ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ PLEASE SIGN & SHARE, TY! Please help us put an end to the destruction and sign our petition to the Indonesian government. Petition: Protest - Borneo: Axing A National Park For Palm Oil! Despite a clear verdict by Indonesias Supreme Court (see News and Updates), a palm oil company is still clearing land in Borneos Tanjung Puting National Park and encroaching on the last remaining habitats of endangered orangutans and proboscis monkeys. Please take a stand and sign our petition to the Indonesian government. Oil palm plantations are devastating the rainforest and orangutan habitats BACKGROUND: Bumitama Agri Ltd, a palm oil company, is clearing large areas of rainforest in Tanjung Puting National Park and the adjacent buffer zone in order to convert the land into oil palm monocultures. Borneos Tanjung Puting National Park covers an area of 400,000 hectares and is home to unique tropical forest ecosystems. The coastline and the estuaries are lined by dense mangrove forests. Swamp and peat forests still dominate the landscape. The forests are the habitat of highly endangered proboscis monkeys. The tree-dwelling animals, which always live close to water, can only be found in Borneo. The protected area is also home to 6,000 orangutans, around 250 bird species and no less than 600 tree species. Bumitama Agris clear-cutting of these forests and the resulting destruction of the habitat of endangered species violates numerous laws. In 2011, the Indonesian President Yudhoyono imposed a moratorium on the deforestation of the countrys rain and peat forests and extended it for another two years in May 2013. Bumitama Agri Ltd. is pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy with plans to establish a further 13,000 hectares of oil palm plantations every year. Thanks to the tireless and courageous work of our partner organization Save Our Borneo, the company recently lost a two-year legal battle: In mid-July 2014, the Indonesian Supreme Court ruled that a Bumitama Agri subsidiary had begun illegally clearing primary forest in Central Kalimantan, several hundred kilometers north of Tanjung Puting, shortly after the Forestry Ministry had revoked its permit to operate in the region. Letter Gentlemen, As you know, the Ministry of Forestry prevailed against Bumitama Agri Ltd. in December 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled that the palm oil company had acted illegally in clearing 7,000 hectares of rainforest. The verdict marked the end of a two-year legal battle – the judge confirmed that Bumitama’s subsidiary PT. HPA did not have a permit to clear-cut forest in the East Kotawaringin district in Central Kalimantan and plant oil palms on 3,000 hectares of that land. After this ruling by Indonesia’s highest court, it would be fitting to revoke all of Bumitama Agri Ltd’s permits, as the company clearly regards itself to be above Indonesian law. A similar situation exists in Tanjung Puting National Park. The Bumitama Agri subsidiary PT. Andalan Sukses Makmur (PT. ASM) is clearing rainforest land within the park boundaries (the area of Teluk Pulai) and in the buffer zone (to the north, along Sekonyer River) to plant oil palm monocultures. Primary and peat rainforests – including the habitat of endangered wildlife such as proboscis monkeys and orangutans – are being irrevocably destroyed. Bumitama Agri’s activities not only violate numerous laws, but also the moratorium to protect Indonesian primary rainforests that was extended in May. The inhabitants of Sekonyer village are protesting the company’s land grabs and demand the return of their land. Due to a lack of control and inadequate management of the national park and its buffer zones, illegal loggers of tropical timber as well as countless groups of gold miners – who are contaminating the ecosystem with heavy metals – are operating in the park with impunity. Please intervene at once to stop the deforestation of Tanjung Puting National Park and the buffer zone and enforce the protection and management of the area. Yours sincerely, ~Bear Hugz~
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 06:33:44 +0000
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