Hunting for animals in Johor is illegal

Nelson Benjamina and K.C. Chan, The Star 5 Dec 09;

JOHOR BARU: About 3,000 licensed gun owners in the state have been reminded not to misuse their weapons including using them to hunt for animals in estates in Johor.

Deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said it was an offence to hunt without a valid permit.

“We were told that the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) had not issued permits since Feb 14 last year,” he said, adding that, as such, all hunting in the state was deemed to be illegal.

SAC I Jalaluddin said that police had so far arrested two people in Kota Tinggi this year for illegal hunting.

The latest arrest was made on Nov 19 when a 70-year-old man was held in Kluang for hunting wild boars at a Felda estate in Mersing in Octo­ber with three other men, he said.

He said that police began investigations following a report from Felda settlers who alleged that four men had gone into the estate and hunted 13 wild boars over two days.

The men allegedly left the carcasses behind and this caused a stench.

The villagers then complained to the Tengku Mahkota of Johor, Tengku Ibrahim Ismail Sultan Iskandar, he said, adding that police then began their investigations which led to the arrest of the man in Kluang.

SAC I Jalaluddin said that police seized the man’s gun under the Firearms Act.

He said that police were still looking for the three other men to assist in investigations.

“The Tengku Mahkota is very concerned about such activities and wants them to stop,” he added.

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Bird watching will boost Sabah's tourism: Masidi

Daily Express 4 Dec 09;

Kota Kinabalu: Bird-watching has the potential to be a money making activity as well as a major tourist attraction in Sabah, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun here on Thursday.

He said bird watching has been a popular activity in the West where the turnover from this field alone reaches US$2 billion a year.

"Over there (in the US) this activity is considered an industry. People would flock and stand in line for hours, just to get a glimpse of birds which actually are a common specie over here in Sabah," he said.

He said that currently there are 850,000 members of a bird watching group in the UK, making it among the most profitable business there, where a bird lovers guide earns a steady income of US$100 per day.

Resorts and other tourism operators in the State should seriously look into bird watching as Sabah is one of the few places that is rich with diverse species of birds that are not found anywhere else in the world, he said.

Approximately, 300 species of birds have been documented within the Kinabalu National Park, which is more than half the total bird species in Sabah (514) and roughly half the entire number of bird species present in the island of Borneo, he said.

"Operators should take this opportunity as it doesn't involve a high budget to run a bird watching activity. All you need is a few tents and a guide who knows a lot about birds," he said.

Apart from giving more profit to the operators, the bird watching business would also boost tourism in the State, as well as in Malaysia as a whole, said Masidi.

He was speaking at the closing of a 'Hotel Management, Hotel Operation and Internet Marketing' course organised by the Malaysian Budget Hotel Association (MBHA) here.

He urged the operators of budget hotels, which are rated as 2 star and below, to buff up on certain aspects of their services and facilities.

Masidi said the number one complaint of foreign guests who stayed at budget hotels here in Sabah is that the toilets and bathrooms are filthy.

"Foreigners are very particular about toilets. Unlike the locals, foreigners prefer to have a sitting toilet and dry washing area. That is why the operators should identify which type of guests they have the most and build facilities that suit their majority guests.

"People staying in a one or two star hotels are usually those travelling light and mostly backpackers. Make all the facilities simple, to be enjoyed by simple people," he said.

According to Masidi, another aspect that should be improved on is the cleanliness of towels and bed sheets in the rooms.

"There is no excuse for operators not to wash the towels and bedsheets once they have been used," he said, adding that another complaint he gets is that towels and sheets provided by budget hotels are smelly and stained.

Apart from this, he said the management of the hotel should remind their staff to be passionate about their jobs, and to achieve this, the workers should be paid a salary worthy of their services to the company.

"It is sad to know that there are hotels in the State that pay their staff only RM180 per month. This is against humanitarian values.

"If you pay your employees well, they will take care of your business well and give you twice the level of service you require of them. This is a simple arithmetic," he said.

He told the operators to employ people who are friendly and chatty as front office personnel and not to employ those who are not well versed in Bahasa Malaysia and English, as this could convey a negative perception on the whole hotel organisation.

He also told the operators to train their staff to multi-task as this step could reduce the cost of operation for hotels that have one staff performing only one job.

"Multi-tasking should not be too complicated. A simple task like changing the light bulb or making a cup of coffee could be considered as a multi-task skill for a hotel employee," he said.

