Memasuki bulan kemerdekaan Indonesia, nyatanya Indonesia belum merdeka dari ancaman kebakaran hutan dan lahan. Sejak awal Juli 2024, titik panas terdeteksi di Sumatera dan Kalimantan. Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) Pekanbaru pada Jumat (26/7/2024) mendeteksi 328 titik panas (hotspot) di wilayah Sumatera, 45 di antaranya berada di Riau. Sejak Januari 2024, BPBD Riau mencatat 1.235 hot spot karhutla di Riau, 210 di antaranya merupakan fire spot. Hingga saat ini, kebakaran telah melahap sekitar 1.073,91 hektar lahan gambut dan hutan di berbagai daerah di Riau, termasuk Kabupaten Siak, Rohil, Pelalawan, Meranti, dan Indragiri Hulu.
Pekanbaru, (11/5/2024) - Seorang warga Kabupaten Pelalawan, Provinsi Riau, Rahmad (26) dilaporkan meninggal dunia setelah diterkam Harimau Sumatera di Desa Tanjung Simpang, Kecamatan Pelangiran, Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir.
Pekanbaru, March 1, 2024 - Jikalahari published a release highlighting the indications of deforestation and clearing of natural forests carried out by Asia Pulp & Paper / Sinar Mas group through its subsidiaries, namely PT Arara Abadi and PT Riau Indo Agropalma, in Indragiri Hilir, Riau.
Riau kembali diancam Karhutla. Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Riau mencatat karhutla di Riau per Senin, 7 Agustus 2023, telah mencapai 1.146,53 hektar. Kebakaran hutan dan lahan (Karhutla) terluas terjadi di Kabupaten Bengkalis yang mencapai hampir 378 hektar.
Sejak medio April 2023, kabut asap akibat Karhutla telah menyelimuti kota Dumai dan Bengkalis. Hingga sepekan ini, karhutla sedikitnya telah menghanguskan lahan gambut berkedalaman 4 meter seluas lebih kurang 60 hektar, demikian data dari BPBD Provinsi Riau. Lokasi kebakaran terjadi di Desa Pelintung, Dumai, dan Desa Tanjung Leban, Kabupaten Bengkalis.
Pekanbaru (24/02) – Kamis, 23 Februari 2023, Majelis Hakim Tindak Pidana Korupsi menjatuhkan vonis 15 tahun penjara terhadap bos PT Duta Palma Group, Surya Darmadi terkait tindak pidana korupsi dan pencucian uang yang dilakukan melalui sejumlah perusahaan miliknya di Kabupaten Indragiri Hulu. Hakim juga menghukum terdakwa membayar denda Rp1 miliar, uang pengganti kerugian Rp2,2 triliun dan harus membayar kerugian ekonomi Rp39,7 triliun subsider lima tahun penjara.
Siaran Pers – 5 Desember 2022 , PEKANBARU -- Koalisi Eyes on the Forest (EoF) mengapresiasi kebijakan Pemerintah Indonesia telah menerapkan kewajiban bagi pelaku usaha perkebunan kelapa sawit dan industri pengolahannya untuk memiliki sertifikat Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) dan mengharapkan adanya penguatan dan perbaikan pada sistem yang bertujuan luhur ini.
PEKANBARU – Pencabutan izin sektor kehutanan oleh Pemerintah di tahun ini memerlukan ketelitian dan sikap tegas agar tujuan mengefektifkan lahan-lahan terbengkalai menjadi tepat sasaran. Hasil temuan lapangan oleh Eyes on the Forest terhadap situasi terkini di lahan-lahan dicabut, menunjukkan perlunya tindakan cermat dari Pemerintah agar masyarakat bisa disejahterahkan, dan potensi konservasi bisa dipulihkan.
PEKANBARU, 1 September 2022 – Koalisi Eyes on the Forest mendukung penyelesaian kebun sawit ilegal dalam kawasan hutan melalui UU Cipta Kerja dengan mengusung asas berkeadilan dan transparan, sehingga tidak ada pihak mengklaim adanya pengampunan bagi korporasi sawit seperti dilansir dalam berbagai laporan media pekan lalu.
