A week of Papua: domestic life
Domestic life in a Dani village: children, pig, and village. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. This week we’ll be posting photos from Rhett Butler’s (mongabay.com founder) recent trip to western New Guinea, one of the world’s most biodiverse and culturally diverse place in the world. To see more photos of...
Low carbon growth strategy documents for Indonesia
Earlier this year the Indonesian government released draft documents for low carbon growth strategies. While these documents are posted on the web, the file size is such that few people in Indonesia are able to download them. Therefore mongabay has posted reduced file size versions below. * Central Kalimantan Report – low carbon growth strategy (draft) [3.6 MB] * East Kalimantan – low carbon growth strategy (draft) [7 MB]...
A week of Papua: black-capped lory
A black-capped lory (Lorius lory) in Indonesian New Guinea. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. This week we’ll be posting photos from Rhett Butler’s (mongabay.com founder) recent trip to western New Guinea, one of the world’s most biodiverse and culturally diverse place in the world. To see more photos of...
Odd claim in Fast Company commentary on Brazil’s Amazon logging plan
A Fast Company commentary on Brazil’s plan to begin granting logging concessions in the Amazon concludes with some puzzling remarks. Author Ariel Schwartz writes: Legitimate corporations like Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) are often accused of unsustainable logging practices in the Amazon. But it’s better than the alternative. First, Asia Pulp & Paper does not operate in the Amazon—its...
Photo: Dani hunter in Indonesian New Guinea
Dani hunter in Indonesian New Guinea. Photo by Rhett Butler in July 2010.
Degradation is in the Eye of the Beholder
In the discussion about where oil palm and other plantations should go we talk so easily about degraded lands. But the concept is not straightforward. When the US and Europe cleared their forests a few centuries ago, they did so to “improve” the land. Forests were seen as a source of lumber, best to be cleared and replaced by annual crops with which a lot more money could be made. We have learned since then, and now...
Chinese Whispers in Indonesian Conservation
Why do we measure deforestation rates in number of football fields lost? This is causing major confusion.
Photo: Peat forest in Borneo being drained for oil palm plantations
Airplane view of peatland being drained and cleared in Borneo.
Indonesia calls for reforestation in wake of deadly floods
Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has urged large-scale reforestation initiatives to reduce the risk of flooding and landslides that have killed scores of people in East Java’s Madium district, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Earlier this year the Indonesian government annouced plans to plant 2 billion trees in 2007, though it is unclear whether that goal was...
