News (45)

/ EoF News

These maps, tables show you why Sinar Mas/APP companies linked to forest fires, haze

EoF News (PEKANBARU)— Eyes on the Forest published NASA’s FIRMS MODIS fire hotspots data and satellite images on its interactive map to allow easy monitoring of current and past fires in Sumatran concessions of the Sinar Mas Group/Asia Pulp & Paper and others.

/ EoF Press Release

EoF: Sinar Mas/APP’s denial misleading, they source of haze since ten years ago

Sinar Mas Group (SMG) and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) last week denied publicly that their companies are involved in ongoing forest and land fires. Eyes on the Forest coalition said that media stunt by the giant company is ridiculous and hard to trust.

/ EoF News

See animation of MODIS: how smoke from APP’s supplier blankets Sumatra since August 17

Eyes on the Forest today published a new animation it produced using MODIS True Color Terra images since 17 August 2015. The animation shows smokes coming out of Asia Pulp & Paper's own PT. Rimba Hutani Mas concession in South Sumatra.

/ EoF News

APP again blames others for fires, NGOs refute

Eyes on the Forest found two Landsat images showing fires in and around concessions of four Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) suppliers in peat areas in Jambi and South Sumatra provinces and heavy smokes from them.

/ EoF News

Ministry to take over concessions raged by fires, APP supplier named suspect

Indonesia Police Headquarters named PT BMH as a suspect of forest fires in South Sumatra and it is the second time the timber supplier of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) convicted to the crime following its legal status in February last year.

/ EoF News

Again President calls on stern measure against companies burning forest

President Joko Widodo called stern measures against companies involved in forest and land fires burning by rescinding their licenses, media report said today.

/ EoF News

NGOs unimpressed with published APRIL moratorium baseline

Eyes on the Forest says APRIL unable to provide evidence that PT Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, an APRIL timber supplier, did not clear natural forest after 15 May, the day when APRIL pledged to halt its forest clearing in its modified Sustainable Forest Management Policy. EoF had reported this moratorium violation on 22 June.

/ EoF News

Fires hotspots mostly detected in palm oil plantations in West Kalimantan

NGOs in West Kalimantan analyzed that 217 fires hotspots detected by NASA Firms Eosdis during 28 June – 6 July 2015. 124 out of 217 hotspots or 57 percent was found in palm oil concessions and by districts, Kubu Raya is the most area hit by fires with 81 and followed by Ketapang and Sambas with 44 and 36 respectively.

/ EoF News

APRIL supplier violates new forest policy, peatland forests in Borneo cleared after moratorium issued

A supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) in North Kalimantan cleared natural forest on peatland in violation of APRIL’s recently launched 2nd version of the Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP).

/ EoF News

Two timber supplier concessions severely hits by firespots in March

Analysis by Eyes on the Forest coalition finds that Bengkalis district hit the most fire hotspots during March 2015 and PT Riau Rokan Lestari (RRL), a non-affiliated timber supplier concession got the most along with APRIL-affiliated PT Sumatera Riang Lestari (SRL).

/ EoF News

Bengkalis district most fires hotspot detected

Fires hotspots still haunt Riau province as in recent week there were 114 fire hotspots that analyzed by Eyes on the Forest based on NASA Firms EOSDIS Data, and Bengkalis district still the area mostly suffered by fires with 62 hotspots.

/ EoF News

President to stop companies licenses operating on peatlands

The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, accompanied by the Minister of Forestry and Environment Siti Nurbaya, came to Riau province last week to monitor the burned forest areas that caused haze in Sungai Tohor village, Meranti Islands District, media reported.

/ EoF News

Minister indicates 23 companies allegedly Involved in Riau fires

Field investigator team set up by Ministry of Environment (MoE) found strong evidences of the involvement of 23 plantations and industrial timber plantation (HTI) companies of a total of 43 firms investigated in forest and land fires case which had caused severe haze in the beginning of this year, media reported.

/ EoF News

Green groups protest against slow haze mitigation

A number of environmental communities and organizations participated in ‘Melawan Asap’ (Fighting against Smoke) action and made speech along their protest in the front of Zapin Monument and Riau Governor Office, Pekanbaru, on Monday (10/3). On this seventeenth ‘anniversary’ of Riau fires and smog disaster, they demanded immediate and serious handling from the central government and the provincial government of Riau.