Koalisi Eyes on the Forest menerbitkan Laporan Investigatif menyoroti indikasi deforestasi dan penebangan hutan alam di lahan gambut dan penebangan vegetasi alam di area Nilai Konservasi Tinggi (NKT) oleh Asia Pulp & Paper / Sinar Mas group, di cagar biosfir UNESCO Giam Siak Kecil – Bukit Batu, Riau. Kedua pemasok, PT Arara Abadi (resort Sebanga dan Melibur) serta PT Sekato Pratama Makmur (SPM).
PEKANBARU, Sumatra - 9 February 2022 – Eyes on the Forest coalition warmly hailed Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar for her policy rejecting idea to register oil palm commodity as forest plant. ''The [Indonesian] Government’s Rule is strict, that oil palm is not included in forest plant and there is no plan to do so [revise regulation],” said the Minister in her twitter update, Monday (07/02/2022).
PEKANBARU, 08 Februari 2022 – Koalisi Eyes on the Forest menyampaikan apresiasi kepada Menteri Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (LHK) Siti Nurbaya Bakar atas penolakan ide sawit menjadi tanaman hutan. ''Aturan Pemerintah tegas, bahwa sawit bukan tanaman hutan dan tidak ada rencana untuk itu [revisi peraturan],” demikian dinyatakan MenLHK dalam cuitannya, Senin (07/02/2022).
Banjir Sintang dan sekitarnya di Kalimantan Barat di penghujung tahun 2021 memerlukan solusi dan kerja keras semua pihak dan adanya rencana Pemerintah untuk menata kerusakan lingkungan di sekitar daerah tangkapan air banjir Sintang dan sekitarnya patut didukung dan menjadi catatan akhir tahun yang penting.
Persoalan perambahan sawit dalam kawasan hutan dan konservasi seperti yang terjadi di Taman Nasional Tesso Nilo (TNTN), sudah menjadi persoalan menahun. Masalah pada kawasan yang menjadi rumah bagi flora dan fauna endemik Indonesia di Pulau Sumatera ini di antaranya pembalakan liar, penguasaan sepihak yang berakibat munculnya konflik, karhutla, alih fungsi lahan, dan masalah lingkungan lainnya, jauh sebelum diresmikan sebagai Taman Nasional pada 19 Juli 2004.
PEKANBARU, 30 NOVEMBER 2021 – Sudah bukan rahasia lagi banyak nama pemain industri sawit, mulai dari pabrik kelapa sawit, perusahaan perkebunan hingga pemasok crude palm oil (minyak sawit mentah) terlibat dalam skandal rantai pasokan produk sawit tercemar, dari lokasi penanaman hingga konsumen minyak sawit di dunia.
Pekanbaru, 25 November 2021–Koalisi Eyes on The Forest (EoF) mengecam penyelenggaraan Seminar Nasional “Permasalahan, Prospek dan Implikasi Sawit Sebagai Tanaman Hutan” yang bertentangan dengan tekad Pemerintah Indonesia untuk berkontribusi mengurangi ancaman krisis iklim (climate crisis) dan menahan laju deforestasi.
PEKANBARU, INDONESIA, 3 JUNE 2021 -- A new report published by the Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition today reveals that only 14% (0.8 million ha) of oil palm plantations in Indonesia’s top palm oil producing province, Riau, can be considered legal. EoF advises buyers that the remaining 86% of Riau’s oil palm plantations must be considered illegal until detailed field verification has proven otherwise.
Pekanbaru, 1 May 2021--Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition condemns environmental permit granted to Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) group to expand pulp production capacity of Riau Complex PT RAPP and urged the Government for banning natural forest clearing by the company in their attempt to obtain mixed tropical hardwood (MTH) for their operation.