Apart from this, Masidi urged the hotel operators to start setting up web sites to promote their hotels as what has long been practised in the developed countries.

"Foreign tourists prefer to book online rather than walk in, as online bookings are commonly cheaper and involves discounts and rebates which are not offered off the reception counter," he said.

Masidi also encouraged the MBHA to liaise with the Minister of Tourism to provide for certification for all its members in order to give more confidence for tourists to patronise their hotels.

"In the future, the Sabah Tourism Board would only promote those hotels under the membership, and those who refuse to join and comply to the standard and regulations of the certification would walk on their own," he said. Also present at the ceremony were the President of MBHA, Datuk Dr Hj Muhamad Nasir Hj Hamzah, Vice Presidents of MBHA, Datuk Verus Aman and Mohd Hasan Hamzah, and Chairman of MBHA Sabah Chapter, Albert Shim.

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Galapagos Islands are transformed

Matt Walker, BBC News 4 Dec 09;

The Galapagos archipelago has already been transformed by global climate changes and human activity, a report has concluded.

A series of events, including the 1982 El Nino, overfishing and the appearance of urchins that destroy coral, has altered the islands' marine ecosystems.

At least 45 Galapagos species have now disappeared or are facing extinction.

That suggests future climate change driven by human activity will have an major impact on the islands' wildlife.

The report, published in the journal Global Change Biology, details the conclusions of a scientific meeting convened by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, the Galapagos National Park Service and environmental and wildlife groups including Conservation International and WWF, to assess the vulnerability of the islands to climate change.

It found that the islands have yet to recover from the intense El Nino climate event of 1982 to 1982, which triggered abnormal weather conditions.

That event destroyed coral reefs in the archipelago, many of which had persisted for at least 400 years.

However, overfishing significantly weakened the marine ecosystem's ability to recover from the devastation caused by the El Nino.

In particular, fishermen removed so many large predatory fishes and lobsters from the islands' seas, that huge numbers of sea urchins were able to colonise the area.

They then overgrazed the coral, damaging it further and preventing it re-establishing.

As a result, 45 species are now globally threatened.

All live on the Galapagos, and most are found nowhere else.

These 45 species include five mammals, six birds, five reptiles, six fishes, one echinoderm, seven corals, six brown algae and nine red algae.

Among those is the coastal-living Mangrove finch, a species once studied by Charles Darwin.

Fewer than 200 remain, all of which are dependant on mangroves that are susceptible to further climate change.

Other threatened species include the Galapagos sea lion, marine iguana, Galapagos penguin and pink cup coral ( Tubastraea floreana ), which only survives in a few colonies.

Two species have not been formally evaluated, but are thought to have already gone extinct.

The Galapagos damsel ( Azurina eupalama ), which only lived in the archipelago's waters, eating plankton, was once common.

But after 1983 it has not been sighted.

As yet, no marine fish has formally been determined to be extinct, highlighting the impact that climate changes and overfishing have had on the region.

"The Galapagos, the Rosetta Stone of evolution, is now teaching us about the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems," says report co-author Professor Les Kaufmann from Boston University, US.

"Nowhere on Earth are the combined impacts of climate change and overfishing more clearly defined than in the Galapagos Islands," says co-author Sylvia Earle of the US National Geographic Society.

"Decades of data link recent fishing pressures to disruption of the islands' fine-tuned systems, making them more vulnerable to natural, and anthropogenic changes in climate."

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Crew plans to cut rope to free Hawaii whale

Audrey Mcavoy, Associated Press Yahoo News 4 Dec 09;

HONOLULU – Marine sanctuary officials planned to return to Hawaii waters with modified equipment Friday to try to cut loose a young humpback whale entangled in several hundred yards of heavy plastic rope.

The rope runs through the animal's mouth, around its head and behind its blowhole, and is twisted in a knot.

It could kill the yearling humpback if it stays in too long, said Ed Lyman, marine mammal response manager with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Right now, however, the animal appears healthy.

A whale-watching cruise spotted the entangled animal Tuesday in waters off Maui. The next day, about a hundred yards of the yellow, polypropylene line came free, but several hundred yards are still attached.

Lyman's crew used a knife attached to a pole stretching out about 10 to 15 feet to try to cut the rope Wednesday, but couldn't reach it. Officials stayed out of the water Thursday because of windy weather and because the whale was farther offshore.