/ EoF News

Belated stories on people suffering wildfires, haze

As the man-made catastrophe of forest fire and haze returns to Riau, citizens of Pelalawan have to leave their homes and be on the alert to prevent fire coming to their remaining land, while some students fainted as schools closed in the district and the province’s capital city.

/ EoF News

Encroachment-hit Tesso Nilo raged by fires as haze returns to Riau

Fires hotspots likely got its peak this month on Tuesday (27 August) seeing the 5th largest number of hotspots (758) recorded since 1 June this year, as 26% of that found inside the Tesso Nilo complex.

/ EoF News

Hotspots detected, giant companies play the blind-and-deaf?

Last month’s Riau forest fire catastrophe apparently comes to re-occur in this month. Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) of Pekanbaru recorded a significant increase on the numbers of hotspots detected in Riau Province in the last five days which reached to 230 hotspots.

/ EoF News

Fires, smoke and haze - new in EoF’s online database

Sumatra’s Riau province is suffering Indonesia’s worst fire season in recent years with serious smoke choking the region and neighboring Singapore and southern Malaysia. Eyes on the Forest has been tracking forest and land cover change and those who drive it in Riau since the early 1990s.

/ EoF News

Many hotspots detected in concessions, EoF analyzes

At least 6772 fires hotspots were detected accumulatively in Riau Province in period of 1-23 June 2013, based on MODIS Fires satellite monitoring that analyzed by Eyes on the Forest this week.

/ EoF Press Release

APP smoke screens past deforestation in Sumatra

A new analysis by Eyes on the Forest (EoF) finds that the “forest conservation policy” published in February by one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers, the Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), appears to be yet another attempt to hide the vast deforestation and damages.

/ EoF Press Release

Fires in APP/Sinar Mas concessions add to region’s haze woes, threaten new UN biosphere reserve

Satellite data for the first six months of 2009 show that Riau Province had the largest number of fire “hotspots” in Indonesia: 4,782. And nearly one-quarter of the Riau fires happened within concessions affiliated with Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper company.

/ EoF News

Hazy Pekanbaru hosts Asean meeting, rallies dispersed

Pekanbaru (EoF News) – Thick smog blanketing Pekanbaru of Riau capital Friday amid five ASEAN environmental ministers’ meeting to solve deteriorating haze problem. Riau Police office dispersed rallies staged by conservationist NGOs outside a hotel where delegates of the meeting stay. Police dismissed forcefully the protesters mostly from Walhi Riau and Jikalahari NGOs before the ministers passed them.

/ EoF News

companies responsible

Deputy Minister of Environment for Natural Conservation and Environmental Degradation Management, Masnellyarti Hilman, said in Balikpapan of East Kalimantan Thursday that those companies allegedly responsible for forest fires as detected by overlay of hotspots and HPH or HTI concession maps followed by crosschecks with data from Forestry Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Friday (Aug. 25).

/ EoF News

WHO: Dirty air a regular killer in Asia

Air pollution in major Southeast Asian and Chinese cities ranks among the worst in the world and contributes to the deaths of about 500,000 people each year, said Michal Krzyzanowski, an air quality specialist at the WHO’s European Center for Environment and Health in Bonn, Germany. Drifting smoke from purposely set forest fires in Indonesia caused Malaysia to declare a state of emergency last week in two areas outside Kuala Lumpur. Parts of Thailand were also blanketed in the haze. Malaysian health officials said hospitals reported a 150 percent increase in breathing problems and seven people who had a history of respiratory problems reportedly died.

/ EoF Press Release

Stop converting peatlands

Several NGOs are calling on the Government to stop granting concessions for conversion and land clearing on peatlands, citing data that shows the major factor inciting this year's forest fires is forest conversion, mainly on peat soil sites.

/ EoF News

More hotspots detected in Riau, Rokan Hilir worst

Hotspots report that received by EoF said that after July 14, they escalate to 93 on Jul.15, 219 hotspots on Jul. 16, 66 on Jul.17 and the highest 228 hotspots on Jul.18.From Jul.1 to Jul.19 hotspots found inside HTI (Industrial Timber Plantation) concession is 204, while outside is 514. While hotspots found in oil palm plantation is 158 during the period. Hotspots detected on concession of companies associated to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is 42 and to Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL) is 33 hotspots.

Reports (3)