Oil palm plantations? Carbon credits? Papua’s forests targeted

Down to Earth, November 2007

West Papua / forests:

Large areas of Papua’s rich and diverse forests are being targeted by Indonesian and overseas investors for conversion into oil palm plantations. At the same time, discussions are in progress to reserve large areas of Papua’s forest to generate carbon credits for trade on international markets. Decisions about these developments will very probably be made over the heads of the people who will be most directly affected by them: the indigenous ... read more

Posted on 11:46 AM in Agro Fuels, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Mining, Papua, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), mining, indigenous people, Indonesia, carbon, land rights, human rights, military, palm oil, Papua, plantations, Police, rain forest destruction, security sector, special autonomy, impunity, environment and climate, economy and business

Conflict: Indigenous People, Palm Oil, Conservationist and Carbon Trading

Redamazon, 12 November, 2007

http://redamazon.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/conflict-indigenous-people-palm-oil-conservationist-and-carbon-trading/

Read the interview below, it is a good example of how the energy shift is going the wrong way. Everyone wants a piece of the Indonesian Rainforest: logging companies, palm oil companies, carbon offsetting companies and conservationist companies such as WWF. In the name of „reducing carbon emissions” some of these companies are taking over the rainforest without consulting the Indigenous People living there and without taking in account their knowledge of how to preserve the ... read more

Posted on 01:12 AM in Agro Fuels, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Pulp & Paper, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), biodiversity, Germany, indigenous people, Indonesia, Kalimantan / Borneo, carbon, palm oil, pulp and paper, rain forest destruction, Sumatra, environment and climate

(Deutsch) „Wovon sollen wir leben?“

Sorry, this entry is not available in English.
German version

Posted on 01:15 AM in Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), Indonesia, Kalimantan / Borneo, land rights, palm oil, plantations, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

Open Letter to the Members of European Parliament – Re: EU Biofuel Policy

4th June 2007

URGENT: re amendments and vote on the Draft Opinion on A Roadmap for Renewable Energy in Europe (Rapporteur: Britta Thomsen)

Dear Madam/Sir, As you know, the European Commission is currently working on a proposal for a revised Biofuels Directive, expected to be published in autumn. According to these plans, 10% of all transport fuels have to be biofuels by 2020. Many organisations now prefer to call biofuels ‘agrofuels’, since the word ‘bio’ fuels creates an image ... read more

Posted on 09:41 AM in Agro Fuels, Joint Open Letters, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), poverty, biodiversity, food security, European Union (EU), indigenous people, Indonesia, land rights, human rights, palm oil, rain forest destruction

What Future for Papua?

April 2007

Alex Flor, Marianne Klute, Petra Stockmann

The Helsinki agreement of 2005 marks the historic peace process for Indonesia’s westernmost province Aceh. After three decades of violence and repression, the long self determination conflict is in the process of being resolved. Both the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian government have made substantial concessions for this to happen. However, for the second most burning and long lasting self-determination conflict, concerning Indonesia’s easternmost region Papua, formerly ... read more

Posted on 01:52 PM in Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Mining, Papua, Publications, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media, Watch's Studies and Reports
Tags: mining, indigenous people, Indonesia, conflict resolution, land rights, Megawati Sukarnoputri, OPM, Papua, law, reformasi, rain forest destruction, regional conflicts, special autonomy

(Deutsch) Zweifel an der Autonomiegesetzgebung in West Papua

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German version

Posted on 02:27 PM in Conference Autonomy for Papua, June 2003, Human Development, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Papua, Publications, Regional Conflicts, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: democracy, Indonesia, corruption, land rights, human rights, Papua, law, Freedom of Expression, regional conflicts, special autonomy

(Deutsch) Fremdwort Nachhaltigkeit

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German version

Posted on 02:03 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: Indonesia, palm oil, plantations, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

Open letter to European Commission Biomass Action Plan and the European Biofuel Directive

Berlin, January 3, 2007

Dear Madam, dear Sir,

on January 10th, 2007, the European Commission is going to make an announcement about the review of the Biomass Action Plan and the European Biofuel Directive.

In December 2006, the European Parliament recognized that the lack of clear environmental standards and safeguards could have significant negative effects, such as an increase in tropical deforestation, agriculture intensification and biodiversity losses in Europe and abroad, while failing to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For producer countries like ... read more

Posted on 09:05 PM in Agro Fuels, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch's Open Letters
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), Indonesia, land rights, palm oil, plantations, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

Joint letter on UPM-Kymenne’s cooperation with APRIL

December 20th, 2006

To:
Jussi Pesonen
President & CEO
UPM-Kymmene Oyj                                               

Dear Jussi Pesonen,

We, the undersigned citizens’ organisations, are deeply concerned about UPM-Kymmene’s on-going supplying of pulp from Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL). APRIL’s operations in Riau Province, Indonesia, are causing irreplaceable destruction of nature and social problems.

UPM has been involved with APRIL nearly ten years. During this time main problems of APRIL’s operations — supplying fibre from natural forests, large-scale conversion of rainforests for pulp ... read more

Posted on 04:14 AM in Economy, Labor & Corruption, Joint Open Letters, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate
Tags: biodiversity, Indonesia, carbon, land rights, plantations, rain forest destruction, Sumatra, environment and climate, economy and business

(Deutsch) Europas Energieprobleme nicht auf Kosten anderer lösen!

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German version

Posted on 12:08 PM in Agro Fuels, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch's Press Releases & Statements
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), Indonesia, land rights, human rights, palm oil, plantations, rain forest destruction