The crew planned to return Friday with a pole specially fashioned by Lyman that's more than 24 feet long. They're able to follow the whale's whereabouts using a tracking device that they attached to the rope Tuesday.

"If we can cut one side of the knot, then we can pull hard on the other side and try to pull it out of the whale's mouth," Lyman said Thursday.

Complicating the task is the fact that two adult whales are traveling with the juvenile. The adult whales — believed to be the juvenile's mother and the mother's escort — have been sandwiching the young whale by almost constantly swimming on either side of it.

Another difficulty is that the whale's mouth is normally submerged unless it's coming up for air.

"They come up from the nose, take that breath, clear that blowhole, and basically there's only a second or two there," Lyman said.

It's not clear where the rope came from. Lyman's guess is that it got caught in the whale's mouth when the animal was feeding in Alaskan or other northern waters. Judging by the wounds on the whale's body, it appears the rope got stuck in its mouth a month or two ago.

The whale could probably eat if it needed to, but the animals tend to fast for long periods this time of year.

About 10,000 humpback whales come to Hawaii every winter to breed and calve after spending the summer feeding in northern waters. The whales are an endangered species, though their numbers have grown in recent years.

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The Ocean Manifesto

A five-point plan to turn back the tide and save the seas from death
Frank Pope Times Online 3 Dec 09;

High-tech geoengineering might one day just be able to return atmospheric carbon dioxide to below 350 parts per million, at which level coral reefs can persist. But long before then the multiplying effects of changing climate and human pressure will have crippled marine ecosystems. For the ocean to survive, we need to throw it five lifelines by doing the following:

1: Establishing marine reserves

Less than 0.01 per cent of the ocean lies within reserves, but reserves do work: they boost biomass and biodiversity and allow ecosystems to grow resilient. Around the British-controlled Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, for example, the seas are not part of a formal reserve but have effectively been protected since 1965 by the presence of the US base at Diego Garcia; reefs here have been able to recover quickly from bleaching events.

2: Ending the freedom of the seas

Only by zoning and controlling access to the ocean can it be rescued. The present situation has led to a depletion of the ocean’s biomass, something which is as important as biodiversity for the resilience of ecosystems. For instance, 95 per cent of filter-feeders have been removed from the ocean. The North Sea and our estuaries once had clear waters full of oyster beds; restoring even a fraction of these will lead to cleaner water and an increase in sunlight for seabed organisms.

3: Controlling fishing fleets

The fishing industry is destroying essential biodiversity and biomass because of huge subsidies and overcapacity. Ending both will mean more fish in the sea as well as on the plate, while cutting the amount of fuel used to catch them.

4: Banning bottom trawling

A widespread ban would allow seabed habitats to recover. The hidden complexity of seabed life is a key component of the ocean’s ability to recycle nutrients.

5: Controlling pollution

Agricultural fertilisers being washed into rivers are a major cause of the growth in deoxygenated dead zones in coastal waters worldwide, and plastics are pulling poisons into food webs.

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Live coral off Maui possibly damaged during artificial reef installation

www.honoluluadvertiser.com 3 Dec 09;

The Department of Land and Natural Resources has suspended the installation of concrete artificial reef forms while it investigates the extent of damage that may have been caused to live coral while crews were working to expand an artificial reef off Maui.

Yesterday, DLNR started submerging 1,400 concrete "Z" module forms to add to the artificial reef located a half mile off Maui at depths of 77 to 120 feet.

State biologists have determined that 2 to 3 percent of the submerged forms may have landed on live coral.

DLNR has begun an investigation into the extent of possible damage, and the factors leading to this incident.

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Madagascar's major reefs among most at risk from climate change

WWF 4 Dec 09;

Tuléar, Madagascar – An unprecedented combination of climate change and increasing human pressures could have a devastating effect on coral reefs in the near shore areas of Southern Madagascar.

A study commissioned by WWF modeled current threats to the coral reef system to determine its future vulnerability to climate change.

The Tuléar reef is the third largest in the world, and one of only five large continuous reef systems in the world.

The reef ecosystem houses an extreme abundance of different marine species including nearly 400 fish species and over 300 coral species. Whales and dolphins pass through the reef system and marine turtles graze on the reefs and nest on the surrounding beaches. The blue spotted bamboo shark, which is endemic to Madagascar, is another species that might suffer when temperatures rise and fish stock dwindles.

People who depend on fishery on their livelihood, the majority of the region’s population, would also suffer severely.

