Devastating climate change could lead to 1m migrants a year entering EU by 2100

Researchers plotted temperature rises against the number of asylum applications and are predicting that as the southern hemisphere heats up the number of people migrating to the EU each year will triple
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 21 Dec 17;

Climate change will drive a huge increase in the number of migrants seeking asylum in Europe if current trends continue, according to a new study.

The number of migrants attempting to settle in Europe each year will triple by the end of the century based on current climate trends alone, independent of other political and economic factors, according to the research. Even if efforts to curb global warming are successful, the number of applications for asylum could rise by a quarter, the authors predict.

Wolfram Schlenker, professor at the school of international and public affairs at Columbia University in New York, and lead author of the study, said: “Europe will see increasing numbers of desperate people fleeing their home countries.”

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who was not involved with the report, told the Guardian the results should be taken seriously by policymakers, though current forecasting models frequently fail to take such factors into account.

He said: “This study shows how Europe will be impacted by one of the most serious impacts of climate change. Hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of people will be exposed to coastal sea level rise and shifts in extreme weather that will cause mass migrations away from the most vulnerable locations. We know from human history that such migrations often lead to conflict and war, with devastating consequences. The huge potential costs of migration-related conflict are usually omitted from economic models of climate change impacts in the future.”

Climate change is predicted to result in more droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other extreme weather, as well as more intense storms and rising sea levels. These effects are likely to render agriculture more difficult, if not impossible, across swathes of the globe, including sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

These effects will also be felt in Europe, but its lower base temperatures, relative prosperity and advanced infrastructure mean the damage could be contained, and make it an attractive destination for migrants.

Migration, or attempted migration, to Europe has increased markedly in the last decade, with leading causes including the war in Syria, turmoil in north Africa and the middle East, and a burgeoning young population with few economic prospects in many regions of Africa and the middle East.

The new study, published on Thursday in the journal Science, was initiated and largely funded by the EU’s Joint Research Centre, with contribution from the US Department of Energy, and led by scientists at Columbia University in New York.

The authors of the study examined asylum applications in the EU from 103 countries between 2000 and 2014, during which time applications averaged more than 350,000 a year. They compared the applications with information on environmental factors, such as temperature and weather, and adjusted the data for factors such as conflict and political turmoil.

In doing so, they spotted a trend correlating weather and changes in the number of asylum applications. For instance, countries with average temperatures around 20C – the optimum for growing many crops – show a higher number of applications, while there are fewer asylum seekers from areas with cooler temperatures.

The data showed that the more temperatures in a country’s key agricultural regions rose above 20C in the growing season, the more people left their homes for another country. They recorded increases in the number of migrants from hot places such as Iraq and Pakistan when temperatures rose. However, immigration from colder countries fell when temperatures rose towards 20C.

The scientists posit that as the globe warms, the number of people seeking asylum in Europe will correspondingly rise. Warming of 2.6C to 4.8C, which climate experts say is likely unless stronger action is taken to bring down greenhouse gas emissions, would result in as many as 660,000 additional asylum seekers coming to Europe each year by 2100, according to the model.

Linking migration to climate change is controversial. Although many scientists, and many studies, are clear that rising temperatures and extreme weather are likely to increase migration, it is difficult to separate this factor from the myriad other factors that drive people to flee their homes. A drought in Syria from 2006 to 2010 was posited, in a 2015 study, as a factor behind that country’s civil war, which broke out in 2011 and still rages.

Sheep graze in fields in Hasaka, some 650 kms northeast of Damascus.
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Sheep graze in fields in Hasaka, some 650 kms northeast of Damascus. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images
Immigration, especially in the wake of the financial crisis and recessions which crippled European economies a decade ago and whose effects are only now beginning to subside, has become one of the hottest political issues in Europe. It was cited as one of the biggest factors in the UK’s referendum on EU membership, and has played a major role in recent elections in Germany and France.

