It seems “Green” and “Jobs” don’t sit too well together over at Number 10
Gordon Brown’s search engine is a bit smoky
It backfired and revealed a lack of vocabulary.
It found jobs in communities – [2] when asked to search including all words and exact phrase. green jobs missing.no mention of the phrase Green Jobs.a sad but true fact.
It’s not Gordon’s fault.
The Number 10 Search Engine is Conservative !
It found 2 links to the same pdf
With references to a Policing Green Paper.
We do however need to use less paper and more commonsense.
and perhaps sack [hemp] the Conservative Webmaster
It would be a start.
Now we’ve got slightly faster connectivity.
And supposed transparency.
Could we have some sort of link
To Green Jobs?
There must be more to this than meets the eye.
View Page of Gordon’s search for Green Jobs here
PS the search engine can’t read single words in that order.nor can it get exact phrase.
It’s quite simple really. hydraulic coast reclamation – realign your tidal prism – it’s all hands to the pump.wave fetch.give us a squeeze honey
Green ……………………………..Jobs
IT’s a clunky nobrainer.

Posted by Wordmobi

Get the Liquid~Link from futureproof.at
Petition Number 10 to Cancel – Trident
And use the monies saved, for: Green Jobs

Posted by Wordmobi

sustainable forest products – “lower environmental footprint”? See -Factors to Consider “There is no universally accepted definition of illegal logging and trade” Plant Hemp for Diversification – A multi-product food and nutrient thread.see Box 10
Afghanistan and China indigenous plant program. Hemp is one of the fastest growing non-wood products. Ma in Chinese – Grown for 10,000 years. Hemp for Victory[black and white film circa 1942 USA]
Or if you’re viewing on a mobile – get the small footprint 1942 animated gif [creative commons]
The Declaration of Independence [was written on Hemp.made in the USA]
Posted by Wordmobi

A cacao tree.

Here’s a great stocking filler that costs as little as £1… Cool Earth Action is offering you the chance to sponsor a specific tree in the Ashaninka region of the Amazon. This area of Peru is experiencing rapid deforestation, with illegal loggers cutting down swathes of rainforest just to cherrypick the best trees. These precious trees have been mapped and you can protect them. When you sponsor a tree, you get a certificate (real or electronic) and can view its location via Cool Earth.

A mahogany tree.

Of course, some trees cost more than others – you could splash out £3 or £5 – still a small sum to protect not only a beautiful tree but the ecosystem that depends on arboreal life.

I quite fancy a cacao tree and perhaps a mahogany one too. Which will you choose to protect?

New Rimbunan Himau base camp and log gathering point

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Grand Chief “Carbon Cowboy” Off Soon in New Private Jet to Sell Landowners’ Rainforest Carbon

By ClimateArk Climate Change Portal http://www.climateark.org/ – and Rainforest Portal http://www.rainforestportal.org/ – projects of Ecological Internet

December 6, 2009

Sir Michael Somare — Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Prime Minister — jets soon to Copenhagen pledging to protect the country’s rainforests in exchange for REDD carbon money. Yet back home he has left a long list of shameful and corrupt rainforest/climate policies. As Copenhagen and REDD talks start, Somare pals Rimbunan Hijau of Malaysia continue logging in Ramu, Madang, despite a court order demanding they stop. Corruption, human rights abuses, and ecological devastation have no place in REDD or Papua New Guinea.

PICTURES OF RIMBUNAN HIJAU’S DESTRUCTION IN RAMU, MADANG:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158287&id=84943913664

PNG contains the world’s third largest tracts of intact primary rainforests, almost all of which is customary clan owned land. While PNG’s Prime Minister Somare has been at the forefront of international efforts to establish carbon payments for rainforest protection, the rhetoric has made little impact upon the state of this great nation’s rainforests. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Ramu valley of Madang Province, where a massive new illegal logging operation of some 158,000 hectares has been in operation for just over a year.

Ramu logging area landowners have not provided prior and informed consent – indeed, many say they marked their name on the project papers after being told “This is Grand Chief Somare’s forest and he wants it to be logged by RH.” The list of landowners’ grievances in their petition is long and troubling including failure by Rimbunan Hijau of Malaysia to build roads, health centers and bridges as per the Project Agreement. Local landowners are furious and pursuing multiple measures to stop the logging.

