Guest guest Posted November 13, 2008 Report Share Posted November 13, 2008 --Today for you 32 news articles about earth's trees! (430th edition) http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to email format send blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- --Deane's Daily Treeinspiration texted to your phone via: http://twitter.com/ForestPolicy Index: --Russia: 1) Rare snow leapord finnaly gets some protection, 2) New tariffs postponed, --China: 3) Reforestation con-artists to stand trial --Japan: 4) Bamboo forest management --India: 5) Deforestation in Punjab, 6) Tigers attacks on the rise after hurricane's forest destruction, 7) Arecanut palm farms don't hurt biodiversity? 8) Forest encroachment data, 9) Forest department needs to be as important as the army, --SE Asia: 10) Flying lemurs and forest fragmentation, --Burma: 11) Logging timber in Karen rebel-held territory --Sumatra: 12) Local are not the real destroyers, 13) Greenpeace photographers talks about what it's like, 14) Save rare Rhino habitat, --Philippines: 15) 400 Mahogany trees in the way of sports? 16) reforestation and illegal logging in Butuan, 17) Programs on Community-based Forest Management, 18) High-powered firearms and chainsaws with " silencers, " 19) Tram line to help limit deforestation, 2o) Log Smuggling blamed on New People's Army, --Malaysia: 21) Perak Environmental Association (PEA), 22) Gov makes lots of money allowing Ulu Muda forest reserve destruction, 23) Gov can benefit from creating more reserves, 24) What ever happened to a forest defender named Bruno Manser, 25) Logging is going on in Perak reserve again, 26) Logging in Lebir forest, 27) Rare Trees found in Perak, 28) Peat forest impacts, --Borneo: 29) Has provided much of the world's tropical hardwoods for years, 30) Save the peat bogs 31) Overview, 32) Eric Hansen Travelogue, Articles: Russia: 1) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed the decree which will put into effect a long-sought protected area that will house half of all remaining Far-Eastern leopards. The leopards, the only species in the world able to survive long cold periods, are on the brink of extinction with only about thirty surviving members. Continuing threats include habitat loss from logging, forest fires and unregulated tourism. Poaching remains a severe problem and the small population raises concerns of inbreeding as a further threat. The new reserve will join two small protected areas into one, called Leopardovy Zakaznik (Leopard nature sanctuary), and will be managed by the Ministry of Nature Resources of Russia. According to the decree, the ministry will also manage neighbouring Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve. Before the decree, all three protected areas had been managed by different state agencies whose differing mandates meant that a unified Leopard conservation strategy was not in place. The transfer of jurisdiction to a single authoritiy will allow for a single strategy that places the restoration of the leopard population at the heart of its operations in the area. WWF proposed this change as early as 1999, in its Strategy for conservation of the Far Eastern leopard in Russia. " We are happy that finally, after all these years, the government has addressed this issue " , says WWF-Russia CEO Igor Chestin. " We hope that the Ministry will immediately start improving management of the protected area to ensure effective leopard conservation. WWF is ready to provide help and advice to the new sanctuary " . To ensure Far-Eastern leopard protection, WWF created anti-poaching groups in the region. WWF also cooperates with Chinese conservation agencies to create a trans-border system of protected areas that sought to save the leopards habitat from industrial pollution. Education programs to inform locals of the threats facing this extremely rare cat species were set up, while customs agents were trained to track poachers who illegally sell leopard parts to China. http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=149221 2) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says that Russia's planned new export tariffs on raw timber will not take effect at the beginning of the year, as previously planned. The prospect of even higher wood tariffs is a major concern for the Finnish forest industry, which gets much of its raw material from Russia. Russia has said that it wants to discourage mass exports of its raw material as a way of encouraging the development of its own wood processing industry. Putin, who held talks in Moscow with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) on Tuesday, said that the implementation of the tariffs would be postponed by 9 to 12 months. The postponement would apply to all grades of wood. The reason that Putin gave for the surprise move was the economic crisis. " We know what kind of shape the world economy is in. " Putin said that he understands that Russia's raw material deliveries do not only affect the Finnish economy, but that they also affect social questions such as unemployment. In his response, Prime Minister Vanhanen said that he appreciates the fact that Putin is taking the problems of Finland's forest industry into consideration. " This gives time for the forest industry to seek solutions. " However, Putin pointed out that a postponement does not mean that Russia would be giving up on its plans to build its own wood processing industry. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Putin+Russia+to+postpone+implementation+of+wood\ +tariffs/1135241062356 China: 3) Ten people accused of running a pyramid scheme have gone on trial at the Baotou intermediate people's court in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday. The defendants, whose trials began Tuesday and on Monday, are charged with conning more than 30,000 people out of 1.28 billion yuan ($187 million) by selling them overpriced plots of forestry land. The court heard that defendant Chen Xianggui set up the Liaoning 1,000 Miles Forestation Co in August 2002. Over the next five years, he established more than 100 branches in 12 provinces across the country. Co-defendant Liu Yanying was employed as the company's general manager. At its height, the firm employed 9,000 salespeople, who sold tracts of land to unsuspecting investors for 26,600 yuan apiece. Buyers were told the value of the plots was expected to rise to 180,000 yuan within eight years, Xinhua said. The company also promised to pay back 44 percent of the initial investment each year. However, when the payments failed to materialize, investors became suspicious and several reported the company to the authorities. Following an investigation, police uncovered more than 40 similar schemes being run by the company and immediately suspended its operations. In July, the Inner Mongolia autonomous regional government launched a two-month investigation into the validity of the company's claims. It concluded that although the woodland existed, because of its poor location it could never have yielded the dividends offered by the Liaoning firm. Chen, Liu and eight unnamed associates were subsequently charged with violations of national law, prosecutors said. A spokesman for the investigators told Xinhua Tuesday that the Inner Mongolian government will " do its best " to minimize investors' losses. Full details of how and what repayments might be made will be announced once a verdict in the case has been reached, he said. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-10/29/content_7151818.htm Japan: 4) Near the 270-meter summit of Mt. Tenno in Oyamazakicho, Kyoto Prefecture, the sound of saws cutting down bamboo echoed through the air. After the bamboo was cut down, autumn sunlight spread through the forest. If a bamboo forest is left to grow wild and remains thick and dark, its undergrowth will wither and die. As a result, the forest soil hardens and loses its water retention capability. Hiroshi Oshio, 77, a resident of the area who participated in forest-thinning operation, held some soil taken from a site that was thinned a year ago. " This soil has become very moist, " he said. " Muddy water used to run down to the foot of the mountain before [the forest was thinned]. " The Suntory Yamazaki Distillery, the birthplace of Japanese whiskey, is located at the foot of a mountain in Shimamotocho, Osaka Prefecture. Osaka-based Suntory Ltd. has been working on creating water-nurturing forests in cooperation with municipalities and people living around its factories nationwide. Stagnant demand for home-grown lumber, aging forestry workers and forest degradation are serious problems for the liquor and soft drink maker. " To protect the environment, it's necessary to intervene to a certain extent, " said Masamitsu Takaya, 51, Suntory's environment department manager. The area around Mt. Tenno, which produces the famous mineral water believed to have been used to make tea by master Sen no Rikyu in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1603), is an example of an environment that is in need of human intervention. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081111TDY03102.htm India: 5) Currently, the forest cover in Punjab is barely 3.14 per cent of its geographical area and is the lowest in the country-lower than even the desert state of Rajasthan with 4.62 per cent of its area under forest, according to the latest report of the Forest Survey of India. The dense forest cover in Punjab has decreased by a whopping 80,600 hectares since 2001. The worst affected districts in terms of forest cover depletion are Ferozpur( 111 per cent), Amritsar( 106 per cent), Hoshiarpur( 84 per cent), Bhatinda ( 76 per cent) and Ludhiana ( 55 per cent). In a move to replenish the thinned out forests, the Forest department has worked out a comprehensive plan to raise the forest cover to 15 per cent by the year 2011. " We will be adopting a new scientific clonal technology for mass production of seedlings required for the agro-forestry operations, " says the State Forest Minister Tikshan Sud. A series of high-technology mist chambers have been established at Hoshairpur, Gurdaspur, Amrtisar, Ropar Moga, Phillour and Bathinda to produce quality seedlings for distribution to the farmers at subsidized rates, and also for