Schlenker said a rise in migration owing to climate change could exacerbate political tensions further. “Europe is already conflicted about how many refugees to admit. Though poorer countries in hotter regions are most vulnerable to climate change, our findings highlight the extent to which countries are interlinked.”

Solomon Hsiang, professor at Berkeley, University of California, and author of a previous study linking conflict and climate change, who was not involved with the current research, said the world must prepare. “We will need to build new institutions and systems to manage this steady flow of asylum-seekers. As we have seen from recent experience in Europe, there are tremendous costs, both for refugees and their hosts, when we are caught flat-footed.”

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Ensuring a flood-free Christmas in Thomson

Zhaki Abdullah Straits Times 21 Dec 17;

It was not a merry Christmas for businesses along Upper Thomson Road last year.

On Christmas Eve , the area was inundated following a heavy downpour, and patrons of eateries along a stretch of the road between Jalan Keli and Jalan Todak found themselves knee-deep in water.

Businesses reported significant losses as a result of the flood, including damage to their flooring and other infrastructure.

Less than a month later, the area was flooded again, though shops were spared damage on the scale of the previous deluge.

Water agency PUB found that unapproved drainage works at the construction site of the Upper Thomson MRT station - scheduled to open in 2020 as part of the future 43km-long Thomson-East Coast Line - had contributed to the Christmas Eve flood.

Earlier this month, PUB announced that construction firm Sato Kogyo, the contractor for the Upper Thomson station, had been fined $14,000 for carrying out the works.

When The Straits Times returned to the scene on Tuesday, almost a year after the incident, it was business as usual.

Workers at Ming Fa Fishball said they had not experienced any drop in the number of customers following last year's incident, and were not worried about floods.

At the modest Thomson Park in Jalan Keli - facing the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Zeh Shing Keong Temple - construction workers were having their lunch on the grass or perched on park benches, while others seized the opportunity to take a lunchtime nap in the shade of a gazebo.

Customers were crowding the eateries. Office workers slurped on their fishball noodles where, just a year ago, workers were clearing water and sand out of the premises.

The Roti Prata House - which has been in the area since 1995 - reported an estimated $30,000 of losses as a result of last year's flood.

On Tuesday, though, patrons were enjoying their meals against the backdrop of sizzling frying pans and shouts of orders.

Mr Syed Ridzwan, who has worked at the Roti Prata House for 13 years, said he was not worried about floods this year as the MRT contractor had taken steps to prevent flooding.

But, as a precautionary measure, the eatery has taken to placing ingredients such as flour and eggs on higher shelves.

Though the construction of the MRT station - which began three years ago - has deterred walk-in customers, the 40-year-old said he was not worried.

"We have been here for more than 20 years, our customers know the quality of our food."

Workers at Ming Fa Fishball said they had not experienced any drop in the number of customers following last year's incident, and were not worried about floods.

Although Upper Thomson Road - named after John Turnbull Thomson, a civil engineer who helped develop much of Singapore's infrastructure in the 19th century - is one of 55 flooding "hot spots" identified by the PUB, measures have been taken to ensure that last year's incident is not repeated.

It was announced earlier this month that, as part of efforts to prevent floods, the authorities would pump $500 million into upgrading the Republic's drainage network, including making monsoon drains and canals bigger.

This is in anticipation of more intense storms due to climate change.

The number of flooding incidents here has been increasing in recent years, with 14 days recorded this year, up from 10 last year, and six in 2015.

"Climate change is happening," said Associate Professor Koh Tieh Yong, adding that rising global average surface temperature could cause wind and rainfall patterns in the region to change.

Though it is hard to say how exactly they will change in the future, the weather expert from the Singapore University of Social Sciences said the PUB was "hedging its bets" by strengthening anti-flooding measures.

"We buy insurance not because we expect to be injured, but as a precaution against the possibility."

