laptop showing a collection of photos of new plantings by an RSPO member. The pictures reveal what is clearly well-developed rainforest—complete with a tiered canopy structure—being torn down with bulldozers and chains. In nearby areas thousands of palm seedlings dot the overturned earth. Other pictures—including ones taken last week at a site where a plantation company purchased land at $50 per hectare—show canals draining ink-black waters from peat swamps, ecosystems that serve as a massive carbon store and a buffer against flooding. Peat swamp drainage in Indonesia accounts for up to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in some years, making the country the third's largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States.
But much of the clearing documented by Hardi is technically legal. While the central government in Jakarta has at times issued declarations banning conversion of rainforests and peatlands for oil palm plantations, the decentralized administrative structure of Indonesia means that these statements are purely political and carry no legal weight. Land-use decisions are made in provinces, regencies, and cities—not by the national government. Further, corruption and political patronage can weaken what environmental rules may be in place, providing opportunities for developers to gain access to forest lands at low cost. In some cases land granted by local officials may already be claimed by communities for traditional use, sparking social conflict. Hardi says that ensuring the rights of local communities is also part of COP's goal, since these communities, as users of resources from living forests, tend to be better stewards of the land than industrial plantation companies. "The fact that forest still exists in these areas shows communities are using resources in a responsible way," he said. "When a plantation company comes in, all that forest is cleared for a monoculture crop. The plantation isn't going to provide food for families and it isn't going to provide enough jobs to make up for what is lost by cutting down the forest. These people don't want to work on plantations anyway." Hardi discussed these issues and more during a interview with Rhett Butler in mid-May at a site in Central Kalimantan.
AN INTERVIEW WITH HARDI OF THE CENTER FOR ORANGUTAN PROTECTION
Mongabay: Why did you start COP?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I was working at BOS rescue center in Central Kalimantan. In 2006 we rescued 265 orangutans, which could represent 1500 orangutans killed in the field.
It's like an endless rescue. It's useless. If we want to help the orangutan we have to deal with the root of the problem — destruction of their habitat. I decided to quit BOS and start against the companies directly. In March 2007 me and several of my friends founded the Center for Orangutan Protection.
Mongabay: And what is your objective?
Hardi Baktiantoro: The objective is to save the last remaining forests for orangutans. We have to stop all of the destruction. The best way to protect the orangutan is to protect their habitat.
Mongabay: What is your approach?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We tell people the truth from the field using video and photos. I am a former photographer and I think pictures are the best way to tell people. We gather evidence from the field and send it to the media.
Mongabay: So the palm oil companies don't like you much.
Hardi Baktiantoro: Of course. We don't make the palm oil companies happy. They track me. I've had to hide my family, my phones have been tapped, and last year the COP web site was hacked. Some of the big international conservation organizations are also not happy with my group because they just want to make things look good -- like the government.
Mongabay: So greenwashing by NGOs — working with corporations without really changing things for the better — is a problem?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes there is a lot of greenwashing. It makes the company look clean.
Mongabay: After you've done a campaign have any companies been fined or changed their behavior?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We have several victories. Several companies stopped their illegal activities and stepped back from the forest, saving thousands of orangutans. But I don't think there are any permanent victories. Companies don't want to lose their money and when the focus is off them they will resume their activities. It's a battle all the time with them.
Mongabay: How do you stop deforestation before it happens?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Usually we get information from our field staff, local people, the media, and informants that a company is starting to clear an area. We send our team out to document the evidence -- whether it is orangutan habitat or primary forest. We make the documentation and then publish it.
Mongabay: And you use technology like GPS and Google Earth to document it?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Of course. It's a very technical investigation. We use Google Earth -- the ordinary version -- to show before and after. It is very helpful.
Mongabay: What are your thoughts on RSPO? Do you think it will ever work?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I think RSPO is just a shield for organized crime. RSPO has criteria but members still cut down the forest and kill the orangutan. For example in November 2007 during the RSPO meeting the IOI Group was still clearing the forest. So it's like a big joke for me. It is a PR game. RSPO makes Wilmar and Sinar Mas look good but I rescued several orangutan from the Wilmar plantation in 2006 and 2007. Earlier this year I visited sites where they are still clearing conservation value forest -- forest that is home to orangutans.
Mongabay: Is Wilmar clearing peatlands?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Wilmar was not clearing peatlands at the sites we visited in Central Kalimantan but I can't speak for other areas. It is a big company.
Mongabay: What about sub-contracting? Do you encounter instances where a big company with a good reputation is outsourcing clearing to smaller corporations which are depicted as "small-holders"?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, this is a big problem. As I told you before, it is like organized crime. If we find something wrong in the field the company can easy say, "No that's not us -- they are a contractor. We have a very strict standard but it is not easy to enforce on the because people on the ground are not educated people."
