https://news.mongabay.com/list/sumatra/ Environmental science and conservation news Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/sumatra/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/#respond 05 Oct 2023 15:04:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273982 - Air quality in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia have worsened in recent days, with more than a dozen regions recording unhealthy air quality.
- Indonesian officials have denied that fires in their jurisdiction are to blame, and accused their Malaysian counterparts of misreading the data.
- Indonesia dismissed that same source of data in 2019, however, when fires in Sumatra and Borneo also spread to Malaysia and Singapore.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/#respond 05 Oct 2023 14:04:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273958 - Air pollution on Oct. 5 in one area of Palangkaraya far exceeded the level at which air quality is classified dangerous to human health.
- The government of Jambi province has closed schools until Oct. 7, after which it will review whether to reopen for in-person teaching.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sumatran-rhino-birth-is-rare-good-news-for-species-sliding-to-extinction/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sumatran-rhino-birth-is-rare-good-news-for-species-sliding-to-extinction/#respond 03 Oct 2023 08:41:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273783 - The new birth brings the captive population of the species to 10; estimates put the wild population at 34-47 individuals, making Sumatran rhinos one of the world’s most endangered species.
- Each new calf born in captivity signals hope that the species will persist for another generation, but serious problems remain: All of the captive males are closely related, plans to capture more rhinos have stalled, and the existing wild populations are slowly disappearing.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sumatran-rhino-birth-is-rare-good-news-for-species-sliding-to-extinction/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesia-village-forms-coast-guard-to-shield-octopus-in-mentawai-islands/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesia-village-forms-coast-guard-to-shield-octopus-in-mentawai-islands/#respond 03 Oct 2023 05:52:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273771 - Global demand for octopus is expected to outpace supply over the medium term, implying higher dockside prices for many artisanal fishers, if stocks can be managed sustainably.
- Maintenance of local fishing grounds also offers crucial nutritional benefits for remote coastal communities in the Mentawais, where rates of child stunting exceed Indonesia’s national average.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesia-village-forms-coast-guard-to-shield-octopus-in-mentawai-islands/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/sumatran-province-hangs-on-for-late-rain-as-el-nino-fires-bring-heat-and-sickness/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/sumatran-province-hangs-on-for-late-rain-as-el-nino-fires-bring-heat-and-sickness/#respond 28 Sep 2023 16:46:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273723 - In Palembang city, new respiratory infections will likely soon eclipse the total diagnosed in 2022.
- Meteorology officials expect the monsoon to begin in parts of Sumatra and Borneo islands in October, but warn dry conditions will persist in much of Indonesia until November.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/sumatran-province-hangs-on-for-late-rain-as-el-nino-fires-bring-heat-and-sickness/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/experts-slam-massive-discount-in-fines-for-indonesian-palm-oil-billionaire/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/experts-slam-massive-discount-in-fines-for-indonesian-palm-oil-billionaire/#respond 27 Sep 2023 10:14:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273677 - The country’s highest court of appeal upheld the initial conviction of Surya Darmadi for conspiring with a local official to illegally obtain licenses for his oil palm plantation, but cut his fines from $2.7 billion to just $144 million.
- Experts who testified in Surya’s prosecution say the latest ruling sets a bad precedent for future law enforcement against corruption and environmental crimes in the country.
- And without fines, they warn, there can be no efforts to recover the carbon-rich and biodiverse peat ecosystems in Sumatra that Surya’s plantations destroyed.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/experts-slam-massive-discount-in-fines-for-indonesian-palm-oil-billionaire/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-for-palm-oil-continues-in-indonesias-orangutan-capital/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-for-palm-oil-continues-in-indonesias-orangutan-capital/#respond 22 Sep 2023 16:59:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273592 - While new plantations appeared to have not been established yet along the new canal channels, there is a mosaic of illegal oil palm around the locations of the new canal, indicating a future development of palm oil.
- As new canals continue to be dug, deforestation has also picked up, reaching 372 hectares (919 acres) in the first six months of 2023, a 57% increase from the same period in 2022.
