Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor) senior associate for forest and governance Moira Moeliono agreed with the government view that granting ownership rights to local communities could trigger land grabs since many conservation areas were rich in mineral deposits. “There is a need for special zones but the government must make it clear which people would be eligible to manage the area,” she said. She said that people living in national parks should also be involved in the joint management of conservation areas.

Forest preservation is seen as a key to slowing down global warming because trees soak up enormous amounts of climate-warming greenhouse gases. Losing one type of certification could affect APRIL’s access to some markets in Europe where governments have promised not to buy non-certified products, said Robert Nasi, a specialist in the issue at Indonesia’s Center for International Forestry Research. Without certification, “they will not be able to sell to any ministry or any public procurement in Germany and in Netherlands,” Nasi said. “For example, if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Germany is wanting to buy a few tons of paper, they cannot buy it from APRIL,” he said.

The story also appeared in Jakarta Globe under title “Practices in Indonesian Forests Cost Paper Producer Its Green Certification”.

Pengkajian konsep zona khusus akan dikaji bersama oleh berbagai pemangku kepentingan, termasuk perambah dan lembaga swadaya masyarakat yang selama ini mengurus masalah perambahan TN Kutai. Adapun lembaga swadaya masyarakat yang akan dilibatkan, antara lain, adalah Center for International Forestry Research dan Bina Kelola Lingkungan.

Forum Penelitian dan Pengembangan Hutan bekerja sama dengan Center for International Forestry Research mengadakan seminar bertema “Hutan pasca Copenhagen: Bagaimana Indonesia Dapat Memenuhi Komitmen Iklim Nasionalnya?” “Pertemuan ini akan mempertemukan politisi dan peneliti guna membahas peran sektor kehutanan Indonesia dalam mitigasi iklim,” kata Tachrir Fathoni, Kepala Badan Litbang Kementerian Kehutanan sebagai penyelenggara acara di Jakarta hari ini.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the lofty targets during the G-20 meeting in the US city of Pittsburgh in late September, pledging to cut carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020, and up to 41 percent if international assistance was offered. Daniel Murdiyarso, a climate change scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor) in Bogor, said the government targets could play a significant role in pushing for land use reform and the protection of forests to be included in climate change talks to be held in Copenhagen in December.

Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor ) menghimbau Pemerintah Indonesia untuk segera membuat struktur pengelolaan dana penurunan emisi dari deforestasi dan degradasi hutan (REDD) Plus dan dilakukan secara transparan. Direktur Jenderal CIFOR, Frances Seymour mengatakan struktur pengelolaan dana REDD Plus tersebut harus ada sebelum perdagangan karbon berlaku pada 2012. “Dalam pengawasan dana REDD Plus ini, perlu melibatkan BPK dan KPK sebagai upaya pencegahan kebocoran,” katanya, sore tadi.

La REDD (Reducción de Emisiones de Carbono Causadas por la Deforestación y la Degradación de los Bosques) “entraña muchos riesgos”, afirma Anne Larson, que trabaja en Nicaragua como asociada al Centro de Investigación Forestal Internacional (Cifor), un instituto con sede en Indonesia. “La mayoría de los países no están listos. No tienen políticas para proteger los derechos de las poblaciones locales e indígenas para determinar la tenencia de la tierra o incluso para decidir de quién son los ‘créditos de carbono’ de un bosque”, dijo Larson en una conferencia sobre forestación comunitaria celebrada en Montpellier, Francia, entre el 24 y el 26 de marzo.

A number of environmental NGOs met Thursday (April 8) to compile data on illegal logging activities at the request of President Yudhoyono, who has ordered sterner action against illegal logging crimes. The NGOs included Greenpeace Indonesia, WWF Indonesia, Forest Watch Indonesia, Sawit (Oil Palm) Watch Indonesia, and Conservation International. “We asked them to supply data on illegal logging. This will be a good chance for the activists to help the government battle illegal logging,” Agus Purnomo, special assistant on climate change to the President, told the Jakarta Post.