“A destruction of the reef would leave tens of thousands of people in jeopardy, with severe impact on their main source of income or adequate food supplies,” said Gaëtan Tovondrainy, head of the marine project with WWF Tuléar.

“With increasing global temperatures, the corals within Tuléar reef could succumb to massive bleaching events and become infested with green algae. The latter would smother the coral and therefore reduce feeding opportunities for fish. “

According to the study the Tuléar reef ecosystem is one of the most vulnerable sites in the western Indian Ocean. While some of the reefs around the smaller islands are in good conditions, others near estuaries are degraded from the sediments caused by deforestation upstream. These human pressures act to make the reefs more vulnerable to the threats of climate change.

The global phenomenon of coral bleaching in 1998 primarily affected the reefs in the northern part of the region such as the Seychelles and Comoros. But nowadays climate change affects other reefs as well.

“Increased bleaching of corals and green algae invasions are two direct effects of climate change on these important ecosystems and they can be seen clearly around Tuléar” Tovondrainy said.

The reef system is vital for the community’s survival. This region is home to people from the group who traditionally migrate up and down the coast in line with seasonal changes. Nearly 20,000 traditional fishermen and 15,000 canoes operate on the Tulear reef system.

This traditional form of resource use is being threatened and migrants from inland areas affected by drought and deforestation increase competition for resources.

“It is poor countries like Madagascar that have contributed the least to the problem but will suffer the worst consequences. If we can’t stop climate change, the collapse of the Tuléar reef system is just one of many severe consequences for the local population” says Tiana Ramahaleo, head of the WWF Conservation Science and Species Programme in Madagascar. “That’s why we desperately hope for a good deal in Copenhagen”

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European supermarkets get slippery over green palm oil promises

Food manufacturers in Europe called for greener palm oil. The growers supplied it. So why aren't supermarkets buying it?
Fred Pearce, guardian.co.uk 4 Dec 09;

Deep in the rainforest, a squawk fills the air, discordant but strangely familiar. It is the sound of sanctimonious humbug from Europe's food industry.

For European food retailers stand accused of hypocrisy over buying palm oil from tropical countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, where the widely used edible oil is often grown on land that once was rainforest. Many of them promised to buy sustainable palm oil if it became available.

Now, though, their bluff has been called – by the growers themselves.

For six years, many of Europe's leading food manufacturers and retailers have been members of an association called the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

They wanted, they said, to ensure that they could buy palm oil – and the huge number of products containing it – which had been produced without destroying rainforests.

The food manufacturing giant, Unilever, started the RSPO in 2003, and dozens of food manufacturers and retailers, particularly in Europe, joined. So, less visibly, did some palm oil producers.

As demand for the oil rose for everything from margarine and shampoo to biscuits and ice-cream, the pressure grew to turn this well-meaning talking shop into a real force for change: to end forest destruction.

Ministers in Copenhagen next week will hear that deforestation is responsible for up to a fifth of CO2 emissions – and palm oil production, especially in Indonesia, is a leading incentive to tear down the remaining forests.

In response to that pressure, the food industry said it wanted very badly to use sustainable palm and would do so – just as soon as it was available. Their allies, including the environmental group WWF, which first set up the round table with Unilever, gratefully backed them. The problem, it seemed, was south-east Asian palm-oil growers.

Then just a year ago, something remarkable happened. The first boatloads of "sustainable" palm oil, certified as coming from land not recently deforested, arrived at Rotterdam. The growers were doing what their purchasers had been demanding.

But there have been very few takers. Six months ago I reported that sales were just 15,000 tonnes.

When I checked the latest stats with WWF this week, sales had risen – to somewhere between 175,000 and 250,000 tonnes. But that is a tiny fraction of what is available. Producers have the capacity to ship 1.75m tonnes of sustainable palm oil a year – getting on for 10% of total global palm oil production. But only 14% of that 1.75m tonnes was bought in the first year.

Why? "Sustainable" palm oil commands, as you would expect, a premium price. Food manufacturers know all about how to sell us green products at a premium price. But will they pay more themselves? It seems not.

And now the producers are getting wise to the reluctance of their customers to stick to their pledges. According to Adam Harrison of WWF Scotland, who sits on the RSPO board, producers are cutting production and mothballing mills that are certified for sustainable production.

This is a tragedy. Rich western corporations demand the sustainability stuff and flaunt their green credentials to customers in the process. Developing world producers, though suspicious, start producing. Rich westerners check the price tag and walk away. Meanwhile, the rainforests continue to disappear.

