The fires in Indonesia this year are the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century (so far). An area of about 2.5 million hectares of forest and peatland burned. Visibility was reduced to 30 metres in places. At least 19 people died. By the end of October, there were 500,000 cases of respiratory tract infections.
Tag: Deforestation
Who watches the watchmen? RSPO’s greenwashing and fraudulent reports exposed
A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Grassroots exposes serious problems in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s certification system. Auditing firms that are supposed to monitor palm oil companies’ operations are colluding with the companies to hide violations.
“The trees were burning all around us. We had to turn around because it was too hot to continue”
“Instead of thick jungle… The smoke is so thick. The trees were burning all around us. We had to turn around because it was too hot to continue. We stopped next to a huge swathe of land that was scorched black. The trees had been cut and stacked up in piles like a dozen funeral…
New forest legislation in the Democratic Republic of Congo puts credibility of REDD at stake
On 25 September 2015, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo passed a new Ministerial Order (Arrêté 050) that creates a new category of artisanal logging concessions. The law was passed without public consultation, but will have severe impacts on local communities and forests in the country.
Can REDD save Indonesia’s peatlands from burning?
The Straits Times reports that the bill for this year’s fires in Indonesia could be as high as US$33 billion, citing preliminary estimates by President Joko Widodo’s administration.