Ramu and adjacent landowners have been petitioning for months to have Rimbunan Hijau of Malaysia’s timber operations, expansion and trucking on their tribal lands stopped.  This past week a Supreme Court lawsuit initially lodged by landowner groups successfully argued that the national government was in error in giving the forest management area to RH, when another company had been selected. Now is the time to ask that Mr. Somare ensure court orders are upheld against illegal logging, and to end the industrial logging of primary rainforests as part of any Copenhagen REDD deal.

MORE INFORMATION AND TAKE ACTION NOW:

http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=png_redd_logging

TO COMMENT ON THIS ALERT:  http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/

We will keep you updated regarding the struggles for ecological sustainability and social justice here in Beautiful Madang. Asples PNG

Ini adalah hasil penyelidikan dari Tim Komando Payung Rasul Indonesia, bahwa, kebakaran hutan di berbagai wilayah di Indonesia, adalah hal yg di sengaja oleh kelompok2 tertentu yg masing2 mungkin tidak terkait, satu pihak, adalah para penebang hutan liar yg terus-menerus di operasi oleh Polsus Hutan, dan juga beberapa dari kelompok Teroris Noordin Top, dan juga sebagian lagi suruhan dari orang2 Politik.

Ini benar2 membuat marah kami, bukannya kami ini takut cepat mati namun , entahlah, lebih tepat di bilang apa mereka itu? Anjing?, Basong?, dubur Anjing?

Untuk menormalkan kembali hutan dan mencukupi kebutuhan oksigen kita semua se-DUNIA ini kita perlu sedikitnya 15 tahun untuk menunggu tumbuh besarnya pohon2 & tanaman yg kita tanam itu, dan hanya 15% kemungkinan tanaman yg kita tanam untuk penghijauan di alam bebas itu yg akan tetap bisa tumbuh sampai besar itu secara alami  tiap seribu batangnya [bibit]. Koq malah makin di rusak?

Saat ini formasi PATKWA yg di lakukan Mas Bobby sebenarnya hanyalah Filter [proses penguraian dari udara kotor yg ada menjadi udara yg bersih & Sehat] sedangkan jumlah massa udara tetap sama [relatif] dihitung dari jumlah molekul & atomnya. Jadi denganmenyesal kami katakan bahwa adanya kebakaran2 hutan khususnya yg di sengaja oleh para bajingan itu benar2 menghambat proses penutupan lubang ozone, dg formasi PATKWA nya Letkol Bobby.

SUBULUSSALAM – Kebakaran hutan sebagai salah satu ekses degradasi hutan maupun ilegal loging dinilai menjadi ancaman bagi kelestarian satwa liar dan langka. Selain itu, perburuan dan perdagangan satwa, baik untuk dikonsumsi maupun sebagai hiasan atau sekedar peliharaan harus diantisipasi guna menghindarkan kepunahan satwa.

“Kita harus menjaga agar kekayaan ini tetap lestari dan bermanfaat,” tegas wakil walikota Subulussalam, Affan Alfian Bintang, tadi malam.

Menurutnya, SK Presiden RI No 4 tahun 1993. Salah satu tujuannya, adalah merangsang dan mengajak seluruh lapisan masyarakat untuk mencintai dan menjaga kekayaan flora dan fauna.

Karenanya, diingatkan semua komponen masyarakat agar tidak bertindak yang mengakibatkan terjadinya kerusakan dan kepunahan flora maupun fauna.

“Semua komponen masyarakat untuk merubah prilaku dan cara berfikir ke arah yang lebih peduli terhadap kekayaan alam, karena di samping melestarikan lingkungan hidup juga untuk menjaga kejayaan negeri serta mengantisifasi jangan sampai generasi negeri ini tidak kenal flora dan fauna,” himbaunya.
Sumber : Waspada

SUBULUSSALAM – Kebakaran hutan sebagai salah satu ekses degradasi hutan maupun ilegal loging dinilai menjadi ancaman bagi kelestarian satwa liar dan langka. Selain itu, perburuan dan perdagangan satwa, baik untuk dikonsumsi maupun sebagai hiasan atau sekedar peliharaan harus diantisipasi guna menghindarkan kepunahan satwa.

“Kita harus menjaga agar kekayaan ini tetap lestari dan bermanfaat,” tegas wakil walikota Subulussalam, Affan Alfian Bintang, tadi malam.

Menurutnya, SK Presiden RI No 4 tahun 1993. Salah satu tujuannya, adalah merangsang dan mengajak seluruh lapisan masyarakat untuk mencintai dan menjaga kekayaan flora dan fauna.

