Category: REGION

Farmers battling pests in Central Java

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Solo, Ekuatorial – With bad weather continues to hit Central Java, farmers are left battling pests in their paddy fields on their own as local officials have yet to receive any reports on the condition. “Around eight hectares of paddy fields are attacked by golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata lamarck ) and four hectares must […]

Illegal mining returns to Southeast Minahasa district

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Manado, Ekuatorial – Activists on Tuesday (3/2) slammed Southeast Minahasa government for ‘ignoring’ illegal mining activities allegedly conducted by foreign companies in Alason site, Ratatotok sub-district, Mitra district. “Two units excavators were seen operating in Alason since last Monday (26/1). Workers were spotted setting up a temporary 20 tonnes capacity gold processor,” said Rully Tamod, […]

Bakrie Group Subsidiary Allegedly Violated Regulations in Gorontalo

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DEGORONTALO – A subsidiary of Bakrie Groups, PT Gorontalo Minerals, has been accused of violating environment and forestry laws. The violation has been allegedly broke regulations after they have obtained borrow-to-use permit for forestry area from then Ministry of Forestry, Zulkifli Hasan, in 2010, as stated at a press release from Gorontalo’s Indonesian Miners Association […]

73 endemic birds of West Papua released to the wild

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Sorong, Ekuatorial – West Papua Natural Resources Conservation Agency, or BKSDA, finally released confiscated Victoria crowned pigeons and yellow-crested cockatoos back to their wild habitat in North Salawati Nature Reserve of Raja Ampat, on Saturday (31/1). This was BKSDA’s third release of wild animals confiscated from illegal trading in 2014. “We have released black-capped lory […]

Deforestation leads to food insecurity for Lampung

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Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Water crisis resulted from environmental degradation would lead to decreasing rice production in Lampung. Hence, rice security targeted by the province in 2015 will not be achieved, said an activist on Friday (30/1), in Lampung. Job Carles, Lampung based WWF Project Manager, said that Lampung’s rice production was declining, especially in Tanggamus […]

Expert slams Manado government expanding reclamation plan

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Manado, Ekuatorial – Despite of Manado government’s clearance on its reclamation activities, expert slammed it as destroying the ecosystem and its marine biodiversity. Since 1998, North Sulawesi had issued 19 reclamation permits, eight permits were issued by Manado administration for a total of 114 hectares and 11 permits were issued by Minahasa district government for […]

REDD+ agency closed down ‘is not in accordance’ to Indonesia-Norway agreement

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Jakarta, Ekuatorial – Dissolving Indonesia’s agency on reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation, or REDD+, into the Ministry of Environment and Forestry was ‘no doubt not in accordance’ to the country’s bilateral agreement with Norway made in 2010, said Heru Prasetyo, now former head of REDD+ agency, in Jakarta, on Thursday (29/1). The agreement, […]

West Papua’s endemic bird facing extinction

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Sorong, Ekuatorial – With less sighting for the past decade, West Papua’s endemic Waigeo brushturkey (Aepypodius Bruijinii) was inches away from being extinct, said an activist, recently, in Raja Ampat, Papua. The Maleo Waigeo, as locals would call it, was first identified in 1880 by Outstalet and has yet to be seen in its natural […]

Bandarlampung to expand its landfill capacity in 2015

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Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Bandarlampung administration had planned to expand its landfill capacity in 2015 to solve its waste problem, said an official on Tuesday (27/1), in Bandarlampung, Lampung province. The Bakung landfill, located in Telukbetung of Bandarlampung, has been overwhelmed with 700 to 800 tons of waste per day which exceeds the capacity of the […]