Best of our wild blogs: 9 Nov 10

Insanely at Bukom
from wild shores of singapore and colourful clouds and wonderful creations

Where are you my marine-y friends!
from Psychedelic Nature

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Singapore biofuel plant: Slow legislation may impede biofuel demand

This, in turn, could lead to problems or delays in building $1.2b S'pore plant
Ronnie Lim Business Times 9 Nov 10;

FINLAND'S Neste Oil - which is in the midst of starting up a $1.2 billion renewable diesel plant here - has warned that demand may be crimped by the slower-than-expected progress in biofuel legislation in Europe and the US markets.

Giving an update on the Tuas project, Neste president and CEO Matti Lievonen says in the company's third-quarter report that its 'first world-scale renewable diesel plant is due to start in the near future . . . and will be ramped up in steps to full capacity'. This will boost Neste's current biodiesel production from two smaller Finnish plants with a combined capacity of 380,000 tonnes per annum (tpa).

Start-up procedures at the 800,000 tpa Singapore plant - which will produce biodiesel from 100 per cent renewable materials such as palm oil and animal fat - 'have proceeded smoothly and the plant is expected to come on stream in Q4', the report says. A twin project - another 800,000 tpa plant in Rotterdam, Holland - is expected to start up 'towards the end of first half, 2011'.

Neste says that its Singapore NExBTL plant will be ramped up 'in steps to full capacity and there will be a time lag before output reaches the sales channel due to logistical reasons'. It has not spelled out what these issues are.

A bigger concern, it seems, is that 'progress in finalising biofuel legislation has been slower than anticipated both in Europe and the US'.

Neste officials had earlier indicated that about two-thirds of its Singapore-produced biodiesel would go to European customers and the rest to Canada and the US.

Discussing potential risks ahead, Neste says: 'The implementation of biofuel legislation in the EU and other key markets may influence the speed at which the demand for these fuels develop. Risks also include any problems or delays in completing the company's NExBTL renewable diesel investments or failure to capture the anticipated benefit from these investments.'

Recent European news reports have suggested that the European Union (EU) seems a long way off its Dec 5 target date for having biofuel certification schemes in place. From that day, in theory, oil companies will no longer be allowed to use biofuel in the EU unless the biofuel producer has an authorised certificate showing sustainably grown crops were used in its manufacture.

Neste officials told BT in May that the company - which will use a significant amount of Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil as feedstock for its Singapore plant - was confident that it would have an EU-sanctioned, in-house environmental audit system in place by the time the Tuas plant starts up.

The EU system will essentially allow biofuel producers to provide their own greenhouse emission savings data, audited by a third party, to establish the greenhouse gas savings.

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Rare Bat Found in Indonesian Forest Fragment

LiveScience.com 8 Nov 10;

A rare bat has been found in a tiny fragment of rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Conservationists say the discovery shows that even small remnants of forest are worth protecting.

Conservationists from the UK discovered the Ridley's leaf-nosed bat in a 740-acre (300-hectare) fragment of forest during a biodiversity survey in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Ridley's leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros ridleyi) roosts in the cavities of trees (in hollows and cavities of standing trees, under fallen trees and logs) and is listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

The forest fragment is surrounded by a palm oil plantation. These plantations are often created on former forested area, and can encroach into areas that are important habitat for endangered species. Many other species were also found by the biodiversity survey, including the sun bear, tapir, agile gibbon and banded langur, all of which are also of conservation concern.

Palm oil producers must identify any areas that require conservation on land they own or farm, in accordance with High Conservation Values. They then must implement measures to maintain and enhance these values.

The area surveyed in Sumatra is currently managed as a conservation area by the palm oil company, limiting the impact of logging and encroachment on the forest fragment.

The effectiveness of emphasizing conservation in small forest fragments has been in doubt, but the researchers say the discovery agrees with an earlier study in the journal Conservation Letters that suggests it could be a tool for conserving certain species.

"The finding of this survey suggests that a network of forest fragments may be appropriate for some species of high conservation concern. The scientific community needs to continue to support the business community to find ways in which our threatened wildlife can persist in these managed areas over the long-term," said survey leader Matthew Struebig of Queen Mary, University of London and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE - University of Kent).

A meeting held today (Nov. 8) in Jakarta, Indonesia, will further probe the issues of conservation and palm oil plantation expansion.