Karenanya, diingatkan semua komponen masyarakat agar tidak bertindak yang mengakibatkan terjadinya kerusakan dan kepunahan flora maupun fauna.

“Semua komponen masyarakat untuk merubah prilaku dan cara berfikir ke arah yang lebih peduli terhadap kekayaan alam, karena di samping melestarikan lingkungan hidup juga untuk menjaga kejayaan negeri serta mengantisifasi jangan sampai generasi negeri ini tidak kenal flora dan fauna,” himbaunya.
sumber :waspada

Memeriksa kayu tangkapan

Kapolsek Penanggalan, Kota Subulussalam, AKP Iskandar bersama anggota memeriksa kayu tangkapan yang diangkut dengan menggunakan beca bermotor dan mobil pikap jenis cary. SERAMBI/KHALIDIN

SUBULUSSALAM – Kepolisian Resor (Polres) Aceh Singkil Kota Subulussalam, Sabtu pekan lalu menangkap sekitar empat ton kayu olahan yang diduga ilegal karena tanpa dilengkapi dokumen. “Kami menahan kayu dan pengangkutannya karena saat diperiksa sopirnya tidak bisa memperlihatkan surat-surat resmi,” kata Kapolres Aceh Singkil AKBP Helmi Kwarta Kusuma Putra, S.Ik yang dikonfirmasi melalui Kapolsek Penanggalan, AKP Iskandar.

Selain kayu, polisi juga menahan lima unit beca bermotor (betor) dan dua unit mobil pikap jenis suzuki cary yang digunakan untuk mengangkut kayu terkait. Menurut Iskandar penangkapan kayu tersebut bermula saat petugas tengah menggelar patroli. Ketika itu, melintas beberapa betor bermuatan kayu dalam bentuk papan dan kosen. Saat dilakukan pemeriksaan terhadap dokumen-dokumen pengangkutan kayu tersebut.

“Para pemilik betor tidak bisa menunjukan keabsahan kayu yang diangkutnya sehingga petugas langsung membawa sang sopir bersama barang bukti ke Mapolsek Penanggalan untuk dimintai keterangan secara intensif,” terang AKP Iskandar. Pada malam itu juga, aparat kepolisian menyisir sejumlah daerah dan berhasil menemukan kayu lainnya. Namun, salah satu mobil pengangkut ditemukan tanpa sopir. Petugas berhasil mengamankan barang bukti sekira empat ton kayu berbagai ukuran serta mobil dan betor yang digunakan untuk pengangkut.

“Semuanya itu ada sekitar empat ton,” kata salah seorang pemilik saat ditanyai petugas. Dalam kasus ini, para supir betor dan mobil cary juga diamankan untuk pemeriksaan secara intensif, sekaligus untuk mengetahui siapa sebenarnya pemilik kayu-kayu tersebut. Iskandar menambahkan, pihaknya akan berkoordinasi dengan Kapolres terkait dengan kasus tersebut.

“Untuk selanjutnya saya akan koordinasi dulu dengan Kapolres,” kata AKP Iskandar yang belum genap sebulan bertugas di Subulussalam. Seperti yang pernah diberitakan, aktivitas perkayuan di Kota Subulussalam kini modus operasinya menggunakan Betor dan bisa dipastikan illegal karena selain ordernya malam jelang pagi, juga tidak memiliki dokumen sesuai aturan. Bahkan sekira sebulan lalu para anggota Pamhut setempat sempat melakukan penahanan terhadap kayu-kayu yang masih marak di sana. (kh)

Sumber : Serambinews

MEXICO—The monarch butterfly is returning to its country of origin today, All Souls Day (1 November 2009). This day is known as “El Dia de Los Muertos.” The returning monarchs are now being hit by the latest threat to their sacred winter habitat. The Mexican government was just starting to make a dent in illegal logging within the habitat when climate change brought about another disaster. The rains that normally begin in May were of no significance this year and July saw very little precipitation. Insects attack trees when they are under stress. Drought causes stress.  The pine beetles were able to take advantage of the trees weakened condition to burrow beneath the bark and slowly but surely kill the trees.

The race is on now to try to stop the invasion of beetles that are killing the Oyemal fir trees, the only wintering trees that the monarchs use for hibernation. The open canopy may cause even more devastation if it is a wet and windy winter in 2010. The special habitat was once a secure dry forest which now has an open canopy from the loss of trees.

Is there anything we can do? Perhaps we can’t help the monarch in Mexico but the butterfly needs our help in the USA also. Why not plant a butterfly garden and plant the host plant so that the butterfly will have an opportunity to reproduce itself? Visit http://happytonics.org/store/ to order common milkweed seed.

