DeforestAction: Project Borneo

Well done steve! Thanks for all the extra resources.

Great job Pete!!!

Also please see the Australian Orangutan Project website-
http://www.orangutan.org.au/
Thanks everyone :-)

Hi guys. I have a few links to add that will take you to some very important and helpful websites to do with palm oil, illegal logging in Kalimantan and gold mining on the Sekonya River. Please visit them and also post on your facebook page for all your contacts to see the damage we are doing.
Palm oil: http://www.palmoilaction.org.au

Gold mining: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0824-hance_gold_komodo.html

Thanks Pete and Fabrice! Fabrice, it means that for one year, starting in February 2012, I will be conducting research with the Faculty of Forestry at Bogor Agricultural University (in the Graduate Department of Tropical Biodiversity Conservation) and working on the ground in West Kalimantan, Borneo with the villages surrounding Gunung Palung National Park. Gunung Palung is home to the single largest population of orangutans left on Earth, yet it is gravely threatened. Nearly 40% was logged between 1988 and 2002 alone! In this case, not because of unscrupulous corporations - though that threat is constantly on the horizon - but because of deep poverty. The villagers around the Park have few livelihood activities that don't involve destroying the Park forests to survive. My work will be with the local NGO, Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (or "Yayasan Palung," in Bahasa), in helping them to improve and expand their conservation education and alternative livelihood initiatives in all the villages surrounding the Park. Yayasan Palung, quite sadly, is the only organization working to protect Gunung Palung. I will also be training Park officials in GIS to help them map, monitor, and protect the rich natural resources of the Park. Can we even fathom what it will be like to lose Gunung Palung? It's happening. I feel ill-equipped to help these communities in the meaningful, economically-tangible way that they truly need. This is why I am pouring my heart and soul into my candidacy for Project Borneo 3d. To learn from the one man who can teach me how to restore an area economically as much as ecologically. To work beside all of you and to make difference before it's too late.

Steve, sounds like a life-changing experience and bringing your GIS skills will be a great addition. I used to work in Indonesia for the 2004 tsunami reconstruction effort and the government deals with GIS and remote-sensing techniques but not in the most efficient way...Having external input from you will be more than welcome for the local communities. You must me thrilled!

How do you know that you have correctly submitted your clip and that it is being viewed to go on? I'd also like to say congratulations to all the amazing people who are having a go.. it's great to see so much enthusiasm!

Hi Iccus, Taking it Global should send you an email as soon as your video is live, and you can start voting on it and collecting views straight away! Also, when you are on your video's page and signed in, click on "edit submission" which should take you to a menu where you can choose if you want comments to be available. Good luck! I hope that helps!

Also peeps, I've just started a thread on the United Nation's "Reduction of emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degredation" (REDD) programme, which is now REDD (the plus bit adds the pledge "to promote conservation and the sustainable management of forests, and...[to enhance] forest carbon stocks.")

Check it out at http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/445481

Kudos to Tom for starting a very important thread topic! REDD definitely deserves a thread of its own. That being said, there is quite a bit of tie in with the moratorium and other attempts to account for nature in the global economy. I encourage you to also check out (and weigh in on!) the thread: "Accounting for Nature in the Global Economy: Why We Must, and How Can We?"

Check it out at: http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/444735

Guys and gals, HUGE palm oil news today - this time relating to the role of world financial institutions. In a matter of just days, the World Bank Group (WBG)'s President Robert Zoellick is expected to decide whether to lift a global moratorium on WBG palm oil investment. The moratorium was instituted last year as a result of the findings of a 2009 internal audit triggered by civil society concerns. The WBG's engagement in the palm oil sector - IF done right - has potential to contribute to poverty reduction and social and environmental sustainability in SE Asia and elsewhere. If done poorly (e.g., if investment strategies lack free, prior and informed consent for local communities, have no clear, measurable objects tied to poverty reduction, etc.) the WBG's lifting of the moratorium could open the FLOODGATES to investments that cause further environmental and social harm to already badly-effected regions.

I encourage everyone to read this most informative article by NextBillion. It has tons of links embedded within it, and helps provide a more balanced perspective on the pros AND cons of palm oil development:
http://www.nextbillion.net/blog/2011/03/30/the-world-bank-group-palm-oil-and-poverty

Thanks Steve for another great link!

Keep up the good work guys

Article about the project and myself:
http://marlton.sunne.ws/2011/03/31/the-great-apes-and-peter/

satellite images always put into perspective what's really happening...
Check out the devastation in Sarawak forests HERE

Speaking of the devastation of Sarawak, here's a rare but AWESOME victory that will make you smile. A community in Malaysian Borneo just seized an oil palm plantation belonging to the IOI Group after the palm oil giant failed to respect the terms of a court ruling that the plantation was established on native customary land. Just look at their pure elation! Young and old, men, women and children alike!