"Protecting large areas of connected forest will always be a priority for wildlife conservation, but if ambitious future plans for oil palm expansion are realized, conserving forest fragments within oil palm landscapes will also be important for maintaining Indonesia's biodiversity," said Sophie Persey of the Zoological Society of London and the and Oil Palm Project Manager.

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Turtle Eggs On Sale in Brunei: Blackmarket Style

Brunei Direct 8 Nov 10;

Bandar Seri Begawan - The sale and consumption of turtle eggs is illegal in Brunei but sellers are still boldly defying the ban by walking up to potential customers and offering the endangered product.

As the turtles and their eggs fall under the categories of protected species, the sale of turtle eggs in Brunei has been banned.

However, the eggs, which are considered a delicacy in the region are still being poached and sold.

The Brunei Times managed to interview a regular buyer of seafood at the markets who revealed how the illegal sales of the turtle eggs take place.

"If you walk through the markets regularly, sometimes those who have the turtle eggs will come up to you," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source added that those selling the illegal products would "not approach people that they are not familiar with or unaccustomed to", for fear of being caught by the law.

"They go up to their potential customers and ask whether they would like to buy ‘ping pongs', and if they agree they will establish the price and quantity and be asked to wait at a nearby spot," said the source.

The turtle eggs have picked up the moniker "ping pongs" because of their resemblance to table tennis balls.

Although, the sale of the turtle eggs is taking place in the fish markets in Brunei, it is alleged that the supply of the turtle eggs comes from abroad.

"The sellers usually pick them up from road trips to Sabah, and then bring it back into the country," according to the source.

Under Brunei Darussalam's laws of Wildlife protection Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas; the Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys Imbricita; and the Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea are all protected species.

The provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act states that no persons, shall sell or offer for sale or have in his possession any protected animal or any trophy or flesh thereof unless the same has been lawfully acquired.

The penalty is imprisonment for six months and a fine of $1,000. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
Izam Said Ya'akub

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Natural History Museum expedition 'poses genocide threat' to Paraguay tribes

Field trip to find new plant and insect species in the Chaco will endanger remote Indian tribes, anthropologists and indigenous leaders warn
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 8 Nov 10;

Anthropologists and indigenous leaders have warned that a Natural History Museum expedition to Paraguay could lead to "genocide" and are calling for it to be abandoned. They fear that the scientists and their teams of assistants are likely to make accidental contact with isolated indigenous groups in the remote region they are planning to visit and could pass on infectious diseases.

The 100-strong expedition is due to set off in the next few days for two of the remotest regions of the vast dry forest known as the Gran Chaco, which stretches over northern Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. The expedition organisers hope to find several hundred new species of plants and insects.

But the two sites where the British and Paraguayan teams of botanists, biologists and other scientists plan to stay in for up to a month are known to be home to groups of Ayoreo Indians. They live in voluntary isolation and reject and avoid all contact with Westerners, said Benno Glauser, director of leading indigenous peoples' protection group Iniciativa Amotocodie.

Glauser, with the backing of Ayoreo leaders who have left the forest in the last 20 years, has sent the museum more than 40 pieces of data showing the presence of isolated peoples in the Chovoreca and Cabrera Timane regions.

"According to our data, the expedition you plan constitutes beyond any doubt an extremely high risk for the integrity, safety and legal rights of life and self-determination of the isolated Ayoreo, as well as for the integrity and stability of their territories. There exists a considerable menace and risk also for the safety of the scientists taking part of the expedition, as well as the rest of expedition participants," says Glauser in a letter to the museum.

Until about 1950 it is estimated that around 5,000 Ayoreo lived in the Chaco forest as isolated hunter-gatherers without contact with the ranchers and religious groups who were given land by the Paraguayan government. Since then almost all have left the forest after being targeted by American missionaries. It is estimated that there are now only six or seven isolated groups numbering around 150 people in total. It is now the only place in South America outside the Amazon where uncontacted Indians still live.

Ayoreo leaders who have settled near the town of Filadelfia in northern Paraguay this week appealed to the president of Paraguay and the Natural History Museum to abandon the expedition, saying that their relatives were in grave danger.

"Both of these regions belong to the Ayoreo indigenous territory ... We know that our people still live in the forest and they don't want to leave it to join white civilisation."