Read the full article by Mark Stevenson/AP here.

MEDAN, MANDIRI
Puluhan masyarakat Kabupaten Dairi, Kamis (29/10) berunjukrasa ke Mapoldasu menuntut pihak kepolisian segera menuntaskan kasus pembalakan liar (illegal logging) yang terjadi di areal hutan lindung Lae Pondom, yang diduga melibatkan oknum Ketua DPRD Kabupaten Dairi Leonard Samosir. Mereka juga menyesalkan, meski kasus ini telah bergulir sejak 10 tahun lalu, namun polisi tidak juga menuntaskannya, padahal oknum Ketua DPRD tersebut telag berstatus sebagai tersangka.
Dengan mengusung sejumlah poster berisi kecaman terhadap Leonard Samosir dan pihak kepolisian, pengunjukrasa yang tergabung dalam Lembaga Adat Sulang Silima Suak Pakpak Pegagan ini mendatangi Mapoldasu.
Sebagian pengunjukrasa yang mengenakan pakaian adat ini, langsung menerobos masuk ke halaman Mapoldasu, sambil berteriak-teriak mendesak pihak kepolisian segera mengusut kasus pembalakan liar yang terjadi di kawasan hutan lindung yang masuk dalam kawasan register 82, persisi di Desa Subuatan Selatan Lae Pondom, Kecamatan Sumbul, Dairi.
Dalam pernyataan sikapnya, para pengunjukrasa juga mengungkapkan, akibat pembalakan liar tersebut, telah menimbulkan berbagai musibah bagi masyarakat yang bermukim di sekitar hutan tersebut, antara lain persawahan yang terancam kekeringan dan membuat gagalnya proyek pembangkit listrik tenaga air (PLTA), di kawasan Lau Renun yang merupakan andalan sebagai cadangan pasokan listrik wilayah Sumatera Utara di masa mendatang.
Usai menggelar orasi, akhirnya para pengunjukrasa diterima Kabid Humas Poldasu Kombes Pol Baharudin Djafar. Dihadapan Kabid Humas, perwakilan aksi kembali mendesak pihak Poldasu segera mengambil alih penyelidikan yang telah dilakukan sejak tahun 1999 silam.
Terkait hal ini, pihak Poldasu akan kembali menelusuri kasus ini mengingat sejumlah pejabat kepolisian yang bertugas kala itu di Mapolres Dairi, telah pindah tugas.
Sementara Kabid Humas Poldasu kepada wartawan membenarkan aksi demo. Namun, dari laporan yang mereka utarakan, bahwa pihak kepolisian Polres Dairi tidak pernah menerima laporan dalam kasus tersebut. Dan surat laporan seperti diterangkan dalam kasus tersebut tidak ada nama pelapor seperti bukti yang mereka bawa ke dalam aksi demo. [jam]

Selasa, 27 Oktober 2009 | 03:19 WIB

Jambi, Kompas – Tindakan korupsi di bidang kehutanan masih sulit dikendalikan oleh aparat penegak hukum. Sebanyak 72 persen aktor utama dari kejahatan kehutanan tak tersentuh hukum dan terbebas dari vonis pengadilan.

Berdasarkan data Indonesia Corruption Watch, tingkat efektivitas pemberantasan pembalakan liar masih sangat rendah. Hanya 4,3 persen upaya pemberantasan yang berakhir dengan putusan berkekuatan hukum. Sebanyak 72 persen cukong kayu diputus bebas.

Putusan pengadilan terhadap 205 terdakwa sepanjang tahun 2005-2008 juga hanya memberikan hukuman ringan hingga putusan bebas. Sebanyak 137 terdakwa (66,8 persen) di antaranya bebas, 44 terdakwa (21,6 persen) dihukum satu tahun, 14 terdakwa (6,8 persen) dihukum hingga dua tahun, dan hanya 10 terdakwa (4,8 persen) yang dihukum di atas dua tahun.

”Dari kasus kejahatan kehutanan, hanya 17-18 persen cukong dihukum, sedangkan yang bebas jumlahnya sangat besar. Hanya kalangan bawah yang dikenai vonis hukuman. Para pengusaha sebagai aktor utama rata-rata divonis bebas,” ujar Illian Deta Arta Sari, peneliti Agenda Anti Illegal Logging ICW, dalam diskusi korupsi kejahatan kehutanan yang diselenggarakan Community Alliance for Pulp Paper Advocacy (CAPPA), Senin (26/10) di Jambi.