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Indonesia: New Regulations on Peatland Protection May Exact Huge Economic Toll on Economy

Dames Alexander Sinaga & Muhamad Al Azhari Jakarta Globe 20 Dec 17;

Yogyakarta/Jakarta. Indonesia's tougher peatland protection regulation is estimated to cost billions of dollars and hurt a specific province's regional revenue, a study from the University of Indonesia’s Institute for Economics and Social Research, or LPEM-UI, shows.

Riyanto, a senior researcher at LPEM-UI, said at a seminar last week that the implementation of Government Regulation (PP) No. 57 of 2016, which amended Government Regulation No. 71 of 2014 on the protection and management of peatland ecosystems, is estimated to lead to a loss of Rp 76 trillion ($5.32 billion) from a decline in production of pulp and paper, palm oil, job loss and weaker economic activities in regions highly dependent on the two commodities.

"This regulation will have an impact on the macro economy. It may also deteriorate the investment climate as it has social impacts including layoffs that will increase unemployment," Riyanto, a senior researcher at LPEM-UI, said at a seminar in Yogyakarta last week.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration started to place greater attention on the protection and management of peatlands after the country was criticized by the international community for forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan that resulted in blanketed haze that choked several Southeast Asian countries in 2015.

A year later, his administration took several measures to protect peatlands all over the country and regulate their use, despite complaints from industry players who felt the government's tougher stance was implemented blindly without consideration of the impacts the new regulation had on the industry and on the overall economy.

Riyanto said LPEM-UI estimated that Indonesia would lose up to 16.8 million cubic meters of timber production due to the relocation of 58.5 percent of the nation's industrial forests. The economic value of all industrial forests is estimated at Rp 48.5 trillion.

Riau, which has a vast area of peatland and is home to industrial forests and plantation areas, may see its regional gross domestic product decline by Rp 16.15 trillion per year and a loss of income for the local community, penciled at Rp 4.9 trillion per year from salaries, wages or various income that may be lost from a decline of business activities from the pulp and paper industry.

A slower growth in the pulp and paper industry is estimated to cause a loss of 134,000 of jobs over the course of five years since the revised regulation was implemented in 2016. In Riau province, the loss of that many jobs may cause more than half a million people to live in poverty. "There will be some serious social problems if this is not carefully anticipated," he said.

Riyanto criticized the government for disregarding innovations in peatland management, which can still both preserve, but also utilize the land for commercial purpose. About 40 percent of the nation's industrial forests currently sit on peatlands, which will be deemed protected areas under the regulation.

Previously, Aryan Wargadalam, chairman of Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (AKPI) — which harbors the largest pulp and paper producers in the country, told the Jakarta Globe that implementation of the PP 57 may include potential losses in pulp production of 2.4 million tons per year (or $1.32 billion) and potential losses in paper production of 3.6 million tons per year (or $3.6 billion).

Gov't Statement

Djati Witjaksono, a Ministry of Environment and Forest spokesman, said the ministry is still conducting research on the government's policy on peatland protection and management.

"Our research and development department is currently conducting assessments on deforestation and carbon sequestration. And we will deliver the results after the project is completed," Djati told the Globe in a phone interview.

The spokesman said the ministry respects any research institution that conducts data collection on the impact of government regulations.

"Everyone has the right to do research, although the results may differ due to different approaches," the spokesman said.

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Indonesia: Greenpeace calls for investigation into Sinarmas dealings

San Francisco Chronicle 20 Dec 17;

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The environmental group Greenpeace has called for an investigation into the relationship between paper giant Sinarmas and its wood suppliers after The Associated Press found substantial ties between them despite the Indonesian conglomerate's assertions the suppliers are independent.

Among the suppliers described as independent are plantation companies accused of responsibility for devastating fires in Indonesia in 2015 that the World Bank estimated caused losses of $16 billion and which a Harvard and Columbia study said hastened 100,000 deaths.

AP's investigation also found that a plantation company owned by two Sinarmas Forestry employees has been cutting down tropical forest in Borneo since 2014 and that Sinarmas is recruiting a new wood supplier that is in conflict with dozens of villages.