He said there are at least three uncontacted groups in the area. "If this expedition goes ahead we will not be able to understand why you prefer to lose human lives just because the English scientists want to study plants and animals. There is too much risk: the people in the forest die frequently from catching white people's diseases – the get infected by being close. Because the white people leave their rubbish, their clothes, or other contaminated things. It's very serious. It's like a genocide," they said in a statement.

According to Survival International, an NGO that campaigns for the rights of tribal peoples, contact with any isolated Indians would be disastrous for either party. "Contact with isolated groups is invariably violent, sometimes fatal and always disastrous," said Jonathan Mazower, a spokesman. "It is highly likely that there are small groups of isolated Indians scattered throughout the Chaco. The only sensible thing to do is err on the side of caution because any accidental contact can be disastrous. This has happened before [in the Chaco]. On two previous occasions, in 1979 and 1986 expeditions were sent in by US missionaries to bring out Indians and people were killed on both occasions."

The expedition, one of the largest undertaken by the museum in more than 50 years, has taken several years to plan and is believed to be costing more than £300,000. It hopes to map and record species of thousands of plants and insects, which will then go to local Paraguayan museums. Until last month, the museum's website had claimed that the area the scientists will visit "has not been explored by human beings".

This created consternation in the Ayoreo communities. "Some people say they are going to places in which no human being has ever been. That means we Ayoreo are not human beings," said one of the leaders in a statement to the Guardian. "Our uncontacted brothers have the right to decide how they want to live – if they want to leave or not."

The Chaco, known as "green hell" is one of the least hospitable but most biologically diverse places on Earth. The barely populated expanse of almost impenetrable forest is twice the size of the UK, but home to at least 3,400 plant species, 500 bird species, 150 species of mammals, 120 species of reptiles, and 100 species of amphibians. Jaguars, pumas, giant anteaters and giant otters are common.

In a statement, the Natural History Museum said it had planned the expedition in conjunction with the Paraguayan government and would be working with Ayoreo Indians: "We recognise the importance of the concerns which have been taken into account during the planning of the expedition. They form part of the ongoing consultations that are still taking place with the Paraguayan authorities. The information and specimens collected on this trip will help scientists to understand for the first time the richness and diversity of the animals and plants in this remote region and the governments and conservation groups are able to use such information to better understand how to manage fragile habitats and protect them for future generations."

It continued: "We are delighted to be working with representatives of the indigenous people. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to combine traditionally acquired knowledge with scientifically acquired knowledge to our mutual benefit. As with all expeditions, the team is continually reviewing the situation. Our primary concern is for the welfare of the members of the expedition team and the people of the Dry Chaco region."
Uncontacted tribes around the world

There are around 100 remaining groups of isolated, or "uncontacted" people, including 40-67 in Brazil, 15-18 in Peru, 15-30 in Papua and others in Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, and the Andaman islands of India. As oil companies, loggers and farmers go deeper into the remotest forests, evidence of more groups is being discovered.

A few groups may have no idea of country or other languages and no one has come close to them. Some are the descendants of tribes contacted more than 100 years ago by colonists who fled deeper into the forest in fear of enslavement or decimation by disease. Others shun all contact with western civilisation but have a good idea of life outside the forest and may have machetes or other tools which they could have acquired from contact with other groups.

According to Survival International, these tribes all remain in isolation because they choose to, and because encounters with the outside world have brought them only violence, disease and murder.

Isolated tribes are the most vulnerable people on Earth, having no immunity to the diseases brought in by outsiders. Colds and flu can become killers, and 50-90% of tribe members commonly die from first contact with outsiders.

Epidemics of measles, smallpox, yellow fever, whooping cough, influenza and later malaria have all had devastating effects.

More than 20% of the Yanomami Indians of northern Brazil died in the 1980s and 90s when they came into contact with goldminers who brought in illnesses. Ninety per cent of Indians in the Javari valley in Amazonas state in Brazil, including six uncontacted tribes, suffered from malaria or hepatitis brought into the area in 2006.

The result, says Survival, is that entire cultures that have taken centuries to evolve can be being wiped out in days as disease invades a population.

Anthropologists now take precautions including wearing masks to avoid accidentally passing on diseases.