ICW juga menemukan sebanyak 92 persen penegak hukum serta pejabat negara dan daerah tidak berpihak pada pemberantasan pembalakan liar. Inilah yang mengakibatkan banyak pelaku kejahatan bebas dari proses pengadilan dan vonis hukuman.

Persoalan lain yang ditemukan dalam pemberantasan kejahatan kehutanan adalah lemahnya koordinasi antara PPNS, polisi, dan kejaksaan. Dakwaan tidak kuat. Hakim tidak memiliki sensitivitas dan rasa keadilan terhadap agenda penyelamatan hutan dan lingkungan hidup. Ada juga perbedaan tafsir hukum antara Departemen Kehutanan, polisi, jaksa, dan hakim.

Dari aspek perundang-undangan, juga terdapat celah hukum pada UU Kehutanan Nomor 41 Tahun 1999. Aturan cenderung melihat persoalan kehutanan dalam kacamata hukum administrasi. Undang-undang tersebut juga dinilai hanya mengatur manajemen hutan, tetapi tidak untuk melindungi hutan. (ITA)

Decline in Burmese timber smuggling across Chinese border, figures show

“Imports into China have dropped by 70% but continue to pose a threat to one of the world’s last virgin forests, according to Global Witness”

Improved Chinese border controls have dramatically slowed imports of illegally logged wood from Burma, but smuggling continues to pose a threat to one of the world’s last virgin forests, according to a new report by Global Witness. The environmental group noted the cross-border trade of logs and planks fell by more than 70% between 2005 and 2008. Field investigators also noted that many saw mills have closed, warehouses are empty and the traffic of timber on the roads visibly declined.

“These numbers are so fantastic, I’m surprised,” said the group’s forest policy expert, Jon Buckrell. “Clearly action taken by authorities in China and Burma to combat illegal logging in Kachin state has had a significant positive impact.” But he cautioned that the problem of illegal logging in Burma and imports in China was far from solved.

Although Burma has much of the world’s last virgin forest – including 60% of the globe’s teak trees – it has recently suffered one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world as the cash-strapped military regime in Rangoon and rebel groups on the border felled teak, mandrake and Chinese coffin trees at an unsustainable rate. Most of the wood is sold to Chinese furniture and flooring firms, which make products for consumers in Europe and the United States.

Despite the slow-down, the trade continues. In the new report, A Disharmonious Trade, Global Witness investigators found that 13 of the 14 firms they visited were able to obtain timber from Myanmar despite the restrictions. According to the customs figures in the neighbouring Chinese province of Yunnan, 270,000 m3 of logs, and 170,000 m3 of sawn timber were imported in 2008. Global Witness estimates that 90% of this amount was illegally felled.

The group said smugglers use “bribery, false papers, transportation at night and avoiding checkpoints” to get around the restrictions on sending the wood across the border. China also continues to import large quantities of timber from Russia, Indonesia, Africa and South America, much of it illegally logged, for reprocessing into goods for the domestic and overseas markets.

Conservationists warn that the trade is unlikely to be halted until consumers are better informed about where wood originates and importing nations take tougher actions. They want China and Europe to enact laws similar to the US Lacey Act, which prohibits the trade of illegal logged wood. ”Burma accounts for just a small fraction of China’s wood. Stopping trade on this border won’t stop the problem of illegal imports,” said Buckrell. The problem is worldwide. Global Witness estimate China accounts for about a quarter of the global trade in illegal timber.

The end users also share responsibility. The group says the UK imports more illegal timber than any other EU country because it buys so much from China. Despite the Lacey Act, US companies still advertise Burmese wood flooring on their websites, it said. China’s Foreign Ministry and Myanmar’s Forestry Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Source : The Guardian UK 22.10.2009

• This article was amended on 22 October 2009. It was published while still awaiting clarification from the reporter about information on timber imports to Yunnan. This information has now been added.

US, Europe demand fuels illegal China-Myanmar timber trade

By Martin Petty

BANGKOK, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The United States may have imported $3.8 billion of illegal timber products from China last year, much of it likely smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar, where illegal logging is rapidly destroying forests, a report showed. China and Myanmar have made progress in tackling illegal logging but more must be done to stamp out corruption fuelling the trade, London-based Global Witness, an environmental watchdog, said in a report on Wednesday.