Who, specifically, should we blame? I asked WWF, which just produced its first "scorecard" (pdf) of sustainability for the 59 leading European retailers and manufacturers buying palm oil.

The scorecard is generous. Companies get marks just for being a member of RSPO, and for paperwork activity, like having plans to go sustainable one day.

Even so, the scores make depressing reading. Top marks would be 29. Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer get quite close, partly through stipulating sustainable palm oil in some of their own-brand goods. They scored 26 and 25.5 respectively. Unilever, Cadbury, Asda and the Body Shop also get more than 20 marks. But even for the top scorers, "in most cases certified sustainable palm oil is still being used in only very small quantities," the WWF says.

Even on this indulgent scoring system, more than half the companies get below 10 marks. These include Waitrose, Lidl, Boots, Danone ("sustainability is part of our DNA") and Associated British Foods (makers of Kingsmill and Allinson bread).

None of these poor scorers are buying any sustainably produced palm oil, according to WWF, which has given all the listed companies a chance to correct the findings.

Waitrose's derisory 8.5 marks came as a surprise. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership, which promotes its support for the Prince's Rainforest Project, set up by the Prince of Wales to "make rainforests worth more alive than dead".

I asked them what had gone wrong. Nothing, it said. "We have committed to using only certified sustainable palm oil in our own-label products by the end of 2012. We will achieve a quarter of the conversion within the next year."

Maybe the lumbering beasts of the jungle are just slow to get moving. But, by the time they get their act together, will there be any rainforest left to protect?

This column will be watching their progress.

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Malaysia Turns To Genetics To Improve Palm Oil Productivity

Bernama 4 Dec 09;

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is looking to genetics to help its palm oil industry improve productivity, according to Oxford Business Group (OBG).

The country is also moving towards enhancing the sector's image while seeking to capture a bigger share of the global vegetable oil market, it said in its latest economic briefing issued on Friday.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had announced early last month that a consortium co-led by the board and US-based Orion Genomics had sequenced three oil palm genomes from two palm species.

"What makes this breakthrough important is that it would allow researchers to understand genetic differences between the two species, which results in differences in yield, disease resistance and height increment," OBG said.

"While MPOB is confident that genome sequencing will bring great benefits to the industry and the environment, it acknowledged that the process will take time," it said.

"Genome sequencing is not that straightforward," MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Mohd Basri Wahid told OBG in an interview.

"The yield depends on many factors, so you would have to assemble all these. We can look at the sequence of the genome and come up with markers like thin shells, high oil, disease resistance and high bunch numbers, then screen them for content, quality, height and so on," he said.

But, according to him, this screening alone will take years and after real trials, one cannot be assured of an immediate impact.

Although MPOB is in an advantageous position to screen for these traits as it houses the world's largest oil palm germplasm collection, validation of the screening will take years.

This is because one breeding cycle of the oil palm takes seven years, Mohd Basri said.

"The genome project is part of a far broader programme aimed not only at improving output and allaying environmental concerns but also at establishing Malaysia as an international brand name, one associated with quality and sustainability," he said.

Mohd Basri said MPOB aimed to be a certifying body, similar to the International Organisation for Standardisation.

"We have established a team and trained them as auditors to develop certificates. There is a complete code of practice that can be applied to plantations, mills and across the industry," he said

"Overseas countries don't differentiate countries which produce palm oil. We are the same as Indonesia to them. Therefore, MPOB is working towards a certificate of assurance," he added.

Widely used in cooking oil, food products, cosmetics and biofuel, palm oil is a major contributor to the Malaysian economy.

In 2008, the country produced 17.7 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO), of which 15 million tonnes were shipped overseas, generating an export revenue of RM17.6 billion.

The industry is providing direct and indirect employment to about 800,000 Malaysians.

-- BERNAMA

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Thai environmental group takes aim at more firms

Ambika Ahuja, Reuters 4 Dec 09;

BANGKOK (Reuters) - An environmental group whose legal challenge has forced dozens of major industrial projects to be suspended in Thailand said it would target another 181 plants that may not be complying with health and environment rules.

On Wednesday the Supreme Administrative Court halted most new projects at Map Ta Phut, Thailand's biggest industrial estate and the world's eighth-biggest petrochemicals hub, alarming investors and the government, which said the economy would suffer.