- RAN has called on global brands like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever to address the development of new canals and illegal plantations as their supply chains are tainted with illegal palm oil from the wildlife reserve.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-for-palm-oil-continues-in-indonesias-orangutan-capital/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/investors-over-islanders-as-indonesia-uses-force-to-push-development-project/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/investors-over-islanders-as-indonesia-uses-force-to-push-development-project/#respond 21 Sep 2023 16:38:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273528 - Security forces have cracked down hard on the protesters, raising concerns about human rights violations, including the use of rubber bullets and tear gas at a middle school.
- The government has justified its response and its insistence on pushing the project through, saying it’s of strategic national importance and that the investors must be accommodated.
- Critics have pointed out that the government previously championed local residents’ rights when it came to disputes like these, and that the U-turn shows preferential treatment for “big capital” over local communities.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/investors-over-islanders-as-indonesia-uses-force-to-push-development-project/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-leads-to-more-fires-and-toxic-air-pollution-in-indonesia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-leads-to-more-fires-and-toxic-air-pollution-in-indonesia/#respond 15 Sep 2023 17:40:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273374 - Official data show a fourfold increase in hotspots up to September, compared with the same period last year.
- Residents in some major cities like Palembang have fallen ill due to toxic smog from the fires.
- Carbon-rich peatlands, which have been protected and partly restored through government policies and measures, are also burning, with more than 14,000 hotspots detected in peat landscapes in August alone.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-leads-to-more-fires-and-toxic-air-pollution-in-indonesia/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/indonesian-regulator-gets-12-years-jail-for-palm-oil-permit-bribery/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/indonesian-regulator-gets-12-years-jail-for-palm-oil-permit-bribery/#respond 12 Sep 2023 15:16:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273201 - Muhammad Syahrir, formerly the head of the land agencies in Riau and North Maluku provinces, was found guilty of taking the equivalent of $1.38 million in bribes from various companies over the course of five years.
- In addition to the jail sentence, the court also imposed fines totaling $1.5 million; failure to pay could incur additional prison time of up to three and a half years.
- The case has spurred calls for a sweeping evaluation of the permitting process, not just in the palm oil industry, but across all sectors in Indonesia, where bribery is common.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/indonesian-regulator-gets-12-years-jail-for-palm-oil-permit-bribery/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/indonesia-permit-payoff-raises-alarm-about-palm-oil-industry-corruption/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/indonesia-permit-payoff-raises-alarm-about-palm-oil-industry-corruption/#respond 22 Aug 2023 04:08:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272453 - Muhammad Syahrir, formerly the head of the land agencies in Riau and North Maluku provinces, is accused of taking 20.9 billion rupiah ($1.36 million) in bribes from various companies over the course of five years.
- In the case at the center of the trial, Syahrir is alleged to have solicited the equivalent of $228,000 from palm oil company PT Adimulia Agrolestari to renew its right-to-cultivate permit, known as an HGU.
- Environmental law experts say the secrecy around HGU permits is what allows corruption to flourish, and have renewed calls for the government to make the permit data publicly accessible.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/indonesia-permit-payoff-raises-alarm-about-palm-oil-industry-corruption/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/in-sumatras-jambi-community-forest-managers-fish-to-protect-peatlands/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/in-sumatras-jambi-community-forest-managers-fish-to-protect-peatlands/#respond 02 Aug 2023 18:11:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271727 - In 2015, around 80% of the province’s peat forest was damaged during the Southeast Asia wildfire crisis.
- Jambi-based nonprofit KKI Warsi cites the number of peatland canals as the greatest barrier to replenishing the wetland.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/in-sumatras-jambi-community-forest-managers-fish-to-protect-peatlands/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephant-encounters-rattle-farmers-in-indonesias-jambi-province/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephant-encounters-rattle-farmers-in-indonesias-jambi-province/#respond 01 Aug 2023 15:32:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271660 - The two bull elephants were translocated in an effort to get them to breed with local females.
- Only 924-1,359 elephants are thought to remain in the wilds of Sumatra, a decline of more than half over a decade prior.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephant-encounters-rattle-farmers-in-indonesias-jambi-province/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/worlds-top-sovereign-fund-latest-to-cut-ties-with-dam-in-orangutan-habitat/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/worlds-top-sovereign-fund-latest-to-cut-ties-with-dam-in-orangutan-habitat/#respond 31 Jul 2023 15:37:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271607 - The dam is being built by a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned multinational Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd. (PowerChina) in the only known habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan, a species with a total population of less than 800.