Gubernur Riau Syamsuar bertekad akan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap perkebunan kelapa sawit ilegal yang ada di Provinsi Riau, khususnya yang berada dalam kawasan hutan. Hal tersebut ia ungkapkan dalam rapat tertutup di kantor Gubernur Riau pada Rabu (12/8).
Memasuki bulan bersejarah bagi negara Indonesia dan provinsi Riau, puluhan titik panas muncul lagi, di tengah kurangnya intensitas hujan. Dilansir dari Riau Mandiri, Senin (10/8), BMKG mencatat ada 88 titik panas yang tersebar di seluruh kabupaten dan kota di Riau. Sedangkan sehari sebelumnya, yakni pada Minggu (9/8/2020), terdeteksi 38 titik panas.
Silih berganti perusahaan pembakar hutan dan lahan disidang di pengadilan. Pekan ini, terdakwa PT Adei Plantation, Direktur Goh Keng EE, kembali menjalani sidang lanjutan yang digelar di Pengadilan Negeri Pelalawan Selasa (21/7), terkait dakwaan pembakaran pada September 2019.
Thousands of schools were shut in Sumatra this week due to worsening haze from forest and land burnings as fire hotspots were detected in concession and non-concession areas, media reports said.
Severe fires 2015 does not change anybody’s behaviour. Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition’s investigation found three of seven industrial timber plantation companies – that has been named in previous cases as suspects to forest and land fires case in 2013-2014— are once again apparently breaching protection and restoration regulations. Is this caused by poor supervision and coordination by the Government?
Kebakaran hutan dan lahan di Taman Nasional Tesso Nilo, Kabupaten Pelalawan, belum sepenuhnya berhasil dipadamkan. Tim gabungan Tesso Nilo yang terdiri dari Tim Elephant Flying Squad, Balai TNTN, Polri, dan Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA binaan Balai Taman Nasional Tesso Nilo) terus melakukan upaya pemadaman di lapangan.
EoF analysed that fire hotspots that NASA Fire VIIRS satellite detected more in Riau province either in peatland or mineral soil as 179 hotspots found in industrial timber plantations (HTI) concessions alone.
Eyes on the Forest updated that more pulpwood plantation and palm oil companies were caught having fire hotspots on 28-30 July in Riau Province. Meanwhile, fewer fire hotspots detected by NASA satellite in Tesso Nilo National Park compared to 26 and 27 July analysis.
Eyes on the Forest melakukan analisa titik api terhadap konsesi Hutan Tanaman Industri (HTI) di Riau. berdasarkan data satelit NASA FIRM VIIRS. Setidaknya terdapat 15 perusahaan yang terdeteksi memiliki titik api pada periode 28-30 Juli 2019, yang mana 2 perusahaan merupakan eks APP, 10 perusahaan anak perusahaan dari APRIL / Royal Golden Eagle dan 3 perusahaan termasuk ke dalam APP / Sinar Mas Grup. Total titik api yang terdeteksi mulai dari tanggal 28-30 Juli 2019 yakni 74 titik.
At least six industrial timber plantation concessions in Riau province were detected to have fire hotspots on 26 and 27 July as Eyes on the Forest team analysed based on satellite data by NASA FIRM VIIRS with confidence of nominal (medium).
Kabut asap akibat kebakaran hutan dan lahan kembali menyelimuti Kota Pekanbaru, Riau, pagi ini. Sebanyak 263 titik panas terdeteksi di Riau sejak 17 Juli hingga 24 Juli 2019, berdasarkan pantauan satelit NASA FIRMS VIIRS yang dianalisa oleh tim Eyes on the Forest.
Jakarta, 15 May 2019 -- A group of NGOs under the Anti Forest Mafia Coalition, including WWF-Indonesia, published a joint report highlighting that Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (SMG/APP) continues to be involved in deforestation, peatland destruction and fires even after they had committed to zero deforestation in 2013.
