In the midst of its worst fire crisis in living memory, the Indonesian government is taking a leap backward on forest protection. The recently signed Council of Palm Oil Producing Nations between Indonesia and Malaysia, signed at the weekend in Kuala Lumpur, will attempt to wind back palm oil companies' pledges to end deforestation. This is despite Indonesia’s efforts to end … [Read more...]
Are we learning from the fires?
As the fire from Stellenbosch jumps across the Helderberg mountains and spreads down onto the Lourensford estate, Somerset West, everyone’s talking arson. That might be one of the reasons, though I think there is an obvious contributor that is conveniently left out of the discussion: climate change. We know that changing land uses and patterns of dryer and hotter climate has … [Read more...]
Indonesian forest fire solution far from reality
Peatlands are perhaps the world’s most critical carbon stores and are typically saturated with water, but become prone to fire when cleared and drained for industrial scale plantations for palm oil and pulp and paper. Protecting Indonesia’s carbon rich peatlands is key to reducing the chance of fires responsible for the Haze Wave, but there is still no legal protection of … [Read more...]