Natural History Museum expedition could be "disaster" for indigenous people
The Natural History Museum has been warned that a forthcoming trip to find hundreds of new species in the remote forests of Paraguay could risk the lives of indigenous people and the scientists.
Louise Gray The Telegraph 8 Nov 10;

The 100-strong expedition, one of the largest undertaken by the museum in the last 50 years, is due to set off in the next few days to explore one of the most unknown regions of the world for one month.

However the museum has been warned by campaigners that the trip could cause “genocide” for isolated tribes.

The group Iniciativa Amotocodie, that protects local indigenous people, said groups of Ayoreo Indians in the area have never come into contact with westerners before. If they come across the expedition without preparation they could catch common western viruses that could wipe out the small groups in a matter of weeks.

A statement from the group, that has been circulated online, read: “If this expedition goes ahead we will not be able to understand why you prefer to lose human lives just because the English scientists want to study plants and animals. There is too much risk: the people die in the forest frequently from catching white people’s diseases – they get infected by being close. Because the white people leave their rubbish, their clothes, or other contaminated things. It’s very serious. It’s like genocide.”

Jonathan Mazower, Director of Advocacy at Survival International, said there was also a risk to the scientists as tribes have been known to throw spears at groups they fear have come to cause them harm. Westerners going into the area have been killed before.

He said it was impossible to know where the tribal groups are therefore it is better to “err on the side of caution given that the consequences for either side could be pretty disastrous.”

“The danger is to the scientists and to the indigenous people. The scientists because the indigenous people may view them as hostile and attack them and the indigenous people because the scientists carry common western viruses that they have no immunity to,” he said.

The vast area of dry forest across parts of Bolivia, Argentina as well as Paraguay, known as the Gran Chaco, is the only place in South America outside the Amazon where there are uncontacted tribes. Until about 1950 it was thought there were around 5,000 people in the area but now there are thought to be less than 150 as people leave or die out.

Richard Lane, Director of Science at the NHM, confirmed that he had received a letter from a group representing indigenous groups.

But he insisted the expedition has taken every precaution to ensure they do not come into contact with isolated tribes. He said a member of the Ayoreo community will go ahead of the rest of the rest of the group to make sure that there is no opportunity of contact with isolated tribes, as well as helping the scientists through local knowledge.

“Clearly the needs of indigenous people to remain uncontacted needs to be respected and we as an institution have always respected that,” he said.

Natural History Museum's grand expedition to arid Chaco halted
• Concern for wellbeing of uncontacted tribes stalls science trip
• Paraguay government sanctions consultations with Ayoreos
John Vidal, guardian.co.uk 15 Nov 10;

Paraguay has tonight formally suspended a Natural History Museum expedition, arranged to investigate part of the nation's virgin dry forest, to allow more time for consultation with the indigenous people.

The museum had been criticised in South America and Europe for its plans to send up to 60 botanists, zoologists and other scientists to an area of the dry Chaco forest, the only place in Latin America outside the Amazon where tribes uncontacted by outsiders are known to live.

Fears were raised by some settled Ayoreo Indians that the scientists and their large back-up teams could stumble upon groups of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, and pass on dangerous and even fatal diseases.

Last week other Ayoreo leaders signed a letter saying they were happy for the expedition to continue. The trip is one of the largest mounted by the museum in many years. Last night neither the museum, based in London, nor the Paraguayan government could say how long the talks might last. A spokeswoman in London said: "The ministry for the environment of Paraguay has decided to undertake further consultation with the Ayoreo people and there will be a suspension of activities while this takes place. The concerns of the uncontacted people are extremely important to us. We will continue to take advice on these matters from the Paraguayan authorities."

The Paraguayan government has been deeply embarrassed that some Ayoreo leaders have claimed they knew nothing about the scientists' trip until learning about it in the press.

The expedition has led to some indigenous rights groups threatening to take the Paraguayan state to court for violating its own laws on the rights of self-determination of its indigenous peoples.

"All projects have to carry out a 'free, previous and informed' consultation. If an institution doesn't proceed in this way, they have violated the rights of indigenous people," said Carlos Picanerai, secretary general of the Co-ordination for the Self-Determination of Indigenous People, which represents 13 Paraguayan groups.

The museum defended its trip, "expected to discover several hundred new species of plants and insects", saying that to "scientifically record the richness and diversity of the animals and plants in this remote region is extremely important for the future management of this fragile habitat".