Hasil pengecekan lapangan oleh Eyes on the Forest menemukan adanya kebakaran hutan dan lahan di konsesi Hutan Tanaman Industri (HTI) di kabupaten Rokan Hilir dan kawasan prioritas restorasi gambut serta areal peta indikatif penundaan pemberian izin baru (PIPPIB) pekan lalu.
Eyes on the Forest coalition conducted last week series of ground checking on burned areas and found a concession of industrial timber supplier in Rokan Hilir district and peat restoration priority areas in Bengkalis razed by fires. The restoration areas were also situated on land of indicative map on new permit issuance suspension (dubbed as PIPPIB).
Fire hotspot number in Indonesia drastically increase this month as long drought and hot temperature could drive the trend. Approximately 529 hotspots were detected in West Kalimantan province during the 7-23 July 2018 period, as analyzed by Eyes on the Forest - West Kalimantan network based on monitoring from the Terra-Aqua Modis satellite with confidence 30% up.
Palm fruit illegally grown inside critical wildlife areas continues to taint palm oil entering the supply chains of 24 global traders and brands who have made zero deforestation commitments, an Eyes on the Forest (EoF) report published today found. The protected areas lost to illegal palm oil plantations include some of the last habitats for critically endangered Sumatran elephants, tigers and orangutans in Indonesia.
Buah sawit dari kebun yang secara tidak prosedural atau ilegal dikembangkan di dalam Kawasan Hutan dan termasuk kawasan konservasi yang merupakan habitat satwa liar langka terus mencemari minyak sawit yang memasuki rantai pasok dari 24 pedagang dan merek global, padahal mereka telah membuat komitmen nol deforestasi.
Jakarta, 30 May 2018—A new report published today by the Koalisi Anti Mafia Hutan is calling on the Government of Indonesia to take firm actions against global pulp and paper producer Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) after unmasking their corporate links with wood fiber plantation companies (HTI). The report entitled Removing the Corporate Mask reveals an apparent close relationship between the Sinar Mas Group, the parent conglomerate of APP, and 24 declared wood suppliers that APP has called "independent partners". The report also traces out the ownership structure of the forestry business group within the Sinar Mas Group, which extends to a network of companies in numerous offshore jurisdictions.
Langkah tegas Pemerintah Indonesia untuk melindungi dan memulihkan lahan gambut patut didukung, termasuk di antaranya kebijakan pelarangan pembukaan atau eksploitasi lahan gambut oleh perusahaan hutan tanaman industri (HTI). Setidaknya 16% atau setara dengan 2,1 juta hektar dari 12,9 juta hektar total luasan, telah ditetapkan pemerintah sebagai daerah prioritas restorasi gambut.
Death of a palm oil worker last week in concession belonging to Malaysian-based company, PT Tabung Haji Indo Plantations (PT THIP, under TH Plantations Berhad) in Pelangiran subdistrict, Riau, have voiced deep concerns on massive deforestation and threats of human-wildlife conflict.
State Administrative Court Jakarta rejected Thursday lawsuit lodged by PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), a major supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), who demanded the court to annul suspension of their ten-year general workplan which banned their operation.
Eyes on the Forest coalition analyzed distribution of fire hotspots during week 1-7 August 2017 as its number on peatland in Sumatra reached 351 (NASA FIRM The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite /VIIRS) sensor.
Video amatir diunggah di satu akun Facebook menampilkan seekor harimau berada di kawasan HTI milik PT Arara Abadi. Harimau besar itu berjalan mendekati pekerja perusahaan yang sedang panen akasia.
Indonesian Presiden Joko Widodo asked law enforcers to take stern measure in handling forest and land fire cases by revoking permits of companies involving in setting fires, instead of issuing caution.
Koalisi Eyes on the Forest menerbitkan laporan analisis dan investigatif terhadap 26 lokasi kebun sawit di Provinsi Riau yang merupakan bagian kecil dari 1,6 juta hektar kawasan hutan yang diubah menjadi kawasan bukan hutan berdasarkan Keputusan Menteri Kehutanan
Jikalahari melaporkan 49 konsesi korporasi usaha Hutan Tanaman Industri dan Perkebunan korporasi (HTI) kelapa sawit hasil temuan lapangan Eyes on the Forest (EoF) kepada Kepala Kantor Staf Presiden (KSP) pada 1 Desember 2016 di Gedung Bromo, Kantor KSP, Jakarta.
