----- Original Message ----- From: Mark Schoonvliet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: alloprimate <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 8:01 PM Subject: [alloprimate] URGENT ACTION REQUIRED TO SAVE LEUSER
> > Subject: URGENT ACTION REQUIRED TO SAVE LEUSER > > > Dear Colleagues > > > 1. The Leuser Ecosystem, one of the most important conservation areas on > earth, is now threatened with destruction. > 2. The provincial government of Aceh, supported by local governments > around the Leuser Ecosystem, is pushing ahead with a major road network > called 'Ladia Galaska' that will eventually lead to the destruction of > all high biodiversity areas in Leuser. After a meeting in Jakarta on > 26th November 2002, the provincial government of Aceh got approval from > the ministers of the central government, against the advice of concerned > NGO's, to go ahead with the controversial road development plans. (The > meeting was attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of > Infrastructure Development, Minister of Forestry, and Minister of > Environment, Governor of Aceh, regents of local governments in Aceh, > SKEPHI [the Indonesian NGO's Network for Forest Conservation], AMAN > [Alliance of Traditional Peoples of the Archipelago], Conservation > International-Indonesia, Leuser International Foundation, and Leuser > Management Unit). > > 3. Since some of the local governments do not follow the laws over > proper environmental impact assessments (EIA's), only intervention by > the President of Indonesia, through lobbying by NGO's and the donor > community, can prevent the destruction of Leuser. > > 4. Current roads through Leuser have already led to uncontrolled logging > that has led to floods that, in turn, have caused major destruction of > public infrastructure and loss of lives. USAID was the first donor > agency to fund roads through Leuser in 1982 that split the Mount Leuser > National Park in two, leading to uncontrolled illegal settlements inside > the National Park, as well as an ever expanding wave of encroachment, > illegal logging and poaching of endangered species. > > 5. The Ladia Galaska road network will not solve the 'Aceh problem', but > will lead to wasted investments through rampant corruption. > > 6. A major international meeting is scheduled for December 3rd 2002 in > Tokyo as a "Preparatory meeting for the rehabilitation and > reconstruction of Aceh", to be attended by at least 23 countries and > co-sponsored by Japan, the USA and the World Bank. The meeting is an > incentive to the Government of Indonesia and the armed separatist Free > Aceh Movement (GAM) to sign a peace deal on 9th December 2002. > > 7. Without pressure on the donor countries to support sustainable > development in Aceh conditional upon there being no destruction of the > Leuser Ecosystem, corrupt local governments in Aceh will substitute > their own state funds and push ahead with the road networks that will > destroy Leuser. For example, a Japanese agency (JBIC) funded a bridge at > Runding in Aceh Singkil in 2002 that leads straight into the Singkil > Swamp Wildlife Reserve. This will allow direct access for illegal > loggers to log the swamp forest that contains 46% of the bird species of > Sumatra and the largest single population of the Sumatran orang-utan. > Although JBIC is currently being sued by PHBI and SKEPHI, donors can > hide their irresponsibility behind corrupt governments. > > 8. An alliance of local NGO's in Indonesia has been formed to campaign > against the new road projects in Leuser. Since it is a political issue > to go ahead with the roads, they need more support from international > NGO's and concerned individuals to lobby the donors. > > 9. Please lend your support to Leuser by writing a short, polite letter > to your own government leaders or the Ambassadors of the sponsoring > countries requesting a commitment from the donors that no funds will be > provided unless the provincial and local governments in Aceh commit to > stopping all destruction and degradation of their natural forests, > ncluding the Leuser Ecosystem. If possible, please put a cc to the > President of Indonesia and the Governor of Aceh. Copies of your letters > can also be sent to SKEPHI, the Indonesian Forest Protection NGO that is > helping to co-ordinate the campaign in Indonesia: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or > Fax No. 62-21-7981766, or Kompleks Liga Mas Indah. Blok E-I/3, Duren > Tiga, Pancoran, Jakarta 12760, for attention of Hasjrul Junaid. > > 10. Then forward this e-mail to as many concerned individuals, reporters > and NGO networks that you can as soon as possible. Please send the > letters even if it is after the date of the first meeting on December > 3rd as there will be follow-up meetings afterwards. The local > governments in Aceh are already pushing ahead with the roads on the > ground, so your letters count, as soon as possible. > > 11. Please also be positive to support aid for the reconstruction of the > war-stricken Aceh, through proper sustainable development, to help > alleviate the decades of suffering of the Acehnese people, but request > that this support be conditional upon no destruction of the environment. > > 12. A briefing document is provided in the attached file. This document > contains some sensitive information required to understand the > background and is not for general distribution in Indonesia. Local > customs strongly discourage direct criticisms of individuals, and all > letters copied to government officials should respect this. > > > Thank you for your anticipated action. > > Yarrow Robertson > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > alloprimate will not allow negative comments about individuals, > institutions, or organizations. > > *Bushmeat Awareness Group* > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BushmeatAwarenessGroup> > > Please use the address <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> when posting to alloprimate. > > Replies to alloprimate posts automatically set the address field to > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Be CAREFUL with personal replies! > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > _______________________________________________ Envorum mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.lead.or.id/mailman/listinfo/envorum