department-led plantation drives. The Forest department has evolved a new agro-forestry model that allows a combination of crops along with trees. With a high productivity through clonal plantations, Punjab would have surplus wood to attract mega wood-based industries such as paper, pulp and plywood. http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=1983\ 3 & sectionid=4 & issueid=79 & Itemid=1 6) Since a hurricane last November, the conflict between tiger and human has escalated to a new pitch -- highlighting the environmental threats to this unique habitat. Tigers have killed twenty people in the Bangladeshi Sundarbans so far this year, compared with six in 2007 and seven in 2006, according to forestry officials. Even more worryingly, tigers have started straying into villages on the forest's fringes. 'The situation is quite negative,' says Rajesh Chakma, the head forest ranger in Munshiganj, the worst affected district with 18 fatal attacks this year. 'We could see many more attacks before the year's end, as it's mating season now and tigers become more aggressive.' In the village of Horinagar no one goes out after dark anymore, even to use the lavatory. On June 20 a tiger swam across the river from the Sundarbans and killed three people before villagers surrounded it, threw a noose around its neck and beat it to death with sticks. They summoned the forestry officials, as is required by law, but those who arrived could not provide help as they had no tranquillisers. 'The tigers never used to come into the villages, never in my lifetime,' says Shri Poti Mundal, 40, whose father and sister-in-law were killed by the tiger. 'If they had captured it and released it, it might have come back.' Other villages in the area have started lighting fires at night or using loudspeakers from the local mosque to scare off any approaching tigers. Experts on tiger behaviour are unsure exactly what caused the rise in the attacks as they have not had time to do the necessary research. Most of them suspect that one central factor was Hurricane Sidr, which killed 4,000 people and destroyed 20 per cent of the Sundarbans in November 2007. 'Tigers have been displaced to this area - and they are territorial,' Mr Chakma said. http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=109609 7) In a paper published this week in PNAS, researchers found that Indian farmers in the Western Ghats grew a successful and economically beneficial crop while largely preserving the bird biodiversity of a pristine forest. Agricultural areas planted with arecanut palm retained 90 percent of the bird species from the adjacent forest. The researchers believe such biodiversity may be preserved long-term, since the study area has been continuously cultivated for two millennia. According to the authors there are two fundamental reasons why this agricultural area has retained such a rich avian biodiversity. First, the crops leave a " high vertical structural complexity " of the forest intact, providing varied homes for many different bird species. Second, the crops are grown near forests, which the farmers use to collect leaf litter for mulch. The researchers found that arecanut possessed even more conservation importance than retaining bird biodiversity. Requiring large amounts of water, arecanut is grown in increasingly threatened lowland forest. In this area of India lowland forests are often cleared for rice production, which does not preserve biodiversity. The authors note that " this production system sustains a rich avifauna compared with many other agricultural areas cleared from tropical forests (e.g., oil palm plantations) " . Arecanut crops produce betel nut, a mild stimulant consumed by 10 percent of the world. The crop has high economic benefits and is grown in such a way that allows for other corps to be planted in the same area, such as vanilla, pepper, banana, and coconut. The researchers believe that there findings have importance not just for Asia but Central and South America as well. Shade grown coffee is becoming increasingly important in these regions, and like arecanut palm, shade grown coffee retains biodiversity because of the preservation of the vertical forest system. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1103-hance_arecanut.html 8) All the reserved forests of Golaghat district are encroached by the encroachers. In Nambor reserve forest, once famous mithuns have now become rare species. The forest areas had been divided into four sectors for smooth administration by the Assam Government. The sectors are: A, B, C and D. The Diphu reserve forest has an area of 16,365.71 hectares. Out of this, 17,500 hectares were under the grip of the encroachers. In 1878, the British regime had declared South Numbor forest as reserve forest. The total hectares of land of this reserve forest was 27,057.55. The encroachers encroached upon 25,000 hectares of this reserve forest. The Nagas occupied the major areas of the RF. The total hectares of land of the Rengma RF were 13,921.68 hectares. Out of this, 11,800 hectares of land were encroached. The encroachers established 84 villages in the RF. The Doyang RF had 