President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets Greenpeace on their Ship the Rainbow Warrior. President Susilo Bambang has become increasingly outspoken on environmental issues over the course of his presidency. Under his watch, Indonesia signed a billion dollar pact with Norway to reduce deforestation, launched a moratorium on new forest concessions across millions of hectares of peatlands and primary forests, and established a ground-breaking effort to reform the forestry sector, including creating a special office that has far-reaching powers to investigate agencies involved in granting concessions and improve government transparency. At the same time, Indonesian courts have recognized the rights of indigenous people to manage their traditional forests and private-sector companies, including Asia Pulp & Paper and palm oil giant Golden Agri Resources, have announced forest conservation policies. Still the rate of environmental degradation in Indonesia remains high. Forests continue to be converted for oil palm plantations, strip mined for coal, and damaged by poorly managed logging operations. Marine resources are being depleted by unsustainable fishing practices. Therefore Greenpeace is using the Rainbow Warrior as a platform for highlighting areas where it believes more action is necessary. “Greenpeace is honored to welcome the President on board the Rainbow Warrior and hope that his presence on board this symbol of environmental protection will lead to ever greater protection for Indonesia’s incredible natural heritage and the people who rely on it to survive,” said Naidoo. “We are all working to ensure protection of Indonesia’s biodiversity, not just for the environment’s sake, but also to ensure social justice. It is the poorest rural people who are most dependent on natural habitats for their livelihoods and it is they who suffer first and most deeply when those habitats are degraded or destroyed.” Read more at news.mongabay/2013/0607-sby-greenpeace-ship.html#swxLLYJwVIMUozml.99
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:10:46 +0000
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