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Interpol pledges war on environmental crime

Yahoo News 8 Nov 10;

DOHA (AFP) – Interpol on Monday adopted a resolution unanimously pledging support to back the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and to fight environmental crime.

"One couldn?t have asked for a better result," the secretary general of CITES, John Scanlon, said in gas-rich Qatar where the resolution was adopted.

"The endangered fauna and flora of the world cannot be safeguarded without you, without the police," he told the annual assembly of Interpol, which adopted the resolution.

"This sends a very strong message to those who seek to rob countries of their natural resources that the global law enforcement community recognises that it must work together, led by Interpol, to bring these environmental criminals to justice."

In its resolution, the global police organisation said environmental crime "is not restricted by borders and involves organised crime which engages in other crime types, including murder, corruption, fraud and theft."

It urged police forces across the world to support Interpol's Environmental Crime Programme which assists and supports "the effective enforcement of national and international environmental laws and treaties."

"Today?s vote clearly shows how seriously the police community of the world takes environmental crime and we look forward to the ongoing support of our member countries in this area," said David Higgins, manager of Interpol's Environmental Crime Programme.

The resolution underscored the need for a global response due to the "influence that environmental crime has on the global economy and security," the resolution said.

It recommended the creation of an "Environmental Crime Committee" and urged member countries and partner organisations to make financial contributions to the committee or provide specialised personnel.

One thousand policemen and delegates from 188 countries are attending the 79th Interpol General Assembly which runs until Thursday.

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Biofuel Worse For Climate Than Fossil Fuel: Study

Pete Harrison PlanetArk 9 Nov 10;

European plans to promote biofuels will drive farmers to convert 69,000 square km of wild land into fields and plantations, depriving the poor of food and accelerating climate change, a report warned on Monday.

The impact equates to an area the size of the Republic of Ireland.

As a result, the extra biofuels that Europe will use over the next decade will generate between 81 and 167 percent more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, says the report.

Nine environmental groups reached the conclusion after analysing official data on the European Union's goal of getting 10 percent of transport fuel from renewable sources by 2020.

But the European Commission's energy team, which originally formulated the goal, countered that the bulk of the land needed would be found by recultivating abandoned farmland in Europe and Asia, minimising the impact.

New science has emerged this year casting doubt on the sustainability of the 10 percent goal, but EU energy officials have argued that only around two thirds of that target will be met through biofuels, with the balance being vehicles powered by renewable electricity.

But 23 of the EU's 27 member states have now published their national strategies for renewable energy, revealing that fully 9.5 percent of transport fuel will be biofuel in 2020, 90 percent of which will come from food crops, the report says.

The EU's executive Commission is now considering whether to tweak legislation to take account of the emerging science.

This year's fractious quest to understand the impact of EU biofuels policy has already led to allegations of bias, court action against the Commission and warnings that the probes will kill the nascent industry.

TRADE DISPUTE

The debate centers on a new concept known as "indirect land-use change."

In essence, that means that if you take a field of grain and switch the crop to biofuel, somebody, somewhere, will go hungry unless those missing metric tones of grain are grown elsewhere.

The crops to make up the shortfall could come from anywhere, and economics often dictate that will be in tropical zones, encouraging farmers to hack out new land from fertile forests.

Burning forests to clear that land can pump vast quantities of climate-warming emissions into the atmosphere, enough to cancel out any of the benefits the biofuels were meant to bring.

The indirect effects of the EU's biofuel strategy will generate an extra 27 to 56 million metric tones of greenhouse gas emissions per year, says the report. In the worst case, that would be the equivalent of putting another 26 million cars on Europe's roads, it added.

The UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France are projected to produce the most extra greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels, generating up to 13.3, 9.5, 8.6, 5.3 and 3.9 extra million metric tones of carbon dioxide per year respectively.

But the whole picture is far more complex.

The European Commission's energy team says shortfalls in grain can be avoided in several ways, including by improving farming yields and cultivating abandoned land.

"The EU has a sufficient amount of land previously used for crop production and now no longer in arable use to cover the land needed," said a statement from the Commission's energy department. "It makes sense to bring this land into use."

Biofuels producers also argue that European Union officials should not alter biofuel-promoting policies to take account of the new science, as it is still too uncertain.