Jikalahari melaporkan kebakaran hutan dan lahan di dalam areal dan konsesi 49 korporasi industri HTI dan Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit di Riau sepanjang 2014-2016 kepada Nazier Foead, Kepala Badan Restorasi Gambut (BRG) di kantor BRG Jakarta.
Eyes on the Forest (EoF) melaporkan tindak pidana lingkungan hidup berupa pencemaran udara dan kriteria kerusakan lingkungan hidup atas kebakaran hutan dan lahan di dalam areal 49 korporasi hutan tanaman industri dan perkebunan kelapa sawit sepanjang 2014, 2015 dan 2016.
Eyes on the Forest released a drone video showing huge areas of burnt and still smoldering deep peat soil, and burnt oil palms and natural vegetation in illegal oil palm plantations in Libo block, Rokan Hulu district including in dominant PT. Andika Permata Sawit Lestari (APSL)
A manager of palm oil company in Pelalawan, Riau, was set free from allegation of allowing forest and land burnings inside the concession of PT Langgam Inti Hibrindo (LIH), a supplier of Wilmar Group and Sinar Mas
Eyes on the Forest releases hard-hitting maps showing the global supply chain of palm oil is tainted by illegal products harvested in protected areas home to Sumatran elephants, tigers and orangutan.
An Eyes on the Forest report published today demonstrates how crude palm oil tainted by illegally grown palm fruit from government-protected areas in some of the last remaining habitats of critically endangered Sumatran tigers, elephants, and orangutans.
Laporan EoF yang diterbitkan hari ini menunjukkan bagaimana minyak sawit mentah (CPO) ditanam secara ilegal di kawasan lindung milik Negara seperti habitat satwa langka harimau Sumatera, gajah dan orangutan di hutan Sumatera.
Eyes on the Forest (EoF) mengeluarkan laporan investigasi terbaru mengangkat temuan lapangan soal kebakaran hutan dan lahan yang terjadi di tahun 2015.
Eyes on the Forest commended the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for issuing a letter and instructions regarding peat management for the prevention and control of fire.
Fires in Indonesia continues unabated. An early estimate by the Indonesian government of the haze crisis cost this year was as high as 465 trillion rupiah (US$34 billion).
Eyes on the Forest (EoF) supports Riau police to name 16 out of 18 timber plantation suppliers and palm oil plantations suspects of forest and land burning in 2015.
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.
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.
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.
President Joko Widodo called stern measures against companies involved in forest and land fires burning by rescinding their licenses, media report said today.
APRIL published an audit report by its consultant Hatfield which confirmed an Eyes on the Forest report that APRIL’s wood supplier, PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, had breached APRIL’s forest and peatland clearance moratorium starting 15 May 2015.
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.
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.
Riau province is raged by forest and land fires where EoF analyzed based on NASA Firms Eosdis Data that total 426 fires hostspots detected during June 2015.
Commitment on Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0 that recently launched by Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) on 3 June 2015 is not a blank cheque nor a public relation stunt as usual to business world and public in whole.
Indra Pelani (23) of Lubuk Mandarsah was killed by security guards hired by APP’s sister company PT. Wirakarya Sakti (WKS) in Bukit Tigapuluh landscape, Jambi Province, Sumatra. The village has been in conflict with WKS for a long time over their land tenure for 3,000 ha.
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.
National Joint Team from some Government agencies revealed that 17 timber and plantation companies in Riau province failed to perform Compliance Audit in preventing forest and land fires, a joint inter-department task force said Friday.
A local environmental organization accused Asia Pulp & Paper (APP/Sinar Mas) breached its Forest Conservation Policy and forestry law following a new finding on its pulpwood supplier’s concession that found operating excavator draining peat canal and construct road.