Sinarmas, in a 2013 agreement with Greenpeace, said it would stop cutting down tropical forests and end land conflicts with communities.

"We call for an immediate investigation, involving NGOs and independent experts," the head of Greenpeace's Indonesian forests campaign, Kiki Taufik, said in a statement Wednesday.

Greenpeace said the investigation should include a review of a previous audit of the relationship between Sinarmas and its suppliers.

It said if companies linked to Sinarmas have continued forest destruction since 2013, "then there really is no way back and its sustainability commitments will have been shown to be a facade."

AP outlined its findings to Sinarmas five days ago but the company has not responded despite twice specifying a time by which it would comment.

Indonesia is cutting down its rainforests faster than any other country, swelling the profits of a handful of paper and palm oil conglomerates while causing massive social and environmental problems. The rapid forest loss combined with its greenhouse gas emissions has made Indonesia the fourth biggest contributor to global warming after China, the U.S. and India.


Pulp giant APP rebuts Associated Press report
Firm denies covering up links with errant suppliers, reaffirms its sustainability claims
Audrey Tan Straits Times 23 Dec 17;

Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the Indonesian companies blamed for the 2015 record-breaking haze in the region, has rubbished an Associated Press report implying it had covered up links to suppliers that practise deforestation or illegal slash-and-burn methods in a bid to void its sustainability claims.

In a statement yesterday, APP did not deny ownership or having links with most of the 27 suppliers the Associated Press report said it had - except one with the firm Muara Sungai Landak. But APP said its ownership structures did not weaken its sustainability commitments and that such partnerships would allow the firm to enforce them.

An APP spokesman said: "All our relationships with our suppliers are guided by our forest conservation policy and our zero-deforestation pledge." He added that there are safeguards to ensure compliance, and that contracts with rogue suppliers can be terminated.

APP, Indonesia's largest pulp and paper firm, was responding to an article published earlier this week by the Associated Press.

The article alleged that APP and its parent company, Sinar Mas, had control over 27 suppliers that it had earlier claimed were independent, citing over 1,000 pages of APP corporate records. APP had likely done so to distance itself from rogue suppliers, allowing it to minimise responsibility, the report added.

For example, in November 2015, two of APP's suppliers - Bumi Mekar Hijau and Sebangun Bumi Andalas Wood Industries - had their business licences suspended by the Indonesian government over accusations of illegal forest fires. But APP told the media then that the companies were independently owned, and that it had suspended contracts with the firms.

A check on APP's website yesterday showed that APP still sources for pulpwood from both firms.

The Associated Press report also said APP is linked to Muara Sungai Landak, a firm which has been cutting down forests on Borneo. This shows that APP is indirectly flouting its no-deforestation pledge.

In yesterday's statement, APP said Muara Sungai Landak was not its supplier and has no business relations with the pulp giant, although the Associated Press had found that the plantation firm is owned by two employees at Sinar Mas Forestry.

The Straits Times also yesterday found on APP's website a map showing hot spots from the period between Dec 6 and 13 last year which clearly lists Muara Sungai Landak as one of APP's partner concessions in West Kalimantan.

Ms Zhang Wen, executive director of Singapore-based volunteer group People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze), said if APP was found to have secret ties with suppliers which violate Indonesian law or their own sustainability standards, it weakened the firm's overall commitment. "APP has the responsibility and the ability to improve transparency and ensure their suppliers comply to high standards."

On Thursday, the Associated Press published another report alleging that one of APP's potential suppliers, Bangun Rimba Sejahtera, planned to convert community land to plantations despite resistance from villagers.

If APP does end up sourcing for wood from this company, it would renege on its promise of obtaining free, prior and informed consent, said the report.

Responding on this point, APP said yesterday it is still engaging with the supplier and would not approve sourcing from it without the consent of local communities.

