For over two decades, Belanti Village, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra was one of the biggest rice suppliers in South Sumatera, before the village, which boasted a rich peat ecosystem, was submerged and could no longer be cultivated following the canalization system built by an oil palm plantation.
Articles
Posted inSpecial report / Environment
Down and out in Bandung’s dollar city
In the 1960s, Indonesia’s Bandung experienced a textile boom that brought prosperity and jobs to the area. Today, locals complain of endemic pollution and health problems linked to unscrupulous factories dumping their waste in the city’s waterways.
Posted inSpecial report / Special report
Fear and loathing at Citarum’s pollution ground zero
Chemical pollution, siltation and agriculture waste have made West Java’s longest river one of the world’s dirtiest. Those working on its banks say efforts are being made to clean it up. But will they turn the tide?
Posted inArticle / Biodiversity
The hard life of an Indonesian bird catcher
Bird catchers use glue and recordings to catch their prey and often encounter dangerous animals. However, high prices and steady demand do not make life more prosperous as charmers remain at the bottom of the bird hunting and smuggling chain.
Posted inArticle / Biodiversity
The deadly trapping of songbirds in Indonesia
Roughly a million songbirds, including some protected species, are estimated to have been smuggled off the western Indonesian island of Sumatra over the past year. The lucrative nature of the songbird business threatens the populations of a number of bird species as well as the balance of the forest ecosystem.
Posted inArticle /
Quarantine Act, a new hope in eradication of wildlife smuggling
Using the Quarantine Act to prosecute a wildlife-smuggling syndicate resulted in the strongest verdict ever in Indonesia. Will it work in other trafficking cases? Rezza Aji Pratama investigates. Data & visualisation by Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra
Posted inArticle
From blogs to influential media outlets, ‘extinction denial’ is the new battle, biologists warn
A report reveals a rise in extinction denial. Although many scientists have responded to debunk denialists, experts say skills in science communication and stakeholder engagement are useful in responding to denialism.
Posted inArticle / Biodiversity
Why wildlife meat trade in Beriman market, Tomohon city, continues amid the pandemic
Sulawesi’s largest wildlife market has resumed operation after being closed due to the pandemic. Local administration say the wildlife meat trade, including from several protected species, cannot be stopped immediately due to long-standing tradition of meat consumption by the local community.
Posted inBiodiversity
The ‘mad’ Trikora veteran behind a mangrove forest in the Moluccas
Planting trees since early childhood as a form of investment is what many people do. But very few are those who spent more than half their life to plant trees only to assure the continuing existence of their ancestral land.
Posted inArticle / Article
Oligarchs enjoy boom from natural resources
Indonesia’s natural resources continue to suffer from degradation because of climate change and corruption. The Omnibus Law the government plans to pass is thought to only exacerbates the current conditions as corporate oligarchies dig deeper for profit.