24,635.77 hectares of land. But now 26,000 hectares had been encroached. The Deopahar RF is also under encroachment. To drive out the encroachers from Deopahar RF, the forest department, the tea garden management and the revenue department began to survey and take proper steps. But till now, no viable action against them was undertaken, the local people and nature lovers alleged. The survey report was not published even after three years. In the disputed areas of the Deopahar RF, the garden management had permitted the NRL for set up of a market. It may be mentioned here that after the establishment of the township of the NRL near the Deopahar RF and installation of a market, the environment of the Deopahar RF were polluted. Due to unabated felling of trees of the forest in the Golaghat district, the bio-diversity of the forest and the habitats of the elephants were affected. As a result of which wild elephants have been roaming to the nearby villages. They damage the standing crops and dwelling houses which had created a fear psychosis among the villagers of Monongi, Diogurung, Bokial, Numaligarh areas. Meanwhile, conscious people have demanded of the forest department to take stern measures against the encroachers. http://ne.icrindia.org/2008/11/04/reserve-forests-of-golaghat-under-encroachment\ / 9) Noted environmentalist Bittu Sahgal on Saturday said the Forest Department should be accorded the same level of importance in India as that of Armed Forces and Coast Guard because the former protects the most important asset of the country. ''Put the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard at one side. But I wish my countrymen to put the Forest Department at the same level of importance for, what we've given them to look after is the most important asset. For me, the forests are 10 times more valuable than the Reserve Bank of India,'' he said. Sahgal was speaking at the 76th birth anniversary function of Pradyumna Bal, eminent journalist, former Parliamentarian and social activist, organised by Pradyumna Bal Memorial Trust here at Jayadev Bhawan. The environmental activist said it's the need of the hour to strengthen the department because forests will eventually guard India against the hazards of climate change. Stating that water scarcity would emerge as a major crisis after Himalayan glacier which already has retreated by 3 km continues at the current rate of 30 metre per annum. The food baskets of India like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh would be badly hit because the feeding rivers would be affected. Sahgal said India would be one of the first sufferers of climate change and no country can come to its rescue unless its forests are protected because in the Peninsular India, forests are the banks of water. He said there is no denying the fact that mines and dams are needed but the limit must be drawn. ''If forests of Orissa like Similipal are destroyed, how would the rivers of the State get fed? No factory in the world, no Birla, Tata can give water,'' he said. The Sanctuary Asia head said the biggest problem of all is effects of climate change which are being felt in India. Issues of Hindu-Christian riots and Hindu-Muslim tension are no way bigger than this problem. ''In the next 10 to 20 years, five million people of 24 Praganas would be environmental refugees because the water they use will turn saline because of the climatic changes which Orissa too is facing,'' he said. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Forest+Department+as+valuabl\ e+as+Army & artid=hpLkK//neV8= & SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA= & MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A= & S\ ectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw= & SEO= SE Asia: 10) A new study has found that colugos or flying lemurs are twice as diverse as previously believed. Comparing the DNA of colugos across southeast Asia, an international team of researchers has found that Sunda colugo — one of two known species of colugo (the other is the Philippine colugo) — is actually made up of at least three species, which date back millions of years. The researchers speculate that the species tally is likely to rise as more research is done. Janecka says that that colugos' high degree of speciation may be explained by their mode of locomotion — gliding between tall rainforest trees. Colugos are virtually incapable of crossing large open ground and populations would be been isolated and fragmented by the changes in sea levels and forest communities across their range over the past 10 million years. The findings are likely to have conservation implications in a landscape that is rapidly being destroyed by loggers and industrial agriculture developers. " Until now, reductions in colugo numbers was considered just a range contraction, and so there were no conservation plans for restoring them or mitigating their loss, " Janecka said. " However, this is no longer the case; we now need to re-assess the status of each of these species to determine which of them are under threat of extinction, and develop conservation plans that ensure their persistence. In