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0331-sarawak_ioi_longteran.html

Another article about Project Borneo 3D!
http://www.newssun.com/040111-sg-Ape-documentary

Hey guys,

As a psychologist, I'm very interested in methods of communication methods. There has just been a great release from Futerra (a great communications agency that works on sustainability) about biodiversity.

http://www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/Branding_Biodiversity.pdf

Have a read!

Love Action = Public change
Need Action = Policy change

thanks for all the link guys, very interesting and informative!
good luck to everyone entered!

Would just like to thank my principal, school admin and students for all of their support in my DeforestAction mission! Check out our school sign! http://www.flickr.com/photos/61345818@N05/5588109812/

HOwdy all selemat Malam, New Blog entry up at - http://mickytort.tigblog.org/ - check out the lates from the Kinabatangan in Sabah Borneo

Tom that is an unreal idea! I'm drawing on my hand as we speak! Will get all my students to do it too! This network is SOOOO great.. it's so exciting to meet inspirational people like yourself!

P.S. I have loved watching everyone's videos.. your passion is infectious to all that watch it.. and that makes a difference:)

Thank you Iccus :-) If I can get some time off work and revision tomorrow, I'm planning on wearing my orang-utan suit to town armed with pens and a camera! mygreenfinger is such a great campaign, and there are so many exciting and enthusiastic people out there.

Can't wait to see the photos from your class!

Big.Love

Hey all, I finally got around to fully updating the thread on Indonesia's "moratorium" on new forest concessions (a thread for details discussion). The moratorium, which is you may know is part of the second phase of REDD , has HUGE implications for wildlife, the global climate, and the rural communities that have called this land home for generations. Done right, it is a great reason for hope. Done poorly, we could actually end up subsidizing the destruction we are seeking to halt. Nevertheless, REDD is the ONLY macro-scale framework for preserving these forests for the benefit of people and wildlife alike. Unlike Tom's broader thread on REDD , this applies specifically to Indonesia and the moratorium. Pay the thread a visit, and check out the scores of links embedded within it. I've ordered them sequentially to give you all a sense of the progress over the past 1-2 years. 2010 was a huge year, and I believe you all will find many of these articles quite eye-opening. I encourage you to read up and to add your voice! Best of luck everybody {:(|)

http://discuss.tigweb.org/thread/445341

Another article about myself and Project Borneo 3D! Keep spreading that conservation message!
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/stockton-grad-hopes-to-head-to-south-seas-to-work/article_ff3f6a39-6b22-58fa-873e-7ed4b849367a.html

Howdy All here are some shots from my current trip In Sabah Borneo - http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb321/RasTorty/
Please feel free to share

Hi all, I just submitted my video :) I'm from Indonesia and I'm truly grateful for all of your enthusiasm in conserving Borneo. We, the youths, are surely the brighter future!!

As I mentioned in my video, the deforestation in Indonesia is largely caused by the corrupt political and economic system, and the violation of legal requirements as well. Sinar Mas, is the name of the corporation which conducts the major destruction in Borneo. Could we somehow ban this company LOL.

@williemm thank youu :)

I just found this community and I'm very optimistic that we can make a change together! The way I see this Project Borneo is not limited merely to Borneo's scope.
I believe that this project is held in Borneo to stressed out the vital in saving orangutans. But I also believe that we are all here to save the trees, the environment.
Indonesia is the world's lung. Indonesia is placed the third as the highest producer of carbon emission. No, it's not because we are having an industry revolution here, but it is because of the deforestation. Yep, that acute.
When we have completed our mission in Borneo, I would like to encourage us to save more of our world's lungs.
The severe deforestation in Sumatra (island beside Borneo)has priced the Sumatran tiger categorized as the soon-to-be extinct animal. The elephants are having a hard time there too. When I read a recent headline "Elephants Attacked Human Again", the way I read it was: "Human Disturbs Elephants' Habitat Again".
Not to mention the "invasion" by Freeport McMoran in West Papua (one of the biggest islands; no 1 producer of gold, timber in the world). They have been destroying basically everything there. It's pretty much caused by the power and politics, that they are untouchable. They have been there for freaking 50ish years and still is going to be there until 2041. I'm telling you again, the destruction here in Indonesia is so much related with the politics and law tricks. West Papua is one good example, lemme know if you would like to know the history back from 1965, relating to Free-aking-port McMoran and our Law on Foreign Investment.

That is the point of view of an environmentalist with a law background. LOL. In conclusion, we still have lotsa homework to do. So, let's chop chop chop! LOL