Indonesia

Asyani claimed she took the wood from her own land years ago, but because she lacked the requisite documentation, she faced potential jail time and a fine close to US$40,000, despite making only about a dollar a day. Asyani makes a living as a masseuse for babies in her village. Since she doesn’t make enough, her neighbors help her out by giving her food…

“Indonesian policymakers should see protecting and sustainably managing mangroves as a potential solution for climate change mitigation,” says Daniel Murdiyarso, the study’s lead author and a principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). “But to make progress, it is crucial that mangroves are protected and managed sustainably.” Large areas of Indonesia’s mangroves have been cleared in recent decades, but there’s perhaps…

This, according to Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who wrote the foreword of the report, The Future of the Bornean Orangutan: Impacts of Change in Land Cover and Climate, released today. And the report’s lead author Dr. Serge Wich declared: “The current policies for land conversion on Borneo are simply unsustainable” not just for orangutans but for the…

The mangroves, which store prodigious quantities of carbon, are currently disappearing fast − often destroyed to make room for aquaculture to satisfy the wants of lucrative foreign markets. But a team from the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and colleagues report in the journal Nature Climate Change that protecting the mangroves could take Indonesia a quarter of the way to achieving the whole…

Launched in Jakarta by H.E. Dr. Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia - the study provides a valuation of the multiple benefits provided by forests in Indonesia. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said, "In addition to their ecological, cultural and spiritual value, forests play a critical role in sustaining national economies…

While the amount is small, the move is not an insignificant one. The ICCTF, one of the few national trust funds of its kind, pools and manages funds from different sources to finance Indonesian climate change programs and policies. While the ICCTF could serve as a model for other developing countries looking to secure international support for their climate change programs, its actual progress…

“Indonesia has a key role in future discussions, as a country that is geographically unique with a number of islands, climate regimes, and ocean conditions,” Stocker said on Tuesday. The comments come as anticipation grows ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Paris this November. Nations that signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change…

“El Niño may get stronger as the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere climbs,” Cobb said. Scientific data shows that the level of CO² concentration in our atmosphere has been soaring for the past 10 years to an unprecedented 400 parts per million. As in previous years, this year we are on the verge of experiencing El Niño. The US National Oceanic and…

But Indonesia, like many fast-developing countries, is subject to widespread deforestation, releasing carbon pollution back into the atmosphere. Deforestation and land use change drives about 80% of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions, which according to some estimates makes it the world’s fifth biggest emitter. This year, Indonesia’s leaders have the opportunity to limit these emissions by protecting some of its vast forests under its national…

CDKN’s chief executive Sam Bickersteth, however, thinks deforestation efforts in Indonesia have garnered a lot of attention already. His organization therefore is mostly focusing on other areas that have largely been untapped — including renewable energy and climate finance. Bickersteth sat with the Jakarta Globe last week during a brief visit to Jakarta to talk about these issues, including the upcoming United Nations’ climate…

The Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS) will serve as the basis for the country’s measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for the land sector. MRV is required under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya formally endorsed INCAS, at a recent public seminar in Jakarta. “We all realize that deforestation, degradation, and forest…

Indonesia is experiencing deforestation rates of about 680,000 hectares per year and high rates of biodiversity loss, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation representative said. "It is impossible to win the battle against climate change without doubling our efforts to reduce deforestation in Indonesia," Mark Smulders said on the International Day of Forests. He said with Indonesia's forests cover half of the…

For Indonesia, above all else it reaffirmed that countries with immense rainforests have a pivotal role to play in the fight against global warming. The conference announced a declaration on forests that vowed to halt global forest losses by 2030 and halve it by the end of the decade. Major companies, such as Cargill and Asia Pulp & Paper also signed the declaration. The proponents…