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Forests & forest fires

Sumatra rayon mill to move to China, pulp mill to reopen

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002


The Indorayon pulp mill - one of Indonesia's most notorious polluters - was shut down in 1998 following years of protests from the local communities suffering the impacts. The company was renamed PT Toba Pulp Lestari and recently won government approval for reopening its pulp mill in Porsea, North Sumatra.

Riau: a customary leader's fight to save the forest

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002


The following is translated from 'Patih 'Pak Garang' Laman', an article by Edi Petebang, Kalimantan Review no. 55/March 2000

Patih Laman is a traditional leader of a Talang Mamak community - an indigenous people who live in the forests of Riau and Jambi, Sumatra. Some, but not all of the Talang Mamak's customary forests lie within Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park. The Talang Mamak follow a traditional way of life, practising rotational use of the forests.

In Brief... DTE 53-54 - August 2002

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002

Kotopanjang dam victims to get compensation?

Over four thousand families forced to resettle on barren land due to a Japan-funded dam have become "developmental refugees" according to a Japanese newspaper report. The Kotopanjang dam in Riau, Sumatra was built on protected forest and the adat (customary) land of local communities in 1997 at a cost of 36.4 billion Yen, almost all of which was a Japanese government loan.

No mining in the forests!

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002

Indonesian civil society organisations are battling to stop more mining in the country's protected forests.

Indonesia's forestry minister Mohammad Prakosa is coming under increasing pressure from a powerful international mining lobby to end his opposition to mining in 'protected' forests in Indonesia. The lobby includes some of the biggest global mining corporations - Britain's Rio Tinto, Canada's Inco and the United States' Newmont.

Sulawesi communities reject Rio Tinto's CPM mine

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002

The forested Kambuno mountains are the adat (customary) lands of the indigenous Poboya peoples and provide the basis for their livelihoods.

The Indonesia-UK MoU on Illegal Logging

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002


In April this year the Indonesian and British governments signed an agreement to improve forest law enforcement and to combat illegal logging and the international trade in illegal wood products.

Fires bring "haze" to Sumatra and Kalimantan

Down to Earth No 53-54  August 2002


Choking smoke from fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has caused respiratory health problems and disrupted transport services in several cities in western Indonesia over the past weeks.