"Any public policy based on such highly debatable results would be easily challengeable at the World Trade Organization," says Emmanuel Desplechin, of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA).

The report was compiled by ActionAid, Birdlife International, ClientEarth, European Environment Bureau, FERN, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Transport & Environment, Wetlands International.

(Editing by James Jukwey)

Forced use of biofuels could hit food production, EU warned
Area the size of Ireland could be lost to conventional farming as global warming accelerates, says environmental study
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 9 Nov 10;

Plans to make European motorists use more biofuels could take an area the size of Ireland out of food production by 2020 and accelerate climate change, a study has found.

The report by the independent Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is based on plans that countries have submitted to the EU detailing how they intend to meet their legal requirement to include 10% of renewable energy in all transport fuels by 2020.

IEEP calculations suggest that the indirect effect of the switch will be to take between 4.1m and 6.9m hectares out of food production. In addition, say the authors, opening up land to compensate for the food taken out of production will lead to between 27m and 56m tonnes of additional CO² emissions, the equivalent of putting nearly 26m more cars on the road.

The study says European countries have chosen to meet the EU renewable energy targets by importing so-called first generation biofuels from African countries or from Indonesia and Brazil, rather than by promoting the use of advanced biofuels, electric vehicles or energy efficiency to reduce the environmental impact of transport.

"The renewable energy directive was adopted to help combat climate change, however, through promoting the use of conventional biofuels with no consideration of indirect land use change impacts it has the potential to actually increase the EU's greenhouse gas emissions.

"It is vital that this situation is rectified and these impacts are urgently addressed within EU law," said David Baldock, director of IEEP.

Development groups which commissioned the report said the effect of the EU legislation would be felt around the world and urged the EU to drop the 10% biofuels goal.

"Making space for biofuel production will force other farming activity in producer countries deeper into forests," said a spokesman for ActionAid. "This displacement of farming activity will cause loss of wildlife habitats, and carbon dioxide emissions – as well as increasing food prices, hitting some of the world's poorest people hardest."

Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner, Kenneth Richter, said: "Using more biodiesel in our cars won't help to green transport – this research shows that when the full impact of their production is taken into account, biofuels cause more emissions than the fossil fuels they replace."

"Trees will be cleared, wetlands will be under threat and a range of species will be pushed to the brink if these proposals go ahead," said RSPB director of international operations Tim Stowe.

Europe's move to biofuels compares with a 7.6% target by 2022 in the US. Last week the US agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, said a further $500m (£310m) would be made available in subsidies to grow biofuel crops over the next 15 years . Most of the money would go to extracting fuel from non-food plants.

ActionAid claimed this year that European biofuel targets could result in up to 100 million more hungry people, increased food prices and landlessness.

The United Nations has singled out biofuel demand as a major factor in what it estimates will be as much as a 40% increase in food prices over the coming decade.

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Indonesia's forest ban may not hurt palm oil output yet

* Palm output seen at 22-23 mln tonnes in 2011-official
* Forest ban will will not impact palm output in 2011-2012 (Adds details, comment)
Reuters AlertNet 9 Nov 10;

JAKARTA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia's proposed ban on forest clearing is unlikely to impact palm oil production in the short term as growth from new plantings in previous years remain in the pipeline, a government official said on Tuesday.

Palm oil output in the world's No.1 producer could rise to 22-23 million tonnes in 2011 versus a projected 21 million tonnes this year, said Mukti Sarjono, acting director general of plantations with the Agriculture Ministry.

""Palm oil production will still be good next year and in 2012 because the growth in output will come from planting in previous years," Sarjono told reporters at the sidelines of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Jakarta.

"But the ban may impact production in 2014 and 2015."

Norway this year signed a $1 billion climate deal with Indonesia, which involves a two-year ban on forest clearing from next year and encourages palm oil companies to turn to degraded land to expand.[ID:nJAK540924]

Increasing scrutiny by green groups and consumers in Europe have slowed oil palm expansion in Indonesia to about 250,000 hectares per annum from a peak of 400,000 hectares at the height of the commodity rally in 2007-2008. (Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editng by Niluksi Koswanage)

Asian buyers, emissions in focus at green palm oil meet
* WHAT: World's largest green palm oil meeting
* WHEN: Nov 8-11
* Looks to persuade India, China to start buying
* Tight financing a sore point for some planters
Niluksi Koswanage and Michael Taylor Reuters AlertNet 8 Nov 10;

JAKARTA/LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Buoyed by growing green palm oil production, an industry body will use a meeting this week in Jakarta to persuade top vegetable oil consumers India and China to start buying.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which created voluntary standards that include pledges to preserve forests, has certified more than seven percent of 45 million tonnes in global annual output in over two years.