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Japan’s inaction on illegal ivory exports threatens Chinese ban, report says

Monitoring network Traffic says smuggling of undocumented ivory into China could undermine enforcement of imminent ban
Justin McCurry The Guardian 20 Dec 17;

Japan’s failure to prevent illegal ivory exports could undermine China’s forthcoming ban on its domestic ivory trade, conservation groups have warned.

Inaction by Japan’s government has allowed the smuggling of large quantities of undocumented ivory overseas, mainly to China, according to a report released in Tokyo on Wednesday by the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.

The report, compiled with the support of the World Wildlife Fund, says 2.42 tonnes of ivory – including elephant tusks, antiques and jewellery – were illegally exported from Japan between 2011 and 2016.

Online sales are a major contributor to the problem, the report says. Last year, Chinese authorities seized 1,639 pieces of worked ivory and carved tusks believed to have been bought in online auctions. Very few illegal consignments are seized in Japan.

According to Traffic, an average of 2,447 ivory items worth more than $400,000 were auctioned during a four-week period between May and June 2017 on a major e-commerce site.

The report says researchers found antique dealers were buying a large number of elephant tusks in Japan that were not registered, even though owners are required to show proof that the items were not bought after the international ban on the ivory trade came into effect in 1989.

“Japan’s domestic ivory market availability is targeted for procuring products from the antiques and tourist markets for illegal ivory exports, as well as through physical and online auctions,” the report says.

International pressure has resulted in some progress in Japan, however. In July, the e-commerce company Rakuten said it would ban the sale of ivory products, but Yahoo! Japan and other sites continue to sell the items.

Almost 95% of illegal ivory exports from Japan go to China, which is to end its domestic legal trade in ivory at the end of this year, amid concern about the steep decline in the African elephant population caused by poaching. Hong Kong, the world’s largest retail ivory market, plans to follow suit in 2021.

But Traffic’s Tomomi Kitade, who co-authored the report, warned that the flow of ivory from Japan could hamper Chinese efforts to stamp out its domestic trade.

“Continuing to allow substantial illegal exports to go to China will undermine Chinese attempts to enforce the ban on its domestic ivory trade,” Kitade said. “Our findings show that the Japanese government has a responsibility to act quickly to end illegal exports.”

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) bans the international trade in ivory to protect endangered African elephants, and has called for the closure of domestic ivory markets in all member states.

Japan, however, says ivory products traded domestically were not acquired illegally. This year the government approved a proposal to tighten registration requirements and inspections for more than 8,000 ivory retailers and manufacturers in the country – a move described as inadequate by campaigners.

“Our findings show without doubt that Japan’s largely unregulated domestic ivory market is contributing to illegal trade,” Kitade said.

An estimated 20,000 African elephants are killed every year for their tusks, according to conservation groups. Last year, a record 40 tonnes of ivory were seized worldwide, triple the amount in 2007.

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Dec 17

Awesome year end 2017 at the Marine Park
Sisters' Island Marine Park

Lessons from IYOR outreach workshop
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Singapore's wild shores in WWF kids' magazine
wild shores of singapore

The varied diet of the Brown-throated Sunbird
Singapore Bird Group

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Dengue cases at lowest level since 2001

Straits Times 20 Dec 17;

Dengue infections here reached a 16-year low, with no deaths reported in the first nine months this year, compared with nine last year.

Some 2,629 people had dengue in the first 50 weeks this year. With two weeks left, the total number is likely to be lower than in any year since the 2,372 cases in 2001.

The dip in infections stems from the dominant viral strain this year being DENV-2, which was also the case last year as well as between 2007 and 2012.

As a result, many people previously infected with this strain are immune to it.

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Malaysia: Everyone’s job to protect our jungles

The Star 20 Dec 17;

THE Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) launched the Malaysian implementation of MY forest’s project titled “Strengthening Non-State Actor Involvement in Forest Governance in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.”