addition, some of the small isolated populations that were previously described as subspecies may also represent new species, which could disappear before we even realize they exist. " http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1110-flying_lemur.html Burma: 11) Burmese business tycoon Tay Za's Htoo Trading Company has recently started logging timber in Karen rebel-held territory, according to a source close to a delegation of businessmen negotiating the deal in Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai- Burmese border. According to the source, Tay Za got permission to begin logging in the Mae Kathr forest from the Karen National Union (KNU) by paying " taxes " in advance. The Mae Kathr forest had, until recently, been undisturbed for more than 60 years. It lies in Dooplaya District, about nine kilometers (5.5 miles) from Three Pagodas Pass in an area under the control of KNU Brigade 6. The source said that Htoo Trading Company has already cut down about 1,000 tons of timber in the forest. According to KNU Forestry Department data, the KNU has preserved two main forests, Mae Kathr and Kyunchaung, which both lie in Dooplaya District. Mae Kathr forest covers an area of 50,000 acres while Kyunchaung covers 20,000 acres. Both forests are rich in virgin hardwoods, including teak and ironwoods. A resident in Three Pagodas Pass told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the company has begun construction of timber-processing factories across a football park and 10 acres of land in Three Pagodas Pass. He said the company has lined up more than 20 trucks to carry the logs. According to the source close to Tay Za's delegation, three trucks are currently being deployed to ferry in and out workers who are preparing the road on which the timber is being transported. He said that Htoo Trading cuts and processes the logs at the factories in Three Pagodas Pass before transporting them to Kyar Inn Seikgyi Township in Karen State. However, Captain Htat Nay of KNU Brigade 6 denied that the rebel army had granted permission for Htoo Trading Company to log timber in the Mae Kathr forest. Speaking to The Irrawaddy by telephone on Tuesday he said that Tay Za's delegation has requested a permit to log the forest in the past, but that the KNU had refused permission. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14613 Sumatra: 12) " Local people do not destroy the peat swamp forest as they do not have access to heavy machines but the palm oil companies have vast amounts of money, " Pak Adnan told me. " For local people we can create better sustainable sources of income such as fish breeding and livestock that fit in with the ecosystem. We could also create ecotourism opportunities and then at last the people that live in Tripa could have income from both palm oil and these other sources. " But now a man made disaster is threatening to add to the misery that this region has endured. The Tripa area of peat swamp forest is being logged to make way for new palm oil plantations and the effects will have dire consequences for the people and wildlife that live there. The Tripa forests are located in north western Sumatra and provided effective coastal protection for communities in the tsunami. Behind them, very few casualties were recorded and they also serve to protect against floods as the peat swamp regulates water flow. Their importance for both biodiversity and carbon stores cannot be over stated. They are home to one of just six remaining viable populations of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan and contain millions of tons of carbon dioxide that is being released into the atmosphere as they are destroyed. A recent study commissioned by the Swiss NGO PanEco has shown thttp://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-03/lone-cypress-2.jpghe peat is more than 3 metres deep over much of the area. There are already laws in Indonesia that forbid the destruction of peat more than 3 metres deep but the local government seem powerless to protect this area. The effects are threefold. advertisement1) CO2 is released into the atmosphere as the larger trees are cut and the remaining land is burnt. 2) Subsequent drainage causes further degradation of the peat releasing even more CO2. 3) This then results in subsidence of the land itself of approx 5 cm per year. The area of Tripa is already at about sea level, or only slightly above, so within a very short space of time the sea will claim huge swathes of this region and inland communities will have no protection against future tsunamis. - The recent agreement to protect forests in Sumatra between the Indonesian government and a number of conservation groups including WWF and Fauna and Flora International is a step in the right direction. However to save Tripa from the unfolding disaster there needs to be urgent action immediately. http://www.succinic-anhydride.cn/urgent-action-needed-over-sumatran-peat-forest-\ logging/ 13) The forest ends like a clean-cut cliff and acres upon acres of oil palms take over the view point passing endlessly by, with straight dust roads intersecting each other over small