La industria del aceite de palma lleva décadas bajo la atenta mirada de la sociedad civil internacional. Desde los años 90, varias ONGs han puesto de relieve el alto impacto medioambiental de este sector que, según WWF, arrasa 300 campos de fútbol cada hora tan sólo en Indonesia para plantar palma. “La industria del aceite de palma no hubiera sido posible sin el trabajo de los migrantes. De hecho, ha sido la industria del aceite de palma la que ha promovido el flujo de inmigrantes [en Indonesia y Malasia]”, dice Pablo Pacheco, científico del Centro para la Investigación Forestal Internacional (CIFOR en sus siglas en inglés).

Raging fires in Indonesia’s forests and peat lands since July this year are precipitating a climate and public-health catastrophe with repercussions across local, regional and global levels. While nobody knows the extent of loss of species and biodiversity, as much as 2 million hectares of land (about the size of Mizoram) have burned, according to David Gaveau, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia. “The ecological cost is incommensurable,” Gaveau said in an e-mail interview with IndiaSpend. “These fires are the symptom of a land-transformation process: once lush biodiversity-rich forests transforming into unproductive degraded land with poor biodiversity over time. Of course, 90 percent of fires are started by people.”

Pemerintah Indonesia menyatakan 56 perusahaan diduga terlibat kebakaran hutan yang melanda sebagian wilayah Sumatra dan Kalimantan tahun ini, dengan 16 di antaranya dikenai sanksi pembekuan izin serta tiga perusahaan dicabut izinnya. Usaha pemerintah untuk menghukum pihak yang diduga terkait dengan kebakaran hutan di Kalimantan dan Sumatera tahun ini perlu diapresiasi, kata Herry Purnomo, ahli tata kelola dan kebijakan publik dari lembaga Center for International Forestry Research atau biasa disebut CIFOR. Sebab, pada tahun-tahun terdahulu pemerintah jarang sekali mencabut dan membekukan izin perusahaan.

Given the many factors at play, the impact of low commodity prices on conservation are far from certain. Past down cycles provide mixed evidence. Generally, low prices lead to lower investment, translating to lower land values. And vice versa. However that relationship may not hold everywhere for all commodities. For example, countries that derive an unusually high percentage of their wealth from oil have sometimes experienced the opposite, according to Sven Wunder, a researcher at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

In the run-up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, the constitution of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers’ research program on water, land and ecosystems fostered a debate on this issue by posing one key question: What would it take to strengthen women’s land rights in practice? The answers received from representatives of half a dozen organizations informed a high-level panel discussion titled “This land is our land: Gender perspectives on tenure and rights,” at the Global Landscapes Forum, held in parallel with COP21.

Berbagai elemen masyarakat yang tergabung dalam “Gerakan Masyarakat Peduli Gambut” di Yogyakarta hari Rabu (16/12) menyampaikan deklarasi untuk memastikan supaya lahan gambut dikelola secara beretika dan berkesinambungan. Dalam kesempatan itu Prof. Herry Purnomo, guru besar Institut Pertanian Bogor yang juga ilmuwan CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) mengatakan, musim hujan dan selesainya pelaksanaan pilkada serentak sekarang merupakan saat yang tepat untuk mulai membenahi lahan gambut.

Who profits from forest fires? Herry Purnomo, a scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research, said unclear land tenure and insecure concessions were at the root of the problem, alongside land politics that allow “strong, powerful people” to benefit from the burning. His analysis shows that when land is cleared by cutting down trees, it generates profits of $665 per hectare, shared between the farmer groups who do the work, local elites who organise the groups, village heads and others. If land is burned, the benefits rise to $856 per hectare, as it is faster, cheaper and leaves peat soil in a better condition for planting. When planted with oil palm over a three-year period, the figure rises to $3,077 per hectare. In every scenario, it is local elites who receive at least half of the profit. “The fires have been happening for 20 years, and I don’t believe the governments are stupid, so I suspect that people are trying to influence the government not to have enough budget to stop them, because fires benefit (various) people,” Purnomo said.

The news also published in Wild Singapore, London South East, Sharenet, UK Daily Mail Online, UK Mail On Sunday, Malaysia Kini (ENG), The Malaysian Insider, The Edge Markets (Malaysia), The Edge Markets – International, SIX-SIX News, Agweek, World Economic Forum, Jakarta Globe

Talks on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) — an international mechanism to mitigate carbon emissions by protecting forests — at the Global Landscape Forum in Paris, in December, heard researchers question the equity of benefit-sharing among members of forest communities.