China cut its imports of logs and sawn wood from its neighbour by 70 percent between 2005 and 2008, but trade was still thriving due to bribery, falsified documents and poor law enforcement, the report said.

The group said illegal logging was still causing rapid destruction of Myanmar’s northeastern forests, with 270,000 cubic metres (9.5 million cubic ft) of logs and 170,000 cubic metres of sawn timber, most of which was illegal, smuggled into China’s Kunming province last year.

The report estimated the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Russia were the chief export destinations of the timber, mostly as wooden furniture. Government crackdowns, it said, had a “significant positive impact” on the flow of wood into China, which is responsible for 10 percent of global trade in illegal timber.

“But (China and Myanmar) should do more to close down the remaining industry, which is almost wholly reliant on the illegal timber supply from Burma,” it said, referring to Myanmar’s former name. Global Witness, which seeks to tackle illegal trade and exploitation of natural resources, said one truck carrying 15 tonnes (tons) of illegal logs crossed the China-Myanmar border every seven minutes in 2005.

However, from 2006 to now, very few were to be seen, although official border checkpoints were still being bypassed and truckers were choosing to transport by night to avoid detection, it said. (Editing by Jason Szep)

Source : Reuters 21.10.2009

October 19, 2009 01:53 AM

Poor Forest Management In Four States, Says Auditor-General’s Report

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) — Poor management of forests has led to river pollution, erosion, landslides and destruction of flora and fauna in Kelantan, Pahang, Johor and Sarawak, according to the Auditor-General’s Report of 2008. It cites illegal logging, logging in forest reserves or national parks and poor enforcement as some of the factors responsible.

For Kelantan, the report says the Kelantan Department of Forestry is said to be focused more on the revenue derived from the logging concessions compared to the environment. “The department has failed to gazette all permanent forest reserves as protected forests as proposed. “This can undermine the safety and protection of forests which should be protected to maintain the quality of the environment, especially the protection of highlands of more than 1,000 metres above sea level,” the report says.

For Pahang, the report finds the Lesong forest plantation project, though undertaken with approval, to have a serious impact on the environment. “The Pahang Department of Forestry has to draw up a specific and comprehensive plan before implementing the project by taking into consideration the impact on the environment and also on the permanent forest reserve being developed,” it says.

Source : BERNAMA 20.10.2009

Suara Pembaruan

2009-10-16Pembalakan Liar Makin Merajalela
Disertasi AKBP Betty Setianigsih

dok.sp

Seorang warga di pedalaman Kalimantan menebang pohon secara ilegal menggunakan gergaji mesin. Pembalakan liar semakin menjadi-jadi karena aparat penegak hukum tidak serius menangani kasus pembalakan liar.

emberantasan pembalakan liar (illegal logging) di Indonesia belum efektif. Hal itu ditunjukkan adanya sejumlah fakta, yaitu pelaku pembalakan banyak yang divonis bebas atau divonis dengan hukuman yang rendah. Akibatnya, hukuman tidak menimbulkan efek jera bagi pelaku dan jaringannya.

Selain itu, pelaku yang diproses secara hukum umumnya adalah operator di tingkat lapangan. Sedangkan, aktor utama (master mind) banyak yang tidak diproses atau lolos dari jeratan hukum. “Praktik pembalakan liar dilakukan secara sistematis dan dikendalikan secara rapi oleh aktor utamanya. Maka, pemberantasannya sering berhasil di tingkat permukaan masalahnya saja,” kata Betty Setianingsih, saat mempertahankan disertasinya yang berjudul “Kebijakan Pemberantasan Illegal Logging untuk Perlindungan Sumberdaya Hutan di Indonesia,” di Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Bogor, Jawa Barat, Kamis (15/10).

Betty, yang berpangkat AKBP itu, menerangkan, praktik pembalakan liar di Indonesia dengan intensitas dampak yang sangat mengkhawatirkan, dikategorikan sebagai kejahatan terorganisasi, yang melibatkan jaringan yang solid, rentang kendali yang luas, mapan, menggunakan pola kerja yang terorganisasi dan modern, dengan sistem manajemen yang rapi, serta jaringan pemasaran yang luas di dalam dan luar negeri. “Praktik pembalakan liar merupakan tindak pidana kehutanan,” katanya.