The case was brought to court by environmentalists, lawyers and local residents, spearheaded by legal activist Srisuwan Janya of the Stop Global Warming Association, a little-known lawyer who has received death threats since stepping up his campaign.

"We are looking into 181 other industrial projects ... that were approved but may have violated the same provision," Srisuwan said.

The group had submitted letters to the companies -- operators of steel, petrochemical and paper factories among other projects -- to request their compliance with legal provisions, he said.

"Most have conducted the environmental studies but haven't held public hearings. We are not asking them to suspend the projects. They can do these concurrently," Srisuwan said.

The group's argument is based on a clause in the 2007 constitution requiring companies to conduct environmental and health studies for projects that may be harmful, hold public consultations and seek opinions from independent experts.

Srisuwan, 42, said the authorities had failed to follow proper procedure according to the constitution in issuing operating licences at Map Ta Phut.

He said his group would not consider legal action until January, to give companies time to respond.

DEATH THREATS

The 181 projects are scattered around eastern and central Thai provinces at various industrial estates, Srisuwan said.

He said he had been collecting data on the Map Ta Phut estate for the past 10 years and had received death threats since he geared up the campaign in 2007, but had chosen to ignore them.

"I may be a villain for some industrialists, but I think I'm a hero for the residents of the area who are suffering severe consequences," he said.

"Carcinogenic substances are higher than safety levels, public ponds have a high level of toxic substances and kids are developing leukaemia. We had to find a way to fight."

The Map Ta Phut estate in eastern Rayong province has grown at a staggering rate over the past 13 years and a local environmental group claims more than 2,000 people have died of cancer related to pollution from the plants. Doctors have not said the projects are to blame.

The Supreme Administrative Court gave the green light to just 11 of 76 new plants on the estate.

The ruling to halt 65 projects worth an estimated $8 billion pending an investigation by a government-appointed commission stoked concern about legal certainty and government effectiveness in a country once seen as an attractive place to do business in.

Srisuwan said the government was stalling on plans to pass a law required to set up the independent body to oversee Health Impact Assessment tests and hold public hearings.

"Is it too much to ask for a higher standard for the kind of foreign investment we have in the country? Does it not matter that it's fuelling growth but killing people? Maybe it's a good thing we make it harder for irresponsible and harmful projects to go on?"

(Editing by Alan Raybould)

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Sabah forums to get feedback on coal-fired power plant

Mutuntan Vanar, The Star 5 Dec 09;

TAWAU: Environmentalists will conduct statewide forums to get public feedback on the proposed 300MW coal-fired power plant at Felda Sahabat in Sinakut, about 100km from Lahad Datu.

Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa) president Wong Tack said the forums organised by newly-formed Green Surf was aimed at getting real feedback from the grassroots about the controversial power plant.

Wong said the forums were important to show the real worries about the project that was not in line with Sabah’s pro-environment emphasis.

He said the forums were in line with a call by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun for non-governmental organisations to express their views through forums instead of the media.

He said they hoped to invite Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd officials and other related departments to the forums to hear the people’s views.

Wong, whose Sepa is part of the Green Surf group, said the power plant was not necessary as there were cleaner technology options.

“We have rivers that can generate hydro power and millions of tonnes of biomass. We can use local resources instead of importing coal,” he said, adding that the 300MW Kimanis gas-powered plant and the proposed Liwagu hydro project could meet current needs.

“The state should also fast-track the Upper Padas hydro power plant,” he said, adding that the east coast of Sabah had sufficient biomass fuel for power-generation needs.

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Can REDD Keep Indonesia’s Forests Green?

Joe Cochrane, Jakarta Globe 4 Dec 09;

It’s the hottest acronym going in the world of climate change. The UN-backed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is being touted as both the savior of rain forests and a new natural resource commodity that will bring untold riches to the developing world.

The concept, also known as REDD, is both simple and ingenious: Countries can sell credits on the amount of carbon their forests and rain forests soak up to industrialized nations that need to reduce emissions, thereby protecting their environment, stopping global warming and ensuring a sustainable future income without having to chop down the trees.

The reality is more complicated. The proposed UN carbon trading scheme remains just that, a proposal. It’s also very complex, would be open to abuse and corruption and can leave local forest-based communities with nothing.

“If I can save forests and get paid for it, that’s much better than not saving forests,” said Timothy H Brown, senior natural resources management specialist at the World Bank in Jakarta. “If you want to save the forests, make some money out of it. Don’t just encourage somebody to love biodiversity. That doesn’t pay the bills.”

