Aceh Tamiang demands MoEF to revoke its letter on land use change

Langsa, Ekuatorial – Aceh Tamiang people demanded on Friday (20/2) for Ministry of Environment and Forestry to revoke its decision letter related to the district’s spatial planning fearing that it will destroy remaining protected forests in the area. The decision letter (SK) issued by then Ministry of Forestry in 2014 was blasted by local people […]

Deforested Lawu Mountain lead to clean water scarcity

Karanganyar, Ekuatorial – Massive deforestation at Lawu Mountain of Central Java led to clean water scarcity, said an expert on Thursday (12/2), in Karanganyar, Central Java. “Research through aerial photo shown that vegetation in Lawu Mountain do not qualified as sufficient water catchment areas. The Lawu forest which majority covered with pine trees are now […]

73 endemic birds of West Papua released to the wild

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

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

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

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, […]

North Lampung police arrested five allegedly illegal loggers

Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – North Lampung police arrested five suspects for illegal logging during major patrol for the past week, said Aris Satrio, the police’s spokesperson adding that the bust was made based on a report from local people as they were worried on floods resulted from Wayrarem dam. The suspects are Karyanti, Sugimin, Gimin, Jamaludin, […]

Raja Ampat to have its forest mapped out digitally

Sorong, Ekuatorial – As digital map availability for forest area was still limited, Fauna Flora International or FFI held basic training to map out Raja Ampat forest area which already started on Wednesday (21/1). The workshop also involved local civil society and Raja Ampat Region 1 Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA). “The mapping will not […]