location: North Sulawesi

location: North Sulawesi

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Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- Ermi Mauke, 73, has spent the past 40 years planting a mix of trees on the fringe of Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park in eastern Indonesia’s Gorontalo province.
- Small farmers here have produced palm sugar for centuries using traditional techniques, but their labor-intensive methods face challenges.
- Ermi’s self-taught agroforestry system yields varied food commodities that help meet her family’s daily needs while safeguarding the landscape.

To win island-wide conservation, Indonesia’s Talaud bear cuscus needs to win hearts
- The Talaud bear cuscus is a secretive species believed to inhabit only four islands in Indonesia.
- Listed as critically endangered, the animal has been driven to the brink of extinction by overhunting and habitat loss.
- Conservationists are working with local youths, traditional and religious leaders, and community members on Salibabu Island to change the perception of the species.

Indonesia’s Sangihe islanders score legal victory over mining company
- Residents of Sangihe Island in Indonesia have won a lawsuit against a Canadian-backed company planning to mine gold on their island.
- In its ruling, the court in the city of Manado declared the environmental permit issued to miner PT Tambang Mas Sangihe (TMS) and ordered the local government to revoke it.
- The judges found that the permit was issued without following the proper procedures, and that the environmental impact analysis was inadequate.
- The victory comes a month after another court, in Jakarta, rejected a separate lawsuit by the villagers seeking to have TMS’s mining contract revoked; the court said the case was outside its jurisdiction.

Court setback doesn’t sway Indonesian villagers fighting a mining firm
- Residents of remote Sangihe Island in Indonesia will mount an appeal after their lawsuit against a company planning to mine gold on their island was thrown out by a court on a technicality.
- Their case centered on concerns that the operations of PT Tambang Mas Sangihe (TMS), linked to Canada-based Baru Gold Corp., would cause widespread destruction on their island home.
- They alleged in their lawsuit that there were several administrative violations that should have nullified the contract issued to TMS by the government, but the court said the matter was out of its jurisdiction.
- The same court issued a similar dismissal in a previous case involving a coal-mining company, but an appeal by the plaintiffs in that instance led to the company’s permit being revoked; given that precedent, the Sangihe islanders say they still have a fighting chance.

New shrews just dropped: Sulawesi yields up 14 freshly described species
- A new study has described 14 new species of shrew endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
- The shrews, all from the genus Crocidura, were identified from 1,368 specimens collected from 2010-2018 on 12 mountains and in two lowland areas across Sulawesi.
- This gives the island a much richer diversity of Crocidura shrew life than others in the Indonesian archipelago, which the researchers attribute to the varied landscape.
- They add it’s likely that even more species have yet to be described, and say there needs to be more research into Sulawesi’s biodiversity.

Calls for independent probe after anti-mine Indonesian official dies
- Helmud Hontong, deputy head of the Sangihe Islands district in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, who was a staunch opponent of a planned gold mine in the district, died under mysterious circumstances on a commercial flight last week.
- Human rights and environmental activists have called for an independent investigation into Hontong’s sudden death, saying it might be connected to his stance against the concession that covers nearly three-fifths of the district’s land area.
- Hontong’s death is the latest in a disturbing pattern of environmental defenders dying under suspicious circumstances in Indonesia.
- Environmentalists say they’re worried that the mining activity will lead to ecological destruction in Sangihe and exacerbate any potential damage from an earthquake in this seismically active region.

Rescue of rare white tarsier raises fears of habitat loss, illegal pet trade
- Conservation authorities in Indonesia have rescued a baby tarsier from a fruit garden in the island of Sulawesi.
- The Gursky’s spectral tarsier has been diagnosed with leucism, a condition similar to albinism, which gives it bright white fur.
- The discovery has prompted mounting calls from conservationists for the protection of the rescued tarsier against wildlife traffickers and its habitat against degradation.

In Indonesia’s provinces, ditching coal for renewables would cut carbon and costs: study
- Contrary to often-used arguments that fossil fuels are cheaper than renewable energy in Indonesia, a recent analysis found that shifting to renewables could actually cut both emissions and costs.
- The analysis, part of a joint Indonesian-Danish energy program, was conducted in four Indonesian provinces. It found that if those provinces fully developed their potential renewable energy sources, they could save up to 11.5 million tons of CO2 by 2030 and nearly 40 trillion rupiah (US$2.8 billion) each year.
- Each of the four provinces — North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, South Kalimantan and Riau — has significant potential for renewable energy generation, but local governments currently plan to rely on fossil fuels like coal to meet long-term energy demand.

In Indonesia, a project meant to boost livelihoods has left locals behind
- In Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, work is underway to develop a special economic zone (SEZ) that will connect this remote region to the global economy.
- Plans for the SEZ include a highway linking the port of Bitung to the provincial capital, Manado; a seaport expansion to rival Jakarta’s; an industrial zone; and an airport.
- The development risks fragmenting the habitat of endangered and endemic species like the black macaque. Hundreds of families have also been relocated without compensation to make way for the project.

Protection flip-flop leaves rare Indonesian shrikethrush in harm’s way
- The Sangihe shrikethrush is an elusive songbird found only on a single remote island in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province.
- The species, which numbers less than 300 in the wild, was one of hundreds granted protected status by the Indonesian government earlier this year.
- But the government inexplicably struck it from the list soon after, leaving wildlife activists concerned that the lack of protection will harm efforts to conserve the species.
- Activists say one workaround would be to push for protective measures by local authorities.

Indonesia, a top plastic polluter, mobilizes 20,000 citizens to clean up the mess
- On a Sunday last August, thousands of Indonesians gathered at 76 locations across the Southeast Asian country to participate in a massive cleanup of plastic trash.
- Government officials and NGO activists hoped the event would raise awareness about plastic pollution, especially among the youth.
- Indonesia is the world’s second-largest plastic polluter, with 10 billion plastic bags in the country alone dumped into the environment each year.

Fire a rising threat to Sulawesi’s black macaques
- Almost half of the black macaques on Sulawesi island live in the Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve, which is still home to ancient forest.
- Hunting of the macaques has declined, and the local population is showing signs of a rebound.
- But fires set by local people to clear land for planting is seen as a major threat to the species.

Struggle against mining on Bangka Island continues despite wins in court
- Pulau Bangka lies off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, in one of the world’s most biodiverse marine areas.
- In 2008, a local official granted mining company PT Migroko Metal Perdana a permit to explore the area for iron ore.
- Indonesia’s Supreme Court ruled that the permit should be revoked, but the local government has not executed the order.
- Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has pledged to raise the issue with the president.

64 dead in Indonesia landslides as La Nina brings heavy rains
- Central Java was hit the hardest, with 59 people confirmed dead in the province.
- At least five people were killed in the Sangihe Islands in Sulawesi.
- An environment ministry adviser is calling for natural resource extraction in Java, the world’s most crowded island, to be reigned in.

Indonesian village opts to protect mangroves, preserve livelihoods
- In May, the village of Deaga in North Sulawesi agreed to conserve 150 hectares of mangroves, which store huge amounts of carbon.
- Under the terms of the agreement, villagers can still harvest dead mangrove wood and nipa palm leaves for home-building and can pick fruit.
- The villagers want to see the protected area incorporated into the district’s spatial plan to ensure that it is respected.

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