Indonesia: Lawmaker Accuses WWF of Instigating Harrison Ford Ministry Row

Jakarta Globe 11 Sep 13;

The fallout over pointed questions about the government’s inability to tackle illegal logging in a protected forest has continued with a legislator calling for the banishment of a leading environmental group.

Firman Subagyo, a deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ Commission IV, which oversees forestry affairs, demanded on Tuesday that the World Wide Fund for Nature be removed from its forest conservation role in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Sumatra’s Riau province.

“They’ve been in Tesso Nilo since 2000 and there have been no changes. If anything, the condition of the park has only gotten worse,” Firman said as quoted by Antara, the state news agency.

He called for it to be replaced by a local group, saying the latter would better understand the character and culture of the local community, making it public advocacy against illegal logging and other forestry crimes more effective.

“The WWF’s activities are just [cosmetic], to serve their global environmental campaign and raise funds, rather than for sustainable development,” he said.

His remarks came on the same day that Andi Arief, a presidential adviser, lashed out at Hollywood star Harrison Ford for asking tough questions of Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan a day earlier about the lack of enforcement against illegal logging in Tesso Nilo.

He accused Ford, who was in the country to film part of his upcoming climate change-themed documentary “Years of Living Dangerously,” of “harassing state institutions” and “attacking the minister with questions.”

“His crew and those who were helping him in Indonesia must be questioned to find out their motives for harassing a state institution. If necessary, we will deport him,” Arief said.

Firman echoed the recrimination, saying that the actor should have “been more polite and not direct” when interviewing the minister on Monday.

“This is proof of WWF’s underhanded tricks by accusing the government of being inept,” he said.

This is not the first time authorities have attacked WWF’s work in Tesso Nilo, where it is engaged in helping slow the rate of deforestation.

In March, the Forestry Ministry threatened to terminate the government’s partnership with the group because of what it called a lack of progress.

However, the WWF has argued that without it, the entire national park would have been razed by 2007.

Indonesia threatens to deport Harrison Ford over 'confrontation' with minister
Actor is accused of harassing state institutions after interviewing forestry minister about illegal logging and climate change
Kate Hodal in Bangkok theguardian.com 11 Sep 13;

The Hollywood actor Harrison Ford has been accused of "harassing state institutions" in Indonesia and threatened with deportation after allegedly confronting a minister during an interview about illegal logging and climate change.

The forestry minister, Zulkifi Hasan, said he was left shocked by Ford's emotionally charged interview techniques and complained there was no time to go over the questions before filming began, local media reported.

"I suddenly had my face made up and was then interviewed," Hasan told the state news agency Antara.

"I was given a chance to make only one or two comments."

The Star Wars actor has been in Indonesia filming an episode for the climate change documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which will air on the US television network Showtime in April 2014 and feature Matt Damon and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ford, 71, travelled to locations around the country to interview Indonesian activists and officials, including the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on issues including forest fires, peatland conservation and palm oil plantations.

But the forestry minister was so angered by his interview with Ford that he threatened to have the actor deported, despite the fact that Ford was due to leave on Tuesday anyway.

"There's no privilege for him although he is a great actor," the presidential spokesman Andi Arief said. "His crew and those who were helping him in Indonesia must be questioned to find out their motives for harassing a state institution."

He added: "If necessary, we will deport him."

Ford appears to have witnessed illegal logging taking place in Sumatra's Tesso Nilo national park and asked Hasan why deforestation was occurring in protected areas while the guilty seemingly had free rein.

"He was emotional," Hasan said. "I can understand that this is the first time for this American to come here and see Tesso Nilo. It seems that what he wants to see is any perpetrators involved in the damage immediately arrested."

The minister said he told Ford that illegal logging was a complicated issue in Indonesia and required a more varied approach to stem it than simple force.

Up to 15% of all the world's known plant, mammal and bird species reside in Indonesia's 17,000 islands, according to Greenpeace. Yet huge swaths of Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands have been cleared for palm oil and paper plantations, with additional concessions granted for mining and agricultural purposes.

Palm oil concessions sprawl across some 11m hectares in Indonesia, primarily in Sumatra and Kalimantan, figures from the US Foreign Agricultural Service show, with production since 2011 up 26% from the previous 10 years.

Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president, was forced to apologise earlier this year after forest fires, set by plantation farmers in Sumatra to clear land, led to Singapore's worst environmental crisis in 10 years and forced 200 schools to close in Malaysia.

Officials maintain, however, that the government is doing what it can to tackle climate change and deforestation, and Yudhoyono reportedly told Ford in their meeting on Tuesday: "We're trying to crack down on improprieties [like illegal logging] and we will be strict about it."

Forestry Ministry to review cooperation with foreign agencies
Antara 11 Sep 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will reconsider its cooperation with the World Wild Fund (WWF) and other foreign agencies for their failure to help manage the country`s forests effectively, according to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

After inaugurating an online licensing service facility here on Wednesday, the minister pointed out that the condition of forests jointly managed by the government and foreign agencies was worsening.

For instance, Zulkifli said, illegal logging was still taking place at the Gunung Leuser national park in Nangroe Aceh Daroesalam province and there was rampant deforestation at the Teso Nilo national park.

"Therefore, we will have to review such cooperation efforts," he explained.

As a result of mismanagement of such forests, Zulkifli noted, the government must bear the cost of reforestation.

"Although plenty of funds have come from abroad, we will still come under fire for what has happened," he said.

Zulkifli revealed that he would soon visit the Teso Nilo national park to resolve problems relating to nomadic farming there.

He stated that the forestry ministry was making sincere efforts to peacefully relocate the nomadic farmers living in the national park.