But RSPO's efforts risk being overshadowed by squabbles among its stakeholders -- planters, buyers, lenders and green groups -- over adding carbon emission targets to the green standards and tighter financing.

"What we hope to get, is that there is still a movement forward," said Jan Kees Vis, global director of sustainable sourcing for consumer goods giant Unilever .

"We need to get the Indian and the Chinese market involved, which is difficult to do. Both markets have only recently opened up to retail," added Vis, who is also the chairman of the RSPO.

Vis is one of many industry watchers warning that European demand for green palm oil may not be enough to keep up the momentum and China as well as India, which soak up 40 percent of global output, must get on to the bandwagon.

Indian traders have asked the government to cut its tax on eco-friendly palm oil imports to boost demand and the RSPO will probably brainstorm with a trade delegation from China at the meeting to consider similar steps.

WALKING AWAY

Lingering issues such as calculations about greenhouse gas emitted by plantations and stricter financing rules remain unresolved, which may see the group lose some momentum.

While planters and green groups agree estate expansion at the expense of forests and processing palm oil emits climate-warming carbon dioxide, they are divided on how to interpret the CO2 data and set standards.

"Last year, if we had passed a members' resolution to adopt greenhouse gas principles, a large part of the plantation community would have walked away," said Ian McIntosh, president of the British unit of Swedish oils processor AAK .

Environmentalists say the standards should be implemented now to shore up RSPO's credibility but officials say figuring out how to set the calculations for CO2 emissions from palm oil firms' operations remains a work in progress.

Even established RSPO standards are a problem. Some standards and their adoption as a covenant for financing will further slow the industry's growth, planters say.

Kuala Lumpur-listed Genting Plantations said a new RSPO policy that required community feedback prior to opening up new lands would disrupt its operations and it plans to support a bid to postpone the policy at the four-day meeting.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers' Association (GAPKI) will also question the World Bank at the gathering over what it calls a discriminatory plan by the body's global financing arm to supply credit only to RSPO-certified planters.

But the World Bank is following in the footsteps of lenders such as Standard Chartered and Rabobank [RABN.UL], who say adopting the standard helps to assess clients.

"As awareness of the environmental impacts of the industry has increased, financing has, indeed, tightened," said Yulanda Chung, head of sustainable business with Standard Chartered.

HSBC's Climate Change Fund this year stopped investing in Singapore's Golden Agri after environmental group Greenpeace accused the firm's Indonesian unit, SMART TBK , of destroying forests.

Greenpeace's social media campaign against SMART, which also set off a consumer backlash, environment audits and a grievance panel against the planter set up by the RSPO, still rankles some in the industry.

Other palm oil firms such as Kulim , which has certified estates in Papua New Guinea and southern Malaysia, reckon adopting standards could spur expansion.

"If becoming green differentiates us from our rivals in getting financing and winning clients over, we are all for it. It all boils down to good, old-fashioned business investment," said Kulim Chief Operating Officer Zulkifli Ibrahim.

(Additional reporting by Fitri Wulandari in Jakarta; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Factbox: Palm oil meet also eyes farmers, CO2 schemes
Reuters 7 Nov 10;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An industry body that promotes eco-friendly palm oil says encouraging small farmers to preserve forests and protect wildlife is the next step in dispelling the industry's negative image.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) meets in Jakarta this week to deliberate on the on-going development of a certification system for smallholders who contribute more than a third of the world's total annual output of 45 million tonnes.

Indonesia, which has huge tracts of tropical forests but a rapid deforestation rate, is under international pressure to slow deforestation and the destruction of peatlands that release planet-warming greenhouse gases when cleared or burned.

A group of environmentalists, planters and buyers from over 40 countries will discuss other issues, including U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia in the same week, when he is expected to provide forest and climate aid.

Here are some key issues to be discussed at the meeting:

GETTING SMALLHOLDERS INVOLVED

The high costs of auditing plantation operations meant only the largest, cash-rich palm oil firms were able to afford the process of certification when the scheme started in 2008.