- The Norwegian pension fund’s ethics council launched an investigation into the project and concluded that it will “have a destructive and permanent impact on the environment, which will pose a serious threat to the survival of this orangutan species as well as other critically endangered species.”
- Environmentalists say Norway’s recommendation further reinforces the risks the dam project poses on the orangutan and should prompt the project’s main backers, the Chinese and Indonesian governments, to abandon the project.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/worlds-top-sovereign-fund-latest-to-cut-ties-with-dam-in-orangutan-habitat/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/in-indonesias-aceh-indigenous-communities-seek-recognition-of-their-forest-rights/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/in-indonesias-aceh-indigenous-communities-seek-recognition-of-their-forest-rights/#respond 28 Jul 2023 16:48:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271551 - Thirteen Indigenous communities in Aceh are seeking recognition of their rights to 144,497 hectares (357,060 acres) of customary forests, an area nearly the size of London.
- The Ministry of Environment and Forestry says there are still some challenges, like unclear boundaries, that could prevent the issuance of the legal titles for the customary forests.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/in-indonesias-aceh-indigenous-communities-seek-recognition-of-their-forest-rights/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/amid-government-inaction-indonesias-rhinos-head-toward-extinction-analysis/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/amid-government-inaction-indonesias-rhinos-head-toward-extinction-analysis/#respond 27 Jul 2023 18:21:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271484 - The Sumatran rhino is down to fewer than 50 animals in the wild and a much-touted capture program has only caught a single female, which still hasn’t been put into a breeding program.
- Meanwhile, new evidence points to overcounting of the Javan rhino population, putting in doubt the health of its population.
- Experts say the rhinos’ predicament is in part due to a lack of will or a willingness to take risks by the Indonesian government.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/amid-government-inaction-indonesias-rhinos-head-toward-extinction-analysis/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/muslim-womens-group-to-reopen-oxygen-homes-if-indonesia-wildfires-intensify/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/muslim-womens-group-to-reopen-oxygen-homes-if-indonesia-wildfires-intensify/#respond 24 Jul 2023 23:49:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270906 - This year as El Niño strengthens, ‘Aisyiyah will advise members to reopen the facilities for the young, old and those most susceptible to air pollution generated by wildfires.
- The volunteers will also work to raise awareness in the community on how families can best protect themselves.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/muslim-womens-group-to-reopen-oxygen-homes-if-indonesia-wildfires-intensify/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/migrating-orangutan-males-imitate-locals-to-learn-about-food-study/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/migrating-orangutan-males-imitate-locals-to-learn-about-food-study/#respond 19 Jul 2023 04:22:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271044 - The researchers have dubbed the behavior learning skill as “peering” and describe it as when migrant male orangutans intensively observe over a period of time a certain local they have chosen as a role model.
- The scientists analyzed data of hundreds of Sumatran and Bornean orangutans in research stations in Aceh and Central Kalimantan.
- Indonesia is home to the world’s three orangutan species: Sumatran, Tapanuli (P. tapanuliensis) and Bornean orangutans.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/migrating-orangutan-males-imitate-locals-to-learn-about-food-study/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/indonesia-peatlands-peat-carbon-protected-sumatra-kalimantan-borneo-papua-85-brg/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/indonesia-peatlands-peat-carbon-protected-sumatra-kalimantan-borneo-papua-85-brg/#respond 06 Jul 2023 01:42:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270567 ]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/indonesia-peatlands-peat-carbon-protected-sumatra-kalimantan-borneo-papua-85-brg/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/jokowi-focuses-on-el-nino-as-indonesias-dry-season-heats-up/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/jokowi-focuses-on-el-nino-as-indonesias-dry-season-heats-up/#respond 05 Jul 2023 14:35:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270581 - Dry season conditions had emerged in 52% of Indonesian territory by early July, according to the country’s weather forecaster.
- Officials hope reforms enacted since the 2015 disaster will lessen the severity of wildfires as El Niño conditions become more pronounced.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/jokowi-focuses-on-el-nino-as-indonesias-dry-season-heats-up/feed/ 0