man-made canals. As a Greenpeace photographer, I find myself creating pictures in many interesting places. In any part of the world where there is a critical environmental problem, the Greenpeace photographers are there making the best visuals possible to share with everybody. Yesterday was no exception. It was the last of the twice-daily, three-hour helicopter surveys of Riau province in Sumatra, carried out over the last four days. Every flight survey has been fascinating but this one - documenting the palm oil plantations belonging to Wilmar, one of the biggest palm oil companies in Indonesia - was breathtaking on a scale I have never seen before. After flying a short while over intact and beautiful peatland forest, in the distance there appeared what looks like a sea or enormous lake. As we approached, we started to make out a green plain stretching to the horizon. Closer still and we knew we had found what we were looking for – the Wilmar plantations. Around this panorama we started to see smoke drifting from different points in the 360-degree, flat palm tree plain. The smoke revealed a small factory, houses build up and a small town emerged within the plantation. As we circled the factory and I was photographing with interest, it became clear to me that the world's demand for palm oil, found in countless cosmetics and consumables, has created an industrial revolution here in Riau. http://forest4climate.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/sumatras-dark-satanic-mills/ 14) Terengganu government is planning to log two forest reserves which is home to the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and endangered Malayan tiger. The proposed logging was revealed in a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA), which was recently made available for public viewing. The DEIA, which is done by an independent agency, is the process of examining the environmental effects of the proposed plan to log of the forests. The study revealed that the state government has proposed to log 12,630 hectares of forest adjacent to the 6,130 hectares of forest reserve currently being cleared for the construction of two hydropower dams. " The Tembat and Petuang Forest Reserves, which also act as a water catchment area for Tasik Kenyir, are currently being logged to build the Puah and Tembat dams, " said conservation group World Wildlife Fund in a press statement today. It said that a survey conducted as part of the DEIA has revealed evidence of the presence of the elusive Sumatran rhinoceros within the Tembat Forest Reserve. " Both the forest reserves are also habitat for other endangered wildlife, namely the Malayan tiger and Malayan tapir which are totally protected animals under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972. " The environmental impact assessment also exposed a shocking fact - that logging has already begun in the forest reserves despite that no approval has been given. " Satellite images in the DEIA indicate that clear felling of the reservoir area and adjacent hills has begun since 2005-2006. " According to the DEIA, the site of the catchment area has already experienced changes of between 25 and 30 percent and new logging tracks have already been constructed, " said WWF-Malaysia. " There seems to be little regard for relevant laws and the DEIA process, " lamented WWF chief executive officer Dr Dionysius Sharma. According to the study, the logging will also affect the elephant population in the forests, where about one-third will be forced into nearby plantations, creating more human-elephant conflict.http://forestexplorers.blogspot.com/2008/11/logging-threatens-terenggan\ us.html Philippines: 15) Groups advocating environmental protection have bonded together to condemn the ruthless uprooting of more than 400 mahogany trees inside the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF) - Dumangas Campus which they dubbed as " mahogany trees massacre " . The group composed of representatives from the academe, civil society, youth, barangay and religious sector held a press conference in Dumangas last Friday to condemn the uprooting of the five-year old mahogany trees and call on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to penalize those responsible for such act. Edinelo Empedrado, Faculty President of ISCOF-Dumangas, said the uprooting of trees was illegal since based on their investigation it did not have a permit from the DENR. The uprooting of the mahogany trees within the oval of ISCOF-Dumangas was based on the resolution of the Board of Directors of the 4th Congressional District Sports Association dated October 9, 2008. The resolution states that the mahogany trees found within the oval could hamper the different sports activities that would be held inside the ISCOF-Dumangas being the main venue of the 4th Congressional District Meet which begins today, Nov. 10, until the 13th. http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/11/10/uprooting.of.400.trees.inside.iscof.duma\ ngas.condemned.html 16) Concerned residents of the municipality of Batuan said illegal cutting of trees and 'kaingin' in the forest of Hacienda