Akibat maraknya praktik pembalakan liar, katanya, proporsi penebangan kayu ilegal pada tahun 2000 mencapai 64%, dan meningkat menjadi 83% dari total pemanenan kayu pada tahun 2001. Pada tahun 2001, kayu yang dihasilkan dari praktik pembalakan liar diestimasikan mencapai 50 juta m3. Apabila terjadi laju pemanenan kayu ilegal rata-rata sebesar 20 m3/ha, maka areal yang mengalami praktik pembalakan setidaknya mencapai 2,5 juta ha pada tahun tersebut.

Dia menerangkan, luasnya hutan yang rusak akibat praktik pembalakan liar telah mengkhawatirkan keberadaan hutan. “Bahkan, ada yang memperkirakan dalam dekade mendatang, hutan tropis Indonesia akan musnah, apabila langkah-langkah pemberantasan praktek pembalakan liar tidak dilakukan dengan sangat serius,” katanya.

Praktik pembalakan liar, katanya, tergolong kepada kejahatan di bidang kehutanan (forest crimes), yang berdampak negatif terhadap kelestarian ekosistem, kehidupan masyarakat, dan pembangunan daerah dan nasional.

Dia melanjutkan, sebenarnya pemberantasan pembalakan liar menjadi prioritas program nasional yang telah menjadi komitmen pemerintah. Berbagai upaya dilakukan oleh pemerintah, untuk memberantas pembalakan liar di Indonesia, termasuk mengeluarkan kebijakan berupa Instruksi Presiden (Inpres) No 4/ 2005 tentang Pemberantasan Penebangan Kayu Secara Ilegal Kawasan Hutan dan Peredarannya di Seluruh Wilayah Republik Indonesia.

Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia (Polri) adalah aparat penegak hukum yang berdasarkan Inpres No 4/2005, diperintahkan menindak tegas dan melakukan penyidikan terhadap para pelaku kegiatan penebangan kayu secara ilegal di dalam kawasan hutan dan peredarannya.

Disebutkan, kasus pembalakan liar dari 2006 hingga Juli 2008 yang ditangani Polri cenderung menurun, yaitu pada tahun 2006 berjumlah 4.819 kasus, tahun 2007 berjumlah 1.790 kasus, dan sampai Juli 2008 berjumlah 454 kasus. Sementara itu, praktik pembalakan liar melibatkan cukup banyak orang.

Pada 2006, jumlah tersangka yang langsung terlibat praktik pembalakan mencapai 5.217 orang, tahun 2007 jumlah tersangka 2.096 orang, dan tahun 2008 (sampai bulan Juli) sebanyak 579 tersangka. Jumlah tersangka umumnya adalah pelaku yang langsung di lapangan.

Di tingkat Mahkamah Agung (MA), putusan kasus pembalakan liar antara tahun 2005-2008 adalah sebanyak 80,77% aktor yang diproses di tingkat lapangan (operator, sopir, petani perambah). Sedangkan, aktor utamanya (master minds) yang diproses hanya 19,23%.

Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa lembaga yudikatif memiliki political will yang masih rendah dalam pemberantasan pembalakan liar. Selain itu, pengadilan dinilai kurang mendukung pemberantasan pembalakan liar, meskipun sebanyak 666 orang hakim pengadilan negeri dan 161 hakim tinggi telah mendapatkan pelatihan lingkungan hidup, yang di dalamnya mencakup masalah pembalakan liar.

Sebagai contoh, 15 kasus pembalakan liar di Papua dan Papua Barat pada tahun 2005
yang dituntut jaksa, dengan tuntutan penjara antara 2-7 tahun dan denda antara Rp 100 juta-Rp 1 miliar divonis bebas murni oleh pengadilan.

Banyak kasus pembalakan liar di Indonesia yang dituntut, pada akhirnya divonis bebas murni di pengadilan. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa penegakan hukum pembalakan belum didukung sepenuhnya oleh semua elemen criminal justice systems, sehingga dampak jera (deterrent effect) terhadap pelaku dan jaringannya tidak terjadi. [W-12]

It is very heartening and alleviating to read in the news that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has decided to implement the forced relocation of thousands of families living on riverbanks and other high-risk areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

It is even more inspiring and humbling that madam President is implementing this difficult action even at the risk of losing the political support of local government officials and their constituencies especially with the onset of elections in 2010.

The decision of President Arroyo to make the nation’s capital safer from natural calamities like those brought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that resulted to fear, chaos, death, destruction, displacement and total misery suffered and endured by many, is indeed very commendable.

While this may be an exercise of political will, still it is a political action that is half-cocked.

Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde wants us to believe that this particular political will of forcefully removing and relocating the squatters is the holy grail that will solve the nation’s drainage problem. Surely, this alone won’t do it.

