Fred's
Diary
-
2003
Dec
11
[Talk: Building Social Justice - How To Save Indonesia's Forests]
[7pm,
Tap
Gallery,
Level
1,
278
Palmer
Street,
Darlinghurst]
[Talk
arranged
by
Mineral
Policy
Institute]
[These
are
my
paraphrased
notes
from
the
talk,
not
direct
quotes
--
Fred]1st
Speaker:
Longgena
Ginting,
veteran
forests
campaigner
and
Director
of
Indonesia.s
Forum
for
the
Environment
(WALHI
-
Friends
of
the
Earth
Indonesia)
- Indonesian
development
is
market-driven.
Indonesia
is
now
a
major
exporter
of
rubber
and
paper
;
it
now
imports
rice.
- The
Indonesian
rainforest
is
a
basis
for
daily
life
;
beyond
being
a
source
of
food
the
forest
is
part
of
the
cultural
and
religious
life
of
indigenous
people.
- Indonesia
has
(had?)
the
3rd
largest
area
of
rainforest
of
any
country
in
the
world,
behind
Brazil
and
?somewhere
else?.
- More
than
80%
of
the
rainforest
is
being
logged
;
3
billion
hectares
per
year.
- 70%
of
logging
activity
in
Indonesia
is
illegal
;
the
Indonesian
government
doesn't
recognize
tenure
of
indigenous
people
;
illegal
logging
is
not
prosecuted
--
corruption
is
widespread
and
law
enforcement
is
poor.
- The
forest
is
also
threatened
by
mining
;
a
1999
prohibition
against
?open-cut?
mining
is
being
eroded
by
pressure
from
mining
interests,
including
the
Australian
government
acting
on
behalf
of
Australian
companies
like
BHP
2nd
Speaker:
Patrick
Anderson,
campaign
adviser
to
WALHI
- Ancient
history:
Indonesia
has
been
home
to
humans
since
our
species
arose
;
there
is
an
enormous
diversity
of
life
(incl
large
mammals
like
tigers
and
elephants)
co-existing
with
humans
there
unlike
[arrggh!
the
shaky
Tim
Flannery
Australian-megafauna-killed-by-humans
line!]
- European
colonisation:
the
Dutch
had
settlements
largely
confined
to
the
coast
;
European
diseases
were
not
as
deadly
as
in
other
cases
because
Indonesia
had
contact
with
other
parts
of
Asia
the
European
economies
- Indonesia
declared
independence
in
1945
and
fought
for
it
for
4
years
when
the
Dutch
attempted
to
re-establish
their
control
;
effectively
had
dictatorships
from
1960s
until
1998
when
Suharto
was
ousted
;
since
then
a
huge
number
of
NGOs
have
arisen
reflecting
the
concerns
of
the
people
;
corruption
still
exists
in
government,
business
&
the
military
--
it's
really
part
of
everyday
life
and
this
'greyness'
contributes
to
the
problems
with
making
&
enforcing
environmental
laws
- the
rainforests
will
be
gone
if
they
have
to
wait
a
generation
for
slow
social
change
-
other
measures
like
encouraging
foreign
countries
to
reduce
paper
imports
from
Indonesia
may
be
one
useful
tactic
meanwhile
;
China
is
the
biggest
importer
of
Indonesian
wood
(
having
placed
moratorium
on
its
own
logging
after
suffering
floods
&
other
environmental
damage
&
re-employing
loggers
to
plant
trees
)
;
some
of
Indonesia's
neighbours
have
their
own
moratoria
(
Phillipines,
Thailand,
?PNG?
)
;
an
Indonesian
logging
moratorium
is
supported
(
with
varying
degrees
of
success)
by
two
Indonesian
provinces
and
assorted
local
governments
- In
Australia,
after
being
successfully
approached
by
Greenpeace,
Bunnings
Hardware
will
not
import
wood
from
Indonesia
until
?uncontrolled
logging
there
stops?
- Currently
13
mining
companies
have
concessions
against
the
prohibition
of
mining
in
protected
forest
areas
Questions
following
talk
- Re
illegal
logging:
there
are
occasional
arrests
of
field
workers
(in
come
cases
just
locals
who
have
been
employed
by
logging
companies)
;
not
much
is
done
because
of
the
failure
to
recognise
tenure
of
local
people
;
about
1
million
people
work
directly
in
logging
and
another
million
indirectly
in
related
industries
- Re
moratorium:
While
some
provinces
support
a
moratorium
the
central
government
undermines
this
;
West
Java
&
Acheh
are
promoting
smaller-scale
forest
management
;
the
army
is
only
partly
funded
directly
by
the
government
--
other
army
income
comes
from
businesses
given
to
the
army
by
the
government
including
both
legal
and
illegal
logging
;
in
one
area
the
support
of
the
navy
was
enlisted
to
hold
ships
containing
illegally
logged
timber,
but
the
police
effectively
refused
to
prosecute
the
case
and
the
ships
were
released
after
8
months
;
prosecution
is
also
difficulty
because
judges
can
be
bought
;
the
forrestry
ministry
is
opposed
to
illegal
logging
but
has
no
teeth
- Re
financial
impact
/
Indonesian
debt
management
/
world
bank:
illegal
logging
loses
Indnesia
money
;
about
60%
of
Indonesia's
state
budget
is
devoted
to
servicing
foreign
debt
;
Australian
government
says
Indonesia
is
a
rich
country
and
does
not
have
a
problem
servicing
its
debt
- Re
replanting:
not
attractive
to
companies
when
there's
more
fresh
forest
to
be
logged
;
government
uses
reforestation
to
effectively
claim
land
;
granting
tenure
to
local
people
would
lead
them
to
plant
trees
- Re
any
good
companies
to
target
as
an
ethical
investor/shareholder:
most
Indonesian
logging
companies
are
Indonesian
- Re
Forest
Stewardship
Council:
compliace
hard
in
Indonesia
due
to
legal
framework
;
FSC
standards
are
manipulated
in
Indonesia
;
illegal
companies
not
interested
in
certification
- Re
hardwood
processing
/
wood
chips:
Indonesia
has
its
own
paper
mills
;
most
of
the
big
trees
have
already
been
logged
so
the
plywood
industry
is
diminishing
- Re
examples
of
sustainability:
some
- Re
politicians
interests:
a
new
law
requires
politicians
to
declare
interests,
but
politicians
are
trying
to
nobble
it
;
transparency
is
required
;
there
are
money-laundering
laws
but
they
have
no
sanctions,
i.e.
it's
illegal
but
there's
no
defined
punishment
for
money-laundering!
- Re
lobbying
by
Australian
government:
not
sure
where
the
info
first
came
from,
but
(some)
details
emerged
after
?the
Greens?
asked
questions
in
the
Australian
parliament
On
a
more
positive
note,
after
Suharto's
fall
the
NGOs
arose
and
are
attacking
corruption
;
laws
passed
in
Suharto
&
prior
eras
are
widely
regarded
as
needing
reform
;
(ammendments
made
to
the
constitution
enshrining
rights)
and
(a
parliamentary
decree
about
use
of
natural
resources)
form
a
legal
basis
for
change.
[Comments
about
success
in
asking
questions
during
BHP
shareholders
AGM]