Indeed, a key facet of the REDD scheme is to provide a new and lasting source of revenue for developing nations, in particular regional administrations and local populations. Any new international protocol on climate change, whether it’s reached in Copenhagen this month, or sometime in 2010, is likely also to produce a comprehensive agreement on REDD — in effect, making carbon a commodity on a par with oil, natural gas or coal.

The rain forests of Indonesia, which has several pilot REDD projects currently under way, and those in Brazil, are being touted as the future of carbon trading. But that’s not necessarily a good thing, according to experts and environmental activists.

“Indonesia hasn’t shown the ability to prevent deforestation,” Brown said, adding that 1.1 million hectares of Indonesian forests vanish each year.

A Human Rights Watch report released on Tuesday said Indonesia lost up to $2 billion annually between 2003 and 2006 due to illegal logging, unpaid taxes and royalties from forestry and hidden subsidies for timber companies. That figure did not include the billions likely lost each year from unreported timber smuggled abroad.

The report questioned Indonesia’s ability to set up what might be the world’s largest carbon trading market to protect forests, given huge corruption in the industry. “In the absence of safeguards, the carbon finance market will simply inject more money into an already corrupt system, short-cutting needed reforms and exacerbating the situation,” the report said.

Among the biggest fears is manipulation by foreign carbon brokers who wave cash in the faces of provincial and district government leaders. Called “carbon cowboys,” they can sign deals that give Indonesian districts only a fraction of what they should be getting.

Fitrian Ardiansyah, program director for climate and energy at World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, said carbon brokers have already signed deals or made approaches in East Kalimantan, Papua and Aceh.

“They say, ‘Sign this. For 100,000 hectares for REDD, you will get $2 per hectare,’ ” Fitrian said. “But you’re not supposed to count the hectares, you count the carbon.”

That’s where it gets tricky. The mathematical and scientific calculations to determine how much carbon a given area of forest absorbs are extremely complex, likely far beyond the educational level of a local district chief, experts say. And although they can receive as much as $2,500 per hectare of protected forest, local communities must first invest millions of dollars or more up front to establish an internationally verifiable way to show that their preserved forests aren’t still being chopped down or otherwise misused.

“To have an international commodity, you have to have this scientific basis and certification process, because you’re selling something that doesn’t exist,” Brown said

Another major issue, especially for Indonesia, is who owns the forests in which carbon is stored, and thus has the right to sell the credits. Local communities from Sumatra to Papua are ingrained with the belief that the forest belongs to them, while local, provincial and even the national government have the legal right to lease the land to companies.

“There’s no recognition of indigenous people’s rights,” said M Teguh Surya, head of advocacy at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

Walhi, which is arguably the country’s leading environmental group, has lobbied against REDD, saying the current scheme needs to be amended to require prior consent from indigenous populations before any deals are struck. The group is also calling for a ban on market-based trading of carbon credits — meaning no public selling on stock exchanges — and an international agreement on reducing developed nations’ demand for raw materials such as timber.

“REDD is CO2 colonialism,” Surya said. “We still need a long debate before we decide anything.”

The Ministry of Forestry has a lot to answer for in its woeful management of the nation’s forests over the decades. But it has received kudos for its ongoing preparation for REDD, which wouldn’t go into effect until 2013 at the earliest.

The ministry has, among other things, developed a national carbon accounting system, a strategic development plan, a monitoring plan and a forest resource inventory system. The oversight must be in place, experts say, to prevent Indonesia’s carbon from going the way of its depleted forests.

“It’s a difficult, arcane subject matter. The science, the policy, the economics of it. It’s a daunting task,” said Todd Lemons, from Infinite Earth, a Hong Kong-based company going through a government certification process to sell REDD options on an orangutan sanctuary in Central Kalimantan.

Nur Masripatin, head of social, economic and forestry policy at the Forestry Ministry, said the government was also preparing programs aimed at “improving the management of national forests, and not encouraging the conversion of forest land to palm oil.”

Commodity prices, specifically those of palm oil, could be the spanner in the works for REDD. Given that carbon credits will eventually be traded publicly on international markets, the scheme is at the mercy of crude palm oil prices.

If the price of palm oil goes higher than the price of carbon credits, all bets could be off and the REDD scheme could be quickly consigned to the dust bin of history — along with the forests it is meant to protect.

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