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

Response of environmentalists to Malaysian and Indonesian Palm Oil PR initiative

8th June 12007

Press release

Prepared by Watch Indonesia! and www.biofuelwatch.org

The Malaysian and Indonesian governments, and Malaysian Palm Oil Council, are undertaking a PR tour promoting Palm Oil production. This week a series of talks and seminars with EU legislators are being given in London, Brussels and Holland. http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Monday/Nation/BT625654.txt/Article/ http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=42181&newsdate=28-May-2007 European policy makers must be aware that there are many unanswered concerns remain for European NGOs about the sustainability and human rights of Palm Oil production. These are critical ... read more

Posted on 09:27 AM in Agro Fuels, Joint Press Releases & Statements, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), indigenous people, Indonesia, palm oil, 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) Kahlschlag zertifizieren?

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

Posted on 04:33 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), poverty, indigenous people, Indonesia, carbon, land rights, palm oil, plantations, rain forest destruction, environment and climate, certification

(Deutsch) NGO-Bündnis lehnt Einsatz von Biodiesel auf Kosten der Regenwälder ab

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

Posted on 03:31 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Publications, Pulp & Paper, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), Government of Germany, European Union (EU), illegal logging, indigenous people, Indonesia, Kalimantan / Borneo, carbon, palm oil, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

NGOs urge European governments and industry not to accept Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme MTCC based on its disregard for indigenous peoples’ rights

01 December 2005

Basel / Oslo / Moreton-in-Marsh / Boulder:

 

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations (NGOs), urge the European Union, European governments and the European timber industry not to accept the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCC) as a guarantee for sustainable or legal timber forest management because the MTCC does not respect indigenous peoples’ rights. We are particularly concerned about the recent certification of a Forest Management Unit in Sarawak, which openly disrespects the Penan people’s rights. The undersigning NGOs support the ... read more

Posted on 11:56 PM in Joint Press Releases & Statements, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: indigenous people, petition, rain forest destruction