EoF warns today that purchasing screens need to be installed urgently at all transfer points in the chain-of-custody from the production of oil palm fruit (fresh fruit bunches/FFB) to the final product. Illegally produced FFB appears to enter national and global supply chains much too easily.
The Ministry of Environment (MoE) has named three companies suspects of forest and land fires that hit Riau in February-March this year, a senior official said last week.
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.
Joint military operation in Giam Siak Kecil (GSK) Biosphere Reserve, Bukit Batu, Bengkalis Riau, in late last month revealed the involvement of two former police chiefs, a high-ranking TNI-AU (air force), as well as a number of police and military service members and government officials on the encroachement of the internationally recognized protected area. The area is always burnt annually then converted to plantations, media reported.
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.
The second week of month showed the most fire hotspots found in Riau province since fires and haze returned from January. There are total 1605 hotspots detected accumulatively in the province based on NASA Modis Fire monitoring in period of 13-19 February.
After being free from haze and fires since September 2013, Riau’s annual problem, haze and wildfires, returns to Riau since the end of January 2014. The increasing hotspots which are found in plantations’ concessions as well as outside concessions which have caused the worsening air quality in the province, as schools closed and thousands people infected by respiratory infections.
The Ministry for Environment reiterated that probe on Riau’s timber and palm oil companies --who named suspects due to allegedly setting forest and land fires in June-- would be proceeded including to prosecute them with money laundry verdict, an official said.
At least four pulpwood suppliers and three palm oil plantations named suspects for allegations on Riau wildfires in June-July 2013. Some of these suspected companies are timber suppliers to Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resource International Limited (APRIL), a newspaper report said this week.
As their villages are affected by the climate change, eight suburbans of Pelalawan district and Rohil along with Forest Rescue Network Riau (Jikalahari) and Indonesia Centre of Environmental Law (ICEL) officially lay their protest toward the President of RI, Minister of Forestry, Minister of the Environment and Riau Governor at the State Court of Central Jakarta today which is located at Gajah Mada street No 17, Central Jakarta.
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.
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.
Three excavators owned by a supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) , PT Rimba Lazuardi (RL), in Pelalawan District were burned by hundreds of local people on Sunday, July 7th 2013, following a land conflict between the company and local society amid intensifying tense since the last two months, media reported.
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.
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.
Fifteen wild Sumatran elephants had been killed in Riau province since January this year following the deaths of three female elephants in Tesso Nilo forest block as officials believed they were poisoned.
Human and Sumatran tiger conflicts are escalating in Riau province in recent months as two endangered species were found dead by snares and a teenager laborer attacked to death by a tiger in three separate incidents.
A powerful new mapping tool from Indonesian NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) allows the public to visualize Sumatra’s forests and wildlife such as rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutan, providing vital information in the race to protect forests, save some of the world’s most important biodiversity and help local communities.
(The Jakarta Globe / Agence France-Presse, November 23, 2010) -- Greenpeace on Tuesday warned that a billion-dollar deal between Norway and Indonesia to cut carbon emissions from deforestation is in danger of being hijacked by timber and oil palm companies.
EoF News (PEKANBARU)— An open letter written by professional scientists working for leading academic and research institutions was published on Monday to alert general public of misleading practices and claims by the World Growth Institute (WGI) and International Trade Strategies Global (ITS) who promoted industrial logging, pulpwood and palm oil plantations through public opinions.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— A Sumatran tiger that last month believed attacking a palm oil farmer to death in Riau province eventually also died last week (Thursday, 30/09/2010), only four hours after being caught by villagers that supervised by Natural Resources Conservancy Main Agency of Riau Office (BBKSDA) and nongovernmental organization YPHS (Yayasan Pelestarian Harimau Sumatra, Sumatran tiger conservation foundation).