MY forest is a high-impact partnership, as it looks at Malaysia’s natural heritage, its forests, and how non-state actors – non-governmental organisations, civil societies, local communities, the private and public sectors – can inform and change policies towards better forest governance.

The project’s target forest areas are the peninsula’s Central Forest Spine, heart of Borneo and selected Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs).

Under the five-year project (2017-2021) funded by the European Union, MNS is tasked with building the capacity of non-state actors nationwide to engage more effectively with the government in protecting Malaysia’s forests.

He said Malaysians have always looked to the governing authorities to protect the country’s resources, but the project sought to change this mindset by delivering non-governmental participation in protecting the forests.

“One of MNS’ tenets is the promotion of responsible environmental stewardship in Malaysia, and the society truly believes that each and every one of us has a role to play as stewards of our natural heritage,” he said.

Goh called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental groups, local communities, the public and the media to come together to be part of changing the Malaysian forest landscape, to maintain the country’s green mountains and hills, its clean rivers, its home for tigers and elephants and tapirs.

“We want all Malaysians to be part of it, to look at our natural heritage and proclaim: MY forest, MY wildlife, MY responsibility,” he said.

MY forest was officially launched by former MNS president Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor, who is currently MNS senior adviser and MY forest adviser.

The launch was followed by the MY forest National Stakeholder Committee inception meeting, which saw the participation of government agencies, 13 NGOs and 10 MNS state branches to plan the way forward for nationwide implementation of MY forest.

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Indonesia: Pulpwood firm April takes Jakarta to court over peatland

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 20 Dec 17;

Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), the operational unit of Singapore-based pulpwood company April, has taken Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry to court, after the ministry voided its 10-year business plan and told it to revise the plan.

The ministry said the plan for RAPP's Sumatra concession was voided because the company failed to comply with Indonesia's new peatland protection framework. The 2016 law aims to better protect fragile, flammable peatlands - a major source of choking annual haze that has blighted the region in the last two decades.

RAPP argued that it should be affected by the new law only after its concession contract expires. It said that any new law should not take effect retroactively.

The Jakarta state administrative court is set to rule on the case tomorrow. April, or Asia Pacific Resources International Limited, is Indonesia's second-largest pulp and paper company. It manages a plantation area of 480,000ha of fast-growing pulpwood trees, such as acacia in Sumatra's Riau province. More than half of this area is planted on peatlands, which the Indonesian government has been stepping up efforts to protect to prevent fires.

In October, the environment and forestry ministry urged April to meet the stricter rules, after rejecting the company's 10-year work plan covering the concession area that is more than five times the size of Singapore.

"The company had earlier stated they would revise the work plan to comply with the existing law, but then they asked not to do so, and then they filed a lawsuit," the ministry's spokesman Djati Witjaksono Hadi told The Straits Times by phone yesterday.

April denied what it filed was "a lawsuit", arguing that it was instead a petition to the court seeking fair treatment. It also claimed that the government's revocation of its work plan breached a law.

April denied what it filed was "a lawsuit", arguing that it was a petition to the court seeking fair treatment. It also claimed that the government's revocation of its work plan breached a law.

Plantation firms must submit a work plan that outlines their operations on their concessions, and the ministry must approve these or suggest revisions. For concessions with trees already planted, they are told not to replant after the next harvest.

Failure to get approval means shutting down operations on affected concessions.

April's head of international communications Charles Paul Hogan said it is supportive of the government's plans and is compliant with prevailing laws and regulations. But he also said the ministry must provide clarity for the substitute land that the company will get in exchange for those rezoned for protected peatland.

President Joko Widodo is getting tougher on protecting peatland. His administration issued a No. 57 decree last year, to supersede what was seen as a weaker 2014 regulation on the protection and management of peatland ecosystems.

With the 2016 decree, all pulpwood plantation companies are required to adjust their work plan, shifting their plantation off deep peat.

Observers have hailed the government's bold moves. Public policy expert Agus Pambagio said the government as a regulator has the right to regulate the public and the industries.

