New data published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that the overall 2023 air pollution levels in Jakarta were arguably the worst since 2019. Despite improvements between 2020 and 2022, the rise of pollution in 2023 is a notable setback. Over 29 million people …
The Indonesian government is pushing forward its target of 19 percent new and renewable energy use by 2019 to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil-based energy sources, a minister has said. “Currently, the use of new and renewable energy stands within a range of between 5 percent and 6 percent. …
Southeast Asian governments must help farmers find better ways to grow food in the face of worsening droughts, storms and sea level rise that are threatening the region's agricultural output and pushing people into poverty, Oxfam said on Tuesday. As the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations …
Oxfam’s Grow campaign policy coordinator, Riza Bernabe, has said ASEAN can help small-scale farmers and fisherfolk in Southeast Asian countries to become resilient to climate change by reproducing sustainable agriculture practices on a wider scale across the region. “ASEAN governments must also pour in more money in helping small-scale farmers …
Indonesia’s president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo extended the country’s partial forest-clearing moratorium on Wednesday, the day of its expiration, leaving largely intact a policy civil society groups had demanded be strengthened. Environment and forestry minister Siti Nurbaya said the government greatly appreciated the calls from organisations such as Greenpeace, Walhi, Kemitraan, …
A palm oil industry body has ordered a unit of one of the world's major producers to stop buying or developing new plantations in Indonesia, in a dispute seen as a test case on expansion by agribusiness firms versus local land rights. The subsidiary of Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources Ltd was …
The Environment and Forestry Ministry’s deputy for environmental damage control and climate change, Arief Yuwono, said the government may issue another presidential instruction (Inpres) to extend a moratorium on new forest permits. Despite calls to issue a regulation that carries more weight as a stronger deterrent to agroforestry companies, he …
The Sumatran tiger conservation group, Forum Harimau Kita (Our Tiger Forum), has proven that storytelling could effectively raise public awareness of the needs of the endangered species. The practice is usually used to educate children in various areas in West Sumatra about the urgency of Sumatran tiger conservation, as the …
Following a major seizure of illegal wildlife goods in North Sumatra, the Indonesian authorities released 94 pangolins into the wild last week, including a newborn whose mother died shortly after the authorities caught up with the traffickers. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya flew to the provincial capital of Medan …
Whether its food you’re putting in your mouth, or products you’re putting on your body, the probability is that half of them contain palm oil. That’s no accident, nor the result of some natural evolution in our eating habits and predilection for cosmetics. It’s because palm oil makes big profits …
The winner of a major conservation prize has called on the Indonesian government to halt a road-building plan that threatens the last place on Earth where elephants, rhinoceros, tigers and orangutans live together. The plan for the Ladia Galaska road network has been approved by the Aceh government, but requires …
Hundreds of millions of acres of forest could be lost in the next two decades in less than a dozen global hotspots for deforestation, conservationists have warned. Research by wildlife charity WWF has identified 11 “deforestation fronts” where 80% of projected global forest losses by 2030 could occur. Up to …
Unilever Indonesia records strong growth in first quarter The government expects to attract more environmentally friendly investment in the energy sector with the 35,000-megawatt (MW) expansion program currently being promoted to investors. The expectation will be put forward at an international conference titled the “Tropical Landscape Summit: A Global Investment …
Floods inundated thousands of homes in Surakarta, Central Java, and hundreds of others in neighboring Yogyakarta province on Thursday after rain drenched the regions overnight from Wednesday afternoon. In Surakarta, flooding, which was in part caused by the overflowing Pepe River in the city’s north, inundated a number of regions …
A moratorium on land conversion begun during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration in 2011 has not yet been effective to save peat forests in Riau, as slash and burn practices to clear areas for plantations in the province have continued to occur. In Sumber Jaya village, Siak Kecil district, …
A dead Sumatran elephant, believed to be killed by poachers, was discovered on Monday in an Indonesian forest in Aceh province. Its head was mutilated and tusks were also missing. In a report by Yahoo! News, head of local Conservation and Natural Resources Agency Genman Sefti Hasibuan said that the …
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is among the six countries of Asia selected by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to scale up investments in urban climate change resilience, especially for the urban poor, it was learnt here on Wednesday. ADB under the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) will enhance investments across …
A study carried out by researchers from Mulawarman University in Balikapapan, East Kalimantan, has found unsafe concentrations of heavy metals like lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in fish caught in the Mahakam River delta. Mulawarman University Community Health School vice dean Blego Sedionoto said lead concentrations …
The North Sulawesi provincial administration has launched an investigation into illegal logging and forest conversion implicating officials and private individuals, including a German national. North Sulawesi Forestry Office head Herry Rotinsulu said his office was looking into cases of forest destruction. “We are currently looking at activities taking place in …
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency recorded two earthquakes in Papua on Wednesday morning, with no reports yet of casualties or material losses caused by twin quakes. The first quake hit at 12:04 a.m. measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, followed by a stronger quake at 7:42 a.m. local time, measuring …
The West Papuan provincial administration is preparing a regional bylaw to designate West Papua a conservation province, an official said Monday. “The bylaw is being worked out before being submitted to the West Papua Legislative Council for deliberation,” West Papua administration secretary Nataniel Mandacan said as quoted by Antara news …