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— A palm oil farmer was found dead after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) on Monday evening (20/9/2010) inside concession of PT Sakato Pratama Makmur, a pulpwood supplier of Sinar Mas’ Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), in buffer zone of UNESCO Man & Biosphere of Giam Siak Kecil in Riau province, Sumatra.
Walhi Riau, Scale Up, JIKALAHARI, Greenpeace and Forum Komunikasi Pemuka Masyarakat Riau (FKPMR/Riau Community Leaders Forum) ) paid condolences and strongly denounced the violent incident claiming one casualty and another one was hospitalized with heavy wounded in Kenegerian Pucuk Rantau village, Kuantan Singingi district, Riau province on Tuesday.
International consultants Tropenbos will facilitate a public consultation for a High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment for the APRIL pulp and paper operations in the Kampar Peninsula, Riau, Sumatra. This follows a similar consultation in Riau in February that was not attended by Riau based NGOs. For the same - and following - reasons, Greenpeace will not participate in this public consultation.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— Communities from 23 villages inhabiting Riau peatland declared a forum called Riau Peatland Community Network (Jaringan Masyarakat Gambut Riau) following a congress that facilitated by several Riau environmental groups this week.
After a month in operation, specially designed video cameras installed by WWF-Indonesia’s researchers seeking to record tigers in the Sumatran jungle caught the mother tiger and her cubs on film as they stopped to sniff and check out the camera trap.
WALHI (Friends of Earth Indonesia) Riau releases Investigative Report on natural forest clearing by PT Sumatera Riang Lestari, an associated company to APRIL in Pulau Rangsang, Kepulauan Meranti district of Riau province, Sumatra
PEKANBARU (EoF News)—At least 229 hotspots were detected by satellite in Riau province during 1-15 June 2009 where pulpwood plantation concessions (HTI) had 79 hotspots, and Selective Logging Concessions (HPH) have been hit with 66 hotspots.
The Jakarta Post, JAMBI, 15 June 2009 -- An immediate expansion of the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (TNBK) is a must in order to reduce the conflict between humans and elephants, say local government officials.
In the wake of the deaths of six people from tiger attacks in Sumatra’s Jambi Province in less than a month, conservationists are calling for an urgent crackdown on the clearing of natural forest in the province as a matter of public safety.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— Majority of forest and land fires in Riau Province recently detected by satellite from 17 January to 28 January 2009 occurred in peatlands where hotspots found in several concessions of pulpwood plantations (HTI) and palm oil. Protected Area (Kawasan Lindung) and proposed expansion of Tesso Nilo National Park were also raged by fires, Eyes on the Forest analyzed.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— Efforts to distinguish escalating forest and land fires in Riau faced tough challenges as the Riau Provincial Government imposed Alert I status against the disaster yesterday and deploy 200 firefighters as fires hit seven districts and municipality in the province.
Rotterdam, NL: The arrival of the first certified sustainable palm oil shipment in Europe opens up possibilities for palm oil users to move away from subsidising forest destruction and social disruption from expanding palm oil plantations.
The Indonesian province of Riau has pledged to halt the destruction of its forests and peatlands; a move that will prevent billions of tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
JAKARTA, 7 August 2008 (AFP) - Environmental group Greenpeace hung a banner reading "Stop Deforestation" on the Indonesian forestry ministry Wednesday and called for a moratorium on palm oil concessions on forested land.
The road would allow APP and affiliated companies to restart clearance of natural forest and destruction of deep peat soil at any time in a globally recognized conservation area, according to Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of local NGO network Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, and WWF-Indonesia. The Kampar peninsula is one of the world’s largest contiguous tropical peat swamp forests, with more carbon per hectare than any other ecosystem on Earth.
Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.
Pekanbaru (EoF News)-- Residents of Lubuk Mandarsah, Tebo District of Jambi province, ran amok and burned 11 excavators and one car belong to PT Wira Karya Sakti (WKS), a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group or Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), as the pulp company first cleared three-year-aged oil palm plantation of a villager.