"If a policy is no longer conducive to provide what the public and industries need, then the government has to revise or revoke that policy and issue a new one. And any policy indeed cannot be discriminatory," Mr Agus, who served as an expert witness in the RAPP v government case, told the court.

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Indonesia: Government prepares grand design to prevent forest fire

Antara 19 Dec 17;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government has prepared a grand design to prevent land, forest, and plantation fires, which would summarize facts, images, the cause of the fires, and solution for the disaster.

"The grand design would focus on (prevention) activities and monitoring conducted by both the government and private sectors from 2017 to 2019," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said here on Tuesday.

The grand design is formulated by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of National Development Planning.

According to Nasution, the government has also prepared various financial instruments that would support the funding for forest fire prevention at village level.

"The financial instruments are needed to facilitate access to funding resources related to climate change," he noted.

Meanwhile, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya remarked that the grand design would stress on five key strategies to prevent land, forest, and plantation fires.

The five strategies are regulation on economic incentive and disincentive, reinforcement of villagers` role and social institutions, law enforcement, synchronization of law and licensing, infrastructure development, and reinforcement of early fire response.

Previously, head of National Development Planning Agency, Bambang Brodjonegoro, pointed out that the fires have caused at least Rp221 trillion in loss for the country in 2015 from flights cancellation, closure of offices, and other economic activities, which makes preventing fires more crucial than putting them out.

Reported by Agita Tarigan
(S022/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/S012)
Editor: Heru Purwanto

Minister Urges World to Stop Blaming Indonesia for Wildfire Cases
Tempo 19 Dec 17;

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution asked the international community to stop blaming Indonesia for the wildfires that happen annually.

“Don’t just rant and [blame us] for it. We would rather work together [to solve the problem],” said Darmin during a meeting on wildfires and haze today. He added that wildfires and the haze it produces are a regional and global problem.

According to Darmin, Indonesia is currently finalizing a one map policy to overcome wildfires. The policy will enable the Indonesian Government to map-out the areas that are prone to wildfires.

Read: Singapore Lauds Indonesia's Efforts in Handling Forest Fires

“Therefore, we invite the participation of everyone either from the central and regional government, businesses, general public, institutions, and the international community,” he said.

Darmin revealed that the government is currently shifting its orientation from overcoming wildfires to preventing it from happening since it is much easier to do.

According to the Ministry’s records, from 2015 to 2017, wildfire and land fire hotspots have been significantly reduced. The data also suggests that there were 22,000 hotspots in 2015 and is currently down to 2,500 hotspots in 2017, which is an 89 percent reduction.

The area affected by wildfires has also been reduced from 2.6 million hectares in 2015 to just 146,000 hectares in 2016. Meanwhile, cases of wildfire hotspots in 2017 were successfully reduced to 125,000 hectares which are a mere 15 percent compared to that in 2016.

Syafiul Hadi

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Indonesia: Protected Malayan tapir suffers abuse in North Sumatra

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post 19 Dec 17;

A Malayan tapir received treatment for wounds at the Barumun Nagari Wildlife Sanctuary in North Padang Lawas regency, North Sumatra, on Tuesday after being caught by local residents.

The 300-kilogram male tapir suffered severe wounds -- including peeled skin, wounded ankles and removed nails -- that were spread across its entire body when it was found by local authorities, said the head of the Padang Sidempuan branch of the Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA), Gunawan Alza.

Locals of Kristen village in Kotapinang district, South Labuhan Batu, caught the large herbivorous mammal as it entered a residential area on Monday, then tied its four feet so that it could not escape.

“Perhaps the local people didn't know that the animal they caught was protected,” Gunawan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

BKSDA officials transported the tapir to the sanctuary, where doctors gave it several shots and vitamins to help it recover.

The tapir’s condition was improving, Gunawan said, adding that it would be released into the wild once it fully recovers.

