Business & Lifestyle

Seandainya Anda menyimpan uang di bank sebesar Rp. 5 juta dengan bunga 10%/tahun maka dalam 7 tahun uang Anda menjadi Rp. 9,7 juta, karena bunga berbunga.
Seandainya uang yang Rp. 5 juta itu diinvestasikan dengan menanam tanaman sengon/albazia falcate varietas Solomon maka uang itu akan menjadi Rp. 765 juta atau 2100%/tahun.
Dengan modal Rp. 5 juta, dapat menanam tanaman sengon sebanyak 1.000 batang dengan jarak tanam 3 m x 3 m.
Pada tahun ke-3 sudah dapat dipanen berupa kayu jenjing/sengon dengan melakukan penjarangan sebanyak 500 pohon (50%).
Hasil penjarangan ini dapat dijual dengan harga Rp. 500.000/m3, sehingga kita peroleh Rp. 62.500.000. Baru tahun ketiga modal sudah kembali berlipat-lipat sebanyak 12 kali lipat.
Sisanya dibiarkan tumbuh sampai berumur 7 tahun. Setelah penjarangan jarak tanaman pohon albazia menjadi 6 m x 6 m, pertumbuhan tanaman albazia menjadi sangat cepat

The Indonesia Governance has  push to become the world’s largest supplier of palm oil and a major pulp and paper exporter has taken a heavy toll on the rainforests and peatlands of Sumatra, reveals a new assessment of the island’s forest cover by WWF.

The assessment, based on analysis of satellite imagery, shows Sumatra has lost nearly half of its natural forest cover since 1985. The island’s forests were cleared and converted at a rate of 542,000 hectares, or 2.1 percent, per year. More than 80 percent of forest loss occurred in lowland areas, where the most biodiverse and carbon-dense ecosystems are found.

Forest loss was most extensive in Riau, which lost 63 percent or 4.4 million hectares of its 6.9 million hectares of forest cover between 1985 and 2009, followed by South Sumatra, which lost 2.4 million hectares or 69 percent of its 1985 forest cover; Jambi (1.7 million hectares – 53 percent of its 1985 forest cover), and North Sumatra (1.4 million hectares – 43 percent of its 1985 forest cover). Deforestation accelerated in Riau, Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra during the 2000s, relative to the 1990s. Riau accounted for nearly half of Sumatra’s total forest loss between 2000 and 2009.

According to the report, industrial oil palm and wood-pulp plantations are major drivers of deforestation in Sumatra. WWF cites continued expansion of pulp and paper plantations under the massive “Mega Pulp Project” as “the top threat” to the island’s remaining forests. The group says the project is more destructive than the notorious Mega Rice Project, which laid waste to over 900,000 hectares of peatlands in Central Kalimantan during the 1990s, yet failed to produce rice.

“Already totaling more than 2.2 million ha today, built on much deeper peat, and continuously expanding, Sumatra’s ‘Mega Pulp Project’ is a climate disaster far worse than the ex Mega Rice Project,” states the report.

“Sumatra’s ‘Mega Pulp Project’ includes close to two million hectares of >0.5m deep peat, of which at least 850,000 ha are 4 to 8 m deep and an additional 330,000 ha are 2 to 4 m deep (Table 6, Map 9). 65% (1.5 million ha) of the total area have already been deforested for development of severely draining pulpwood plantations. The remaining 35% (0.8 million ha) were still covered by natural forest in 2008/9 but could be converted any time.”

WWF notes that all pulp wood concessions in Riau, which accounts for 70 percent of the area converted for the Mega Pulp, supply the mills of the Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and APRIL. Both paper products brands have been criticized by environmental groups for deforestation, but APP is currently under intense pressure for its supplier’s plan to convert large blocks of natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape, an area of forest that supports endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers, and serves as a reintroduction site for Sumatran orangutans. In recent corporate social responsibility reports, APP has tried to downplay the concerns by focusing on the status of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, an area of protected forest near the concession areas. APP maintains its suppliers operate within the law and do not clear forests within the national park.

“strongly supports the use of forest land for conservation, community use and development of indigenous species.”

In Kalimantan on the island of Borneo the local indigenous people are worried about an Australian-backed project to protect the forests. Kalimantan is part of Indonesia which is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters because of logging, forest fires and the drying out of peat swamps.( MARK COLVIN)

During his recent trip to the country the US president Barack Obama promised $700 million for climate change and forest conservation projects.

Australia has committed $120 million towards two forest projects. But indigenous people in Kalimantan fear the project there will deny them access to their traditional customs and livelihoods.

Jennifer Macey reports.

JENNIFER MACEY: Muliadi is a member of the Dayak tribe in central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. For as long as he can remember his people have used the forests for their livelihood and traditions.

MULIADI (translated): I perform all the activities a Dayak will. You know I will farm and I will grow a bit of crash crop. I go fishing. I love fishing. And when I fish I only take what’s enough for my needs. I will not take everything just because you know I can fetch more money. That’s not the Dayak way.

JENNIFER MACEY: During the late 1990s many of the peat swamps that Muliadi depends on were drained to make way for the mega-rice scheme under the former president Suharto.

Now the Australian Government is funding a project to protect and restore 100,000 hectares of this peat swamp forest. It’s a pilot REDD project or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation.

But Muliadi is worried that once again his community is not being consulted about the design or the potential impact of this project.

MULIADI (translated): With the REDD project although its intention to reduce carbon emissions seems good. But for us the indigenous local community we are losing our rights to the land and forest. And of course we will be protesting to try and regain the access and use of this area.

You know to date we are still unclear as to what our customary rights are in relation to the project site. And that’s an issue that we are really worried about.

JENNIFER MACEY: So have you spoken to an Australian official?

MULIADI (translated): No, no. We have not spoken with anybody from Australia that are involved in the REDD project where we can air our concerns.

JENNIFER MACEY: Australia has committed $120 million to fund two pilot REDD projects in Indonesia, one in Kalimantan and one in Jambi province on the island of Sumatra. This is part of Australia’s financial commitment to help developing countries tackle climate change under the Copenhagen Accord – also known as fast start finance.

But Arie Rompas the executive director of the NGO WALHI in Central Kalimantan says he doubts the projects will make much difference. He says the rights of indigenous people are largely being ignored in the REDD deals.

ARIE ROMPAS (translated): REDD sounds good on paper. But in central Kalimantan the government has already permitted to convert about 2.1 million hectare of land and forests into oil palm and mining. And that has led to massive destruction of forest.

So it is an illusion to think that one small, little REDD project is going to make any difference, both to reduce carbon pollution in Indonesia and also globally.

JENNIFER MACEY: So far Norway has made the biggest commitment to Indonesia, promising $1 billion in return for a two-year moratorium on logging.

But Teguh Surya the campaigns director for WAHLI says countries like Norway and Australia should first reduce their own emissions at home.

TEGUH SURYA (translated): Australia is a key importer of timber from Indonesia. You have a commitment to ban illegal timber here. But until now you have not acted on it.

And as long as there is a demand for illegal timber, illegal logging will continue in Indonesia. So that’s one of the issues that needs to be addressed which will be a lot more easier and clearer than a complex project like REDD.

JENNIFER MACEY: PM contacted the Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet but there’s been no response.

Earlier this year Neil Scotland the coordinator of the Indonesia-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership told PM the REDD projects are an opportunity to manage these forests sustainably. He maintains that the poor communities who live next to these forests will benefit from the climate change funding.