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Banda Aceh, TAG – Some environmental organizations on Thursday welcomed a landmark new precedent as Meulaboh court in west Aceh capital found palm oil company PT Kalista Alam guilty of illegally burning forests within Tripa peat swamps.
Banda Aceh, TAG – Some environmental organizations on Thursday welcomed a landmark new precedent as Meulaboh court in west Aceh capital found palm oil company PT Kalista Alam guilty of illegally burning forests within Tripa peat swamps.
“This is a clear message to companies
working in Aceh who think they can destroy protected forests and get away with
it” said Muhammad Nur, the Chairman of WALHI Aceh, in a joint statement
obtained by The Aceh Globe in Banda Aceh.
According to chief judge, Rahmawati, PT
Kalista Alam was found in breach of National Law No 32/2009 on Environmental
Protection and Management, for illegal use of fire to clear forests, and
ordered to pay IDR 114.3 billion (approx. USD 9.5 million) as compensation and IDR
251.7 billion (almost 21 USD million) for restoration of the affected forests.
Kamaruddin, a lawyer working with
communities in Tripa region reiterated that the decision should serve as a wake
up call to any company thinking of investing within the Leuser Ecosystem, a
National Strategic Area, that they could suffer the same fate as PT Kalista
Alam.
“It should also be a reminder to others
who deliberately burn forests or allow forest burning within their concessions,
regardless of whether or not they are working inside Ecosystem’s boundaries,
that they could also be prosecuted,” he said.
“The Judge’s decision in this case
clearly illustrates a move towards improved law enforcement against
environmental offenders in the region.”
PT Kalista Alam, first came to
international attention in August 2011, when former Aceh Governor Irwandi
Yusuf, issued a new 1,605 hectares oil palm concession permit within the
legally protected Leuser Ecosystem, an area renowned for hosting the highest densities
of orangutans found anywhere on earth, sparking an international outcry.
Subsequently, over 1.5 million people
signed online petitions calling for greater protection of Aceh’s Forests,
currently under enormous threat due to a controversial new spatial planning law
issued by Aceh’s Parliament on December 27th.
These petitions are further supported by
some of the world’s leading scientists and conservation experts, who have
written to Aceh’s present Governor, Zaini Abdullah, urging him to nominate the
Leuser Ecosystem as a World Heritage Site, due to its unique and irreplaceable
biodiversity.
The Leuser Ecosystem is the only place
on earth where tigers, elephants, rhinos and orangutans can be found living
together in the wild and was listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as
one of the ‘World’s Most Irreplaceable Protected Areas’ in an article in journal
Science, in November 2013.
Dr Ian Singleton, Director of the
Sumatran Orangutran Conservation Programme, highlighted the critical importance
of the area. “Tripa is one of only 3 remaining peat swamp forests left
containing orangutans in Sumatra and its impossible to overstate the importance
of protecting every last hectare of each of them,’ he said.
Orangutan densities can reach as high as
8 per square kilometer in these areas, compared to an average of around only 1
or 2 per square kilometer in dryland forests. These peat swamps have
justifiably been referred to as the ‘orangutan capital of the world’.
The Leuser Ecosystem too, offers the
only real hope of survival for Sumatra’s other key iconic megafauna, the
Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant, as well as its orangutans.
“Yesterday’s ruling is of course
extremely welcome, but the level of interest in Tripa and the Leuser Ecosystem
worldwide shows clearly just how seriously concerned the international
community is right now about the fate of these forests and their globally
important biodiversity”, he said.
“The Leuser Ecosystem provides countless
locally and globally important environmental services too”, said Graham Usher,
Landscape Protection Specialist with the Swiss based PanEco Foundation.
“For Aceh alone these have been valued
in excess of 400 million dollars per year, and the region’s contribution to
mitigating climate change, through its carbon sequestration function probably
stretches into billions of dollars.”
“It is very encouraging that companies
and decision makers destroying these services in Indonesia are finally being
held accountable for the economic damage their illegal activities cause, and
all credit is due to the Ministry of the Environment for their efforts in
prosecuting this case.”
The court’s decision is indeed a huge
victory, and represents one significant step in the right direction. But I
think many more such steps are needed before we will really see a change in the
behaviour of companies and officials,” added Usher.
“Aceh’s Parliament is right now pushing
a new spatial land use plan which they recently legalised with a new Provincial
Government Regulation, known locally as the Qanun RTRW Aceh,” explained
Muhammad Nur.
“The Qanun completely ignores the
protected status of the Leuser Ecosystem, simply so they can open up large
areas of protected forests for road building, mining, palm oil and timber
concessions.”
“This will in effect end Aceh’s chances
for long-term sustainable development, as it will cause further destruction of
critical watersheds, leading to ever more frequent flash floods, landslides, and
other environmental disasters,” he said.
The companies lobbying for this new
plan, and the Aceh Government themselves, should be held accountable for all
the damage that will ensue. We hope yesterday’s result will serve as a strong
warning that if you destroy our forests, we are not afraid to fight back” he
stressed.
“We thank the judge for delivering a
just and fair verdict in this case, and all the people around the world who
have been calling for enforcement of National Laws protecting the Leuser
Ecosystem. This will be a long battle, but it is one we simply cannot afford to
lose, no matter what the cost.” he said.
Yesterday’s
groundbreaking verdict is the result of just one of several civil and criminal
prosecutions underway against PT Kallista Alam and four other oil palm
companies with concessions in Tripa, namely PT. Surya Panen Subur II, PT.
Dua Perkasa Lestari, PT. Gelora Sawita Makmur and PT. Cemerlang Abadi.
Each
faces the possibility of serious financial consequences as a result of their
illegal clearance, burning and drainage of Tripa’s unique peat swamp ecosystem.
Some of company directors and senior management also face the prospect of
prison terms in cases against them for their actions on the ground, the
statement said.[]
Reaction From Activists Over Verdict on PT Kalista Alam
Reviewed by theacehglobe
on
January 09, 2014
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