The past year has seen more weather records smashed as extreme events take a firmer hold of the planet, says WWF at the start of the UN climate change conference.
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor (The Daily Telegraph, 31 October 2007)-- Some of Asia's rarest and most endangered species including tigers, elephants, sun bears and clouded leopards have been found by scientists in Sumatran forests currently being allocated by the Indonesian government for oil palm plantations.
Key points on the environmental impact of palm oil (mongabay.com, May 15, 2007)-- The booming market for palm oil is driving record production but fueling rising concerns over the environmental impact of the supposedly "green" bioenergy source.
Riau NGOs Network for Forest Rescue (Jikalahari), University of Riau and representatives of 3 sub-districts in Kampar Peninsula today call for a halt to conversion of peatland-rich forests in the region to avoid escalating carbon (CO2) release.
Pekanbaru (EoF News)-- Bukit Tigapuluh block forest inevitably will be dominated by acacia planted forest soon as the Ministry of Forestry allowed two giant pulp companies to convert around 138,000-hectare natural forest into pulpwood plantation.
BALI, Indonesia, February 12, 2007 (ENS) - A declaration to protect the forested Heart of Borneo was signed today by ministers from the three Bornean governments - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The agreement will conserve and sustainably manage one of the most important centers of biological diversity in the world, inhabited by endangered orangutans, elephants and rhinos.The agreement ends plans to create the world’s largest palm oil plantation that would have cleared a vast rainforest along Indonesia’s border with Malaysia across the world's third largest island.
Pekanbaru (EoF News) – Tera Modis satellite detected that there were 521 hotspots appeared from Oct.1 to Oct.7. It escalated quite higher than Sep 22-30 period with only 103 hotspots.
Pekanbaru – (EoF News) – In responding back the replies from APP on Investigative Report June 2006 and from APRIL on IR May 2006, Eyes on the Forest learns that the two companies did not pay attention much to findings which highlighted on conservation concerns.
A Greenpeace team of investigators has discovered widespread destruction of Sumatra's ancient forests, caused by fires which are threatening to burn out of control.
The Indonesian Government promised its neighboring countries that haze problem caused by forest and land fires will be tackled by 2 September. In Riau, police detained 58 suspects for allegedly set fires, but none represented companies.
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.
After the Chairman of Gading Permai Small Farmers Business Group, Haji Usman Maun, reported to the Kampar police by RAPP at the forefront of the development of illegal palm oil plantations in the area which claimed by PT RAPP, the management of PT RAPP agreed to meet the Gading Permai community on May 1, 2006. However, instead of sending company officials to attend the meeting, PT RAPP mobilized 300 people in black uniforms to attack, destroy and burn down the people’s houses.
These and many previous cases of human-elephant conflict and killings appear to be connected to highly questionable, uncontrolled forest clearing in Riau's Libo Forest Block, one of the few remaining retreats of the Sumatran elephant in central Sumatra.
Indonesia has enacted laws on environmental protection and has issued a myriad of regulations and rulings to protect forests, in addition to the creation of non-tariff barriers to prevent the trading of illegally cut wood. Yet deforestation continues. Inter-island trade and export of illegally felled timber remains rampant.
Eyes on the Forest is committed to closely monitor the execution of the commitment in the field, including to identify which commitment apply where and to check whether the companies keep their commitments on High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) protection . Eyes on the Forest will also publicly report its findings to the world.
An investigation conducted by Eyes on the Forest in November 2017, found 10 companies indicated to plant palm oil trees in the forest area. Six out of...
Eyes on the Forest (EoF) team has examined and observed 26 locations of palm oil plantations in Riau Province in order to collect data and evidences...
Eyes on the Forest published today a report demonstrating how crude palm oil tainted by illegally grown palm fruit from government-protected areas in...
Pemantauan Pembakaran Hutan dan Lahan di konsesi Izin Usaha Pemanfaatan Hasil Hutan Hutan Kayu Hutan Tanaman PT. Sumatera Riang Lestari Blok IV (Pulau...