Many of these private firms and state agencies in Indonesia and Malaysia found it made business sense to bear the costs of auditing the farmers who supply to their mills as consumer and NGO scrutiny of the industry grows.

For independent smallholders, unattached to a government scheme or a company, the RSPO is studying plans to set up a fund to assist with the costs of environmental and social assessment.

The RSPO has embarked on trial audits using a standard devised for smallholders and the meeting this week will see the first RSPO certificate awarded to a smallholder group in Indonesia.

CARBON CREDIT SCHEMES

Norway's $1-billion climate aid to Indonesia includes an investment in a forest carbon offset programme that rewards the world's largest palm oil producer for preserving forests and a proposed ban on forest clearing, which may slow the industry's expansion.

During President Obama's trip to Indonesia this week, he could announce how $700 million allocated to Indonesia by a U.S. foreign aid agency can be used to fund climate change and forest conservation programmes.

Palm oil firms, who say the industry has long been vilified for felling forests and draining peatlands that pump huge amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide, are divided on the impact of these carbon schemes.

Even with the moratorium on forest clearing, there is ample degraded land in Indonesia to expand into, Singapore-listed Wilmar said in an interview last month.

U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill said the carbon credit schemes would limit the areas available for expansion but it would help planters determine their development plans. The firm also said it may invest in a carbon scheme.

RIVAL GREEN PALM OIL STANDARDS

Stung by the successful green campaign against Indonesian planters like SMART TBK, the government plans to introduce its own version of green certificates for palm oil producers.

But planters and financiers worry the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) assessment may confuse the industry although an RSPO official, on the condition of anonymity, said the scheme could work if it was based on getting RSPO assessment first.

Non-governmental organizations say it will be important to see how plantations were assessed under the ISPO and whether other stakeholders like local communities and green groups are involved in the process.

It is not clear if the assessment will be mandatory or voluntary, like the RSPO or the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's code of practice.

(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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Malaysia: Reduction of carbon footprint achievable

The Star 9 Nov 10;

KUCHING: Malaysia is right on track to meet its target of a voluntary 40% reduction of carbon emission intensity by 2020.

Natural Resources and Environment Minis­ter Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said the pledge, which was based on the 2005 level and made during the last Copenhagen meeting, was achievable.

On the forthcoming 16th conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change in Mexico, he anticipated a complicated and difficult session in seeking views and commitment among the developed and developing nations in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

“In coming out with an all-inclusive but differentiated responsibility, each nation and its leader has to be truthful, unbiased and not indulge in self-interest action. Developing countries, like Malaysia, should not be blamed or be handicapped from achieving its goal of development through lop-sided commitment and agreement,” Uggah said in a speech to open the “Best of Both Worlds’’ conference here yesterday.

He said developed countries should focus on the real issue and not use economic and bureaucratic constraints as an excuse for failing in its targeted and agreed commitment.

His speech at the three-day event themed “Effective Environmental Education for Biodiversity Conservation” was read by Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri, who is the chairman of the Malaysia Forestry Research and Deve­lopment Board.

About 100 participants, mostly teachers, park and recreation area managers, academicians and foreigners, are attending the event jointly organised by Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and University of South Africa (Unisa).

Uggah said his ministry had spearheaded action-oriented works to tackle the multiple issues related to environment and biodiversity. He said a Certificate Environmental Education (CEE) training programme would be implemented next year.

“The programme will fill the gap in the country’s training needs, especially for pre-service and in-service teachers and environmental practitioners by providing them with a strong foundation in environmental education,’’ he added.

The CEE programme is a collaborative work between Unisa, FRIM and Edutree, a non-governmental organisation.

On completion of the one-year course, students will receive a certificate from Unisa, one of the world’s largest distance learning universities. The course’s practical components will be conducted by FRIM and Edutree Services.

Earlier in his speech, FRIM director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Mohmod said the best way to promote awareness for biodiversity conservation and environmental responsible behaviour was through environmental education.

He said FRIM worked closely with stakeholders at all levels on environmental education and conservation efforts.

One of the joint projects FRIM had undertaken with the Education Ministry, Forestry Department, Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Malaysia Timber Council and Malaysia Nature Society was the planting of forest trees involving 17 schools.

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