The End of a Tropical Forest: A Story from Indonesia
Written by เมื่อลมแรง...ใบไม้ก็ร่วง
//www-earth.org/user-data/image/real/n/new_virunga_1_38_real.JPG
Indonesia has planned to double its oil-palm crude production and this means the country will have to sacrifice one of the most bio-diverse tropical forests in the worldhome to hundreds of newly discovered species of animals and plants.
If youve kept an eye on China recently, it may not be a big surprise to learn that China has been involved in this plan by investing $7.5 billion in energy and infrastructure projects, including providing capital for palm-oil plantations (Why is palm oil replacing tropical rainforests?). And what will China get in return? Chinese investors would directly control about 600,000 hectares of oil-palm plantations, while 1.2 million hectares would be slated for Indonesian companies.
In fact, by investing in this deal, China can moreover benefit from the wood that will provide flooring and furniture for its ever-expanding middle class (Forests in Southeast Asia Fall to Prosperity's Ax). (Its reported in the same news article that China has just placed a rush order for hardwood, called merbau, to be used in construction of its sports facilities for the 2008 Olympic Games.)
Apparently, China has risen not only as a site for global cheap labor but also as a natural resources hunter. Besides crude oil and palm oil--animals, plants, and all of us are also preys Chinas hunting for. I define all of us here as preys because, if preys are to mean, in this case, the perished, it is not hard to see why all of us cant be preys. Without natural resources to feed our growing demand, how can all of us survive?
What also caught my attention about this story is the negative impact that this China-sponsored plan will have on the global and the very local scales. Globally, the deal has many environmentalists worried from the very beginning. Oil-palm cultivation means that many tropical forests will be swept away, that tons of wastes will encroach upon aquatic ecosystems, that the world will be, once more, severely polluted, and that we will have to witness, once again, the rise of temperature, ascribed to the greenhouse effect (Why is palm oil replacing tropical rainforests?).
Locally, the (negative) impact might not be as dramatic, at least according to one of its local inhabitants. It came as a surprise to me to learn that the aboriginal inhabitants gave the green light to the deal. Mr. Anyie, 63, an elder of the inhabitants, said:"We love our forest, but I want to build the road for my peopleI owe it to them [people in his clan]..." Perhaps, I am not entitled to argue with Mr. Anyie, for Ive neither lived there nor borne the inhabitants hardship. But I cant help wondering why he (and his clan) has changed his mind, when he for years had resisted offers from commercial contractors to cut down the forest around his village? (Forests in Southeast Asia Fall to Prosperity's Ax)
According to Mr. Anyie, one theory could be that becauseHis own grown children have deserted the village for big towns, and the villagers left behind are tired of traveling everywhere by foot (three days to neighboring Malaysia where jobs in palm oil plantations are plentiful) or by traditional long boats powered by anemic 10-horsepower engines. Another theory would be that [t]he project would eventually employ nearly 400,000 people, and undoubtedly his people will be among those employed (Why is palm oil replacing tropical rainforests?).
The two theories may be pleasing to some, but for me, they are far from satisfying. I wonder if the government played the role in convincing the clan to agree to the plan? Also, if so, did the government keep Mr. Anyieand everyone in his clanfully cognizant of the (dire) consequences of the plan/deal? (In fact, had they been informed, how much could they do to stop the government?)
I had actually planned to refrain from serious stuff this weekend, but once I came upon these two articles, which I used as references here, I felt the need to speak out and let my reader know of whats happening to our environment. And perhaps, we might be able to do something about it.
4/30/06
(c) 2006. เมื่อลมแรง...ใบไม้ก็ร่วง. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced, by any process of technique, without the express written consent of the author (in.dialogue@yahoo.com).
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