"We have replaced repressive measures with a welfare approach. Therefore, it is impossible to force the nomadic farmers to leave the national park. We are trying to find areas outside the national park to resettle them," Zulkifli said.

According to Landsat image analysis, 46,960 hectares of carbon-rich forests have in the past decade disappeared at the national park, which is home to elephants, tigers, and various other exotic animals.(*)

Editor: Heru


SBY Makes Environmental Case in New Documentary
Ezra Sihite Jakarta Globe 11 Sep 13;

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has defended his administration’s environmental credentials in an interview for a documentary being helmed by Hollywood star Harrison Ford, although other officials’ testy reactions to the actor’s probing questions, and the government’s actual track record, have cast doubt on the real level of commitment.

Julian Aldrin Pasha, a spokesman for the president, said on Tuesday that Ford spoke with Yudhoyono for about 40 minutes earlier in the day for his climate change-themed documentary “Years of Living Dangerously.”

Julian said Yudhoyono had emphasized that the government was “very serious” about protecting the environment but needed help from the international community to succeed.

“We want to work together with other countries, the private sector and businesses that may or may not be involved in the forestry, maritime or other sectors related to the environment,” he said.

He added that Ford had asked about government policies for environmental preservation and management, particularly as related to mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change.

He added that Ford also brought up the issue of illegal logging, something the actor had witnessed for himself while filming in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Sumatra’s Riau province a day earlier.

The actor reportedly asked why no law enforcement efforts were taken against the logging that was being done so openly.

“[Yudhoyono] explained that we’re trying to crack down on improprieties [such as illegal logging] and we will be strict about it,” Julian said.

He said Yudhoyono raised the issue with the National Police chief at a meeting later in the day and ordered him not to show any leniency against “those going against the environment.”

Yudhoyono’s interview was overshadowed, however, by threats from one of his advisers, Andi Arief, to have Ford deported for asking tough questions of Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan a day earlier.

Zulkifli said Ford’s “emotions were running very high” when addressing the issue of illegal logging in Tesso Nilo.

“I understand the American man just came here to see Tesso Nilo and wanted violators to be caught the same day,” he said as quoted by Antara.

The minister added he was not given the chance to explain the challenges of catching people who broke the law in Indonesia’s sprawling rainforests, where illegal logging is rampant.

“I was only given the opportunity to say one or two sentences during the interview,” he said.

Arief accused Ford and his crew of “harassing state institutions” and “attacking [Zulkifli] with questions.”

“There’s no privilege for him although he is a great a actor,” he said.

“His crew and those who were helping him in Indonesia must be questioned to find out their motives for harassing a state institution. If necessary, we will deport him,” he added.

Ford was due to depart on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s meeting with the actor was the latest occasion this year in which Yudhoyono has sought to burnish his green credentials while sharing a stage with an international celebrity.

In June, the president took part in a tree-planting ceremony with Portugal and Real Madrid football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in Bali — in a patch of mangrove swamp slated to be cleared for a commercial development.

Earlier that month, he took up an invitation from Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo to visit the group’s iconic ship, the Rainbow Warrior — the same vessel that the government had barred from docking in the country three years earlier in the wake of Greenpeace’s campaigning against pulp and paper and palm oil companies.

The government also barred the Greenpeace UK director from entering the country in October 2011 for a forestry conference, even though he arrived with a valid visa. The government said the reason for the refusal was a “state secret.”

A week later, a Greenpeace forest campaigner was deported from the country. By November, authorities in Jakarta had ordered the organization to leave its office in Kemang, South Jakarta, on the grounds that the area was strictly a residential zone, despite the fact that hundreds of office, commercial and entertainment businesses also operate in the same area.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) previously said that given the disconnect between the administration’s rhetoric on conservation and its actual policies, Yudhoyono’s newfound concern for the environment could not be seen as “anything other than image-building.”

— Additional reporting from AFP

President Yudhoyono talks about Indonesian environmental policy to Harrison Ford
Antara 10 Sep 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Tuesday received a special guest, a Hollywood actor who came to interview him about the national environmental policy, Harrison Ford, in his office, Tuesday.

In the interview, the president explained about Indonesia`s seriousness to preserve and save the environment, forest and sea, as well as efforts to address climate change.

"Harrison Ford interviewed the President for a documentary film he is working on with theme on how to maintain or preserve the environment in order to save the world from climate change," said Presidential spokesman Julian A Pasha.

According to Julian, Ford asked the President about Indonesian Government policies related to the maintenance of environmental issues and efforts to address climate change.

"The discussion talked about more towards strategic issues and government policies in terms of managing, handling and save the environment in Indonesia because Indonesia is considered to have a major contribution to the global environment," he said.

Julian said that the interview went well and constructive.

He further said that President Yudhoyono was willing to take part in the documentary film because it have a positive impact.

"The making the documentary film itself is nonprofit and is intended for the benefit to rescue forest and environment conservation also to address climate change issues," he said.

On that occasion, the President explained that efforts to save the environment cannot be done alone, and need the support of all parties.

At the meeting, Ford also presented his findings at Tesso Nillo National Park in Riau.

"But it had been explained earlier, we are still trying to carry out enforcement against inappropriate practices on environment, this will continue to be emphasized. Earlier when the president met with the national police chief warned that the police must not hesitate to act decisively against those who violate the Indonesian environmental safety policies," he said.

Harrison Ford is known by a number of his world box office movies, such as Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Air Force One.

He is in Indonesia along with his team to do a documentary movie shooting about climate change which titled "The Years of Living Dangerously".

The movie mentioned as a joint production between James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is scheduled to premiere in April 2014.

Editor: Ella Syafputri