Mongabay: Some of this forest clearing may be environmentally damaging but is legal from a provincial government standpoint. The companies can say they are not doing anything illegal and perhaps even that the government is encouraging the activity, right?
Hardi Baktiantoro: I don't care if it is legal or illegal. My opinion is that as long as long as orangutan habitat is being destroyed we have to stop it. It's very common in Indonesia to legally clear the forest but the definition of who controls the forest can be questionable -- it is often disputed.
For example we recently visited a site in Champaka, Central Kalimantan. According to the government, this is degraded land — grassland only. But in fact it is very good forest. Forest with very high conservation value and lots of orangutans and sun bear — so many animals there. But according to the government it is degraded land so it's legal to clear.
Mongabay: Are there cases of companies protecting "high conservation value" forest that isn't good forest?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. Once more, this is an example of the PR game. For example several companies designate high conservation value forest on the map but when we checked on the ground they are just setting aside areas that are not suitable for planting. For example, land where there is still conflict with local people or the soil is too rocky for a plantation. So the companies just put up a sign that says conservation forest even if it has few animals or little conservation value. It's totally "bullshit".
Mongabay: Companies designate HCV in areas where they don't have legal rights to the land? Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, this is common.
Mongabay: Was there social conflict at site you investigated near Mawas last week (a conservation area home to a large population of orangutans)?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. It is a very sad fact actually. The land price was US$50 per hectare. So it's very cheap for the company but for the local people this is very valuable land and when the forest is gone they are starving because this is where they get food and rattan, their main source of cash income. The plantation isn't giving them any jobs.
Mongabay: $50 is a very low price. Did local officials sign off on this deal?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes. Local officials were part of it.
Mongabay: It sounds like you still see a lot of greenwashing in the palm oil industry.
Hardi Baktiantoro: There is a lot of greenwashing -- not only by companies but by environmental groups. Some environmental groups are not trying to save the forest -- they are just covering the government's failure to protect the forest. Big international groups submit publications that don't talk about anything wrong in the field but the forest is still coming down and orangutans are being killed.
Mongabay: You've said you are not against palm oil per se, only deforestation of orangutan habitat. So if oil palm was established on legitimate degraded lands that didn't have any social conflict, you wouldn't have a problem with that?
Hardi Baktiantoro: Yes, I'm not against palm oil, the plantation company, the government or NGOs. I'm against the destruction. Anyone who destroys orangutan habitat and kills orangutans is my enemy.
Mongabay: Do you have any thoughts on REDD?
Hardi Baktiantoro: REDD is very technical to me but as long as it brings benefits to local people for protecting the forest I will support it. But so far I am just waiting to see what will happen. I am waiting to see if the money goes to the local people. I am afraid that the money will be stolen by the government in Jakarta.
Mongabay: How does your outreach program in schools work?
Hardi Baktiantoro: The objective of this program is to develop public support for orangutan protection. We have two targeted groups: (1) schools in Jakarta and Palangkaraya; and (2) schools in villages surrounding the orangutan habitat. We organize support from school students in Jakarta and Palangkaraya like fund raising and used book distribution for schools in the villages and conservation camps. We tell students in villages about the plight of the orangutan and explain their future if their forests are gone. So far, it runs smoothly. School students in Jakarta collect money and their used books to be distributed in the villages.
Mongabay: How do you work with local communities to protect access to their traditional lands?
Hardi Baktiantoro: We develop a mutualism with local communities on protecting forest. For local people, forest means their livelihood and for COP, forest means for the survival of orangutan. Both of parties has to understand exactly the importance of forest. It is a little bit difficult in the beginning as they questioned our goals: why protecting orangutan, not helping poor people? Then they came to understand that orangutan protection is the most effective ways to protect their daily livelihood from destruction.
6/7/09
Cute sun bear cubs
Two endangered Bornean sun bear cubs have been introduced at the San Diego Zoo. The twin cubs were born at the zoo on Oct. 25 and made their public debut on last March 17. Read more about them at http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2009/03/19/endangered-bornean-sun-bear-cubs-make-public-debut-at-san-diego-zoo/.
The mother of the twins, Marcella, came from our facility at Sepilok, Sabah almost 10 years ago. She has been a good mother and produced few cubs since she moved to San Diego Zoo. All of the Bornean sun bears in US zoo were all originated from Sabah at Sepilok before we established Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. We hope they could be the ambassadors for their own kind in US to raise awareness and tell people across the world who came to see them in US’s zoos about their stories and plights.
The mother of the twins, Marcella, came from our facility at Sepilok, Sabah almost 10 years ago. She has been a good mother and produced few cubs since she moved to San Diego Zoo. All of the Bornean sun bears in US zoo were all originated from Sabah at Sepilok before we established Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. We hope they could be the ambassadors for their own kind in US to raise awareness and tell people across the world who came to see them in US’s zoos about their stories and plights.
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