The population of the Malayan tapir, he said, was on the decline. The protected species, which is endemic to Sumatra, is most commonly found in the southern parts of Tapanuli, such as South Labuhan Batu, Mandailing Natal, Barumun and Sipirok.

The animal’s habitat has mostly been destroyed because of deforestation, human interference and the conversion of its natural habitat into plantations, resulting in increased cases of the wild animal entering villages in search of food. (rin)

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Indonesia: Landslides damage 300 homes in Kulon Progo

Antara 19 Dec 17;

Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - At least 300 homes located in the Menoreh Hill area were damaged by landslides that hit the Kulon Progo District, Yogyakarta Province, recently.

The Yogyakarta authorities will provide assistance for renovation and reconstruction of the damaged houses, Gusdi Hartono, head of the Kulon Progo disaster mitigation office, stated here, Tuesday.

The assistance will be sourced from the natural disaster emergency funds allocated for Yogyakarta.

On Dec 1, the administration of Kulon Progo District had declared an emergency response status following floods and landslides that hit the region amid the extreme weather in late November of 2017.

The emergency status was effective from Nov 30 to Dec 27.

Swift and appropriate precautionary measures and response were deemed necessary, as the district had experienced rainy season and extreme weather.

At least 66 locations in Kulon Progo were hit by hydrological disasters, such as flooding and landslides.

Meanwhile, two residents went missing, while two others were injured, as a landslide hit Pedukuhan Ngroto, Pendoworejo Village, Girimulyo Sub-district, Kulon Progo District, recently.

Earlier, the Yogyakarta Special Autonomous Provincial Administration had declared an emergency alert status following natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwinds, which had hit the region.

The decision to declare the emergency status was taken during a coordination meeting on disaster mitigation attended by officials of the Yogyakarta disaster mitigation office on Nov 29.

Reported by Sutarmi
(f001/INE)
EDITED BY INE


Landslides, flooding hit Cilacap, Central Java
Antara 20 Dec 17;

Cilacap, C Java (ANTARA News) - Floods and landslides have hit several regions in Cilacap District, Central Java, following incessant heavy rains that fell on Tuesday.

In Sindangraja village, two hilly areas were hit by landslides that damaged three homes and injured one person, Tri Komara Sidhy, an official of the Cilacap disaster mitigation office, said here, Wednesday.

A landslide also cut of a road connecting Karangpucung and Sidareja in Cinangsi village, Gandrungmangu sub-district. The road was covered by mudslide stretching 40 meters long.

Several inhabitants of Kertajaya village in Gandrungmangu sub-district, were taking refuge in higher grounds as their homes were submerged by a flood.

reported by Sumarwoto.
(f001/O001 )
Editor: Heru Purwanto

Thousands of villages in Pekanbaru isolated by flash floods
Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 20 Dec 17;

Flash floods in Kampar, Riau, have isolated 16 other villages in the upstream side of the regency.

The Kampar Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BPBD) flood mitigation operation command center head, Chandra, said the flooding had been occurring since Monday evening as the Lipai River had overflowed.

“The thigh-high floodwaters have inundated dozens of houses in Deras, Tanjung Karang and Batu Sasak villages in Kampar Hulu and Kampar Kiri district,” Chandra said on Wednesday.

“No fatalities have been reported. Data on material losses is still being collected.”

Chandra said flooding had also caused damage to a road that connected the flood-affected villages with Lipat Kain, a district capital.

“Parts of the road are severely damaged. Vehicles cannot pass the road, which has never been paved,” said Chandra.

“A bridge in Batu Sasak village has been destroyed by the floodwater, just like what happened in 2015.”

Nine of the 16 villages are located in Kampar Kiri while the others are in Kampar Kiri Hulu.

“Floodwaters started to recede on Tuesday afternoon, but the damaged road cannot be repaired yet. Construction material and equipment cannot be transported to the area,” said Chandra.

The flood-affected villages are located in the Rimbang Baling wildlife reserve, hampering the construction of a permanent transportation route. (vla/ebf)

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