It needs more than just the clearing of illegal riverbank settlers by President Arroyo to solve the problems contributory to flooding and landslides.

There is a dire need to decongest the big cities and generate employment in the provinces and municipalities. Reverse migration is a necessity.

Illegal logging has to be stumped completely and perpetrators prosecuted. Slash-and-burn should be addressed properly. There should be no compromises in preserving the trees in the forest.

Land use for settlement, development for industrial purposes and roadways has to be strictly regulated. Garbage dump sites have to be planned ahead of time.

Our weather tracking agency should be well updated in instruments and equipment. Competent people should be running the weather bureau.

Experts should be assigned to inspect thoroughly status of our dams and monitor closely its water releasing procedures especially when bad weather is being forecasted.

Natural water channels has to be dredged again to clean it of garbage and silt that has been deposited all these years making the passage constricted and shallow. It should not be trampled upon. It should be left where it has always been.

But, the most important political will to be acted upon by government and our political leaders is for this country to have a manageable population. For a country of scattered islands inhabited by mostly poor people, having a population of over 90 million and still growing is unproductive. The surging population of the country has resulted to more poor people. Millions of Filipinos suffer from poverty due to large and unplanned families. Unless we give priority to the problem of balooning population, every effort to counter poverty would be pointless

It is, therefore, of paramount importance that the Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008 should be approved and implemented.

Unless political leaders take the risk of incurring the ire of the Catholic Church hierarchy and take the chances of losing the mighty catholic votes during elections, by considering more the welfare of the people rather than their own personal interests, then, forever, we will continue struggling and suffering the ignominious fate of being an impoverished nation.

Malaysian Forestry Department Studies RFID

Seeking a system to help it satisfy EU regulations, the government agency recently completed a project using EPC Gen 2 tags to track the movement of logs through the supply chain.

A forestry department employee reads the RFID tags of a felled tree.

Report: Myanmar timber still smuggled to China

By GRANT PECK (AP) – 5 days ago

BANGKOK — There has been a sharp decline in timber illegally imported into China from Myanmar, but smugglers are still supplying Chinese companies that export the wood to Europe, America and throughout the world, an environmental watchdog agency said Wednesday.

The British-based group Global Witness, in a report issued Wednesday, called on Chinese and Myanmar authorities to step up efforts to stop illegal logging in northern Myanmar and crack down on illicit cross-border trade. ”Clearly action taken by authorities in China and Burma to combat illegal logging in Kachin state has had a significant positive impact,” Global Witness quotes its forest policy expert, Jon Buckrell, saying. “But they should do more to close down the remaining industry, which is almost wholly reliant on the illegal timber supply from Burma.”

After an October 2005 report by Global Witness alleged that vast stretches of virgin forest were being destroyed to feed China’s growing demand for wood, Beijing sought to curb the trade by closing border crossings to timber trucks from its southern neighbor. The military government of Myanmar — also known as Burma — announced it had suspended timber cutting, transport and shipments to China.

In the 2005 report, Global Witness described the area where the forests were being cut as “very possibly the most bio-diverse, rich, temperate area on earth” — a place home to red pandas, leopards and tigers. It said that China depended largely on imported lumber from Malaysia, Russia, Myanmar, Indonesia and Gabon after it banned the felling of its own old-growth trees in 1998.

China became the biggest foreign investor in Myanmar this past year, and is the closest ally of its military regime, which is shunned by the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. The new report, “A Disharmonious Trade,” said trade data showed that imports of logs and sawed wood from Myanmar to China fell by more than 70 percent between 2005 and 2008, confirming a trend found by the group’s own field investigations.

But smugglers use “bribery, false papers, transportation at night and avoiding checkpoints” to get around the restrictions on sending the wood to China, the report said. China’s Foreign Ministry and Myanmar’s Forestry Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Global Witness said its researchers had visited flooring companies on China’s east coast to gauge the availability of timber from Myanmar, and found widespread use of teak from Myanmar, along with other high value species such as black walnut.

Global Witness said its investigators were told by 13 of the 14 firms visited that it was still possible for them to obtain timber from Myanmar despite the import restrictions, and that several admitted that their supplies were obtained through smuggling. The report said the Chinese companies export worldwide, including to the United States and Europe. It said some U.S. based companies advertise wood flooring from Myanmar, although under a U.S. law amended by Congress last year, the Lacey Act, it is illegal to import illegally obtained plants and their products, including timber and wood products.

Source :  The Associated Press. 22.10.2009