Ara. They assailed the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in San Jacinto for its supposed indifference to stop illegal logging and the slash-and-burn practice within the area where the source of drinking water is. The slash-and-burn practice has threatened the water systems of Royroy and Cañares, according to the same sources who said the water systems developed in 2003 by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to supply water round-the-clock, now dry up just three hours of use. Some men in uniform are reportedly behind the illegal logging activities in Hacienda Ara, a 70-hectare forest owned by the Africa family of Batuan. The intruders have already stripped more than seven hectares of the watershed of premium trees such as Tugawe, Barayong, Dongon and Dao. The sources said that if nothing is done to stop the logging and burning, the forest and water supply would be gone by 2010. (PIA Masbate) [top] http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12 & fi=p081107.htm & no=64 & r= & y= & mo= 17) The workshop is an interaction with the local media and environment workers. It was launched so members of media can help programs on Community-based Forest Management through information dissemination about illegal logging in communities. Marlea Muñez, CBFM consultant, said powerful organizations that can be tapped are people's organization and this will assure that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would immediately be informed about any illegal logging activity. And when it comes to reforestation, these organizations would protect the forest and could also go beyond reforestation, she said. The IAWRT also focuses on women's perspective and in sharing and learning on how they can help the CBFM program. She also said that one of workshop's outputs is to have a project directory hotline for the media people so that they will have an immediate contact person to report about those illegal loggers in the community. Local media personalities both from television, radio and print, accepted to help and cooperate with the IAWRT and to work one in hand for the protection of the forest in the region. The program is funded by the German Technology Development Fund. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/21/08/media-workers-forest-protecti\ on-advocates-hold-workshop-tacloban 18) Illegal loggers, armed with high-powered firearms and chainsaws with " silencers, " have reportedly invaded the supposedly restricted 5,676-hectare Aurora Memorial National Park, a report shown to the BusinessMirror said. Aurora board member Mariano Tangson lamented during the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) session this week that the heavily armed illegal loggers had outwitted the National Police and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as they continue to stay and cut trees in that park for a long time now. The national park is within barangay Villa, San Luis, Aurora. Barangay Villa has become notorious owing to illegal logging after continuous rains triggered flash floods that destroyed a steel bridge and killed 13 people in 2004. The SP earlier summoned Senior Supt. Romeo Teope, Aurora police commander, and other police officers , DENR personnel and barangay officials to explain why illegal loggers operate with impunity in that park. In an apparent effort to make up for their omission, Tangson said the police and environment authorities entered the area and recovered 1,000 board feet of abandoned illegally cut logs. On Saturday sawn logs fell into power lines in barangay Dimaani, also within the restricted national park, triggering a two-day brownout in the area. Tangson, a former three-term mayor of San Luis town, said the police appear helpless in stopping logging in the park although a contingent is permanently assigned at the site. " It's so brazen…in Aurora, vehicles loaded with illegally cut logs pass through the checkpoint of the DENR, and the police and personnel manning the checkpoints do not see it. I don't know if they don't see it, or they are playing blind, " he said. Tangson earlier revealed in a privileged speech that an average of 70,000 to 80,000 board feet of illegal logs are being spirited out of the park monthly. These are loaded in tricycles, particularly during nighttime, he said. Citing unnamed sources, he said, around 130 illegal loggers are involved in the massive destruction of forest resources in the park. Teope said the local police could not confront illegal loggers just like that because they are heavily armed. " If you have only a few bodies to man the park, it's like feeding them to the wolves, " he said, stressing that the police are outnumbered by the illegal loggers. A barangay official said the chainsaws used in felling logs are equipped with silencers. After these are used, the chainsaws are buried in pits and covered with soil to avoid confiscation by the authorities. The DENR, meanwhile, condemned the killing of a forest ranger who was manning a checkpoint in Santa Maria, Laguna, on Monday. http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content & view=article & id=558:au\ rora-board-member-assails-invasion-of-park-by-illegal-loggers & catid=26:nation 19) Roads that brought Cordillera villages a measure of progress have also been responsible for the denudation of the region's vast watersheds, the Department of Agriculture to replace them soon with a motorized tramline. The DA introduced its major program on Wednesday to the Cordillera Watershed Summit, which tackled a proposal to tax low-lying provinces for water discharged from the mountains. The fees would help reforest these watersheds, according to the summit organizers. Studies show that highways into forestlands of Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province have sped up the expansion of farms into protected forests, said Samuel Peñafiel, Cordillera director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He said the summit organizers are not averse to roads, but government engineers have to start infusing watershed conservation in preparing the construction of new mountain highways. The roads that lead to Mount Data in Bauko, Mt. Province, for instance, have been centers of debate for decades when farmers began buying up new lots and stripped off forests because the roads gave them direct access to these resources. Mount Data is a protected park straddled by three Cordillera provinces. " Roads are beneficial but when placed in the wrong place, they bring in pesticides, increase traffic of illegal loggers and traffic of vegetables grown where forests used to stand, " Peñafiel said. The DA concept paper presented by the DA acknowledged this predicament. The concept paper noted that the demand for farm-to-market roads has increased, and political leaders often accommodate these projects because of the high profile legacy these infrastructure projects represent. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20081103-169926/Tram\ -system-to-save-Cordillera-forests 20) At the news conference here held after distribution rites of cash assistance and livelihood packages to former New People's Army rebels, Agusan del Sur Vice Governor Santiago Cane, Jr. admitted that based on the intelligence community official report some illegal logging operators who smuggled huge volumes of illegally cut logs out of the province were allegedly giving high powered firearms and ammunitions to the insurgents. " This is to protect their illegal logging activities as they smuggled out of the province illegally cut logs including the documented ones but whose permits were doctored in cahoots allegedly by some unscrupulous DENR personnel, " admitted government, military officials including some former NPA rebels themselves at the recently concluded Social Integration Program workshop training for the former rebels here. " Yes, we admit based on intelligence reports that illegal logging undermines government efforts on anti-insurgency as log smugglers are giving firearms and ammunitions to the rebels but the provincial government is doing its best to stop all these " , Vice Governor Cane in the news conference said. Reports claimed that illegal logging including smuggling of mineral ores such as gold do not only undermine anti-insurgency and social integration efforts of the government but is sabotaging economically Philippine Government because huge volumes of cut logs, mineral ores that were shipped out have not paid due to much needed revenues to the government. Cane said the Agusan del Sur Provincial Government have recently cut the number of forest product monitoring stations or checkpoints that are sometimes called " cash points " to avoid corruption and to make it a genuine composite, all-government checkpoints that are lean and mean. Cane said the provincial government has drawn up mechanisms in cooperation with enlightened DENR personnel in the inspection of transported logs saying some were inserted with undocumented logs or banned hard wood while some were under declared by volumes saying some transport permits were fictitious. Legitimate wood traders on the other hand complained NPA rebels especially those operating in the hinterlands are demanding cash money sometimes firearms and ammunitions from them if they wanted their log products be shipped out of the area and will reached different wood processing plants in Butuan City and other urban areas where wood processing plants are present. Military and police authorities have long been accusing the New People's Army to have been engaging and protecting illegal logging activities in the region. But the New People's Army denied the accusations and accused instead some military and police personnel themselves to have engaged in illegal logging and mining activities. http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=11851 Malaysia: 21) The Perak Environmental Association (PEA) has urged the state government to review its proposal to allow logging in the Pondok Tanjung and Kota Siam forest reserves as it can seriously impact the environment and local population. Its pesident Abdul Rahman Said Alli said the Pondok Tanjung forest reserve in Larut, Matang and Selama district sits on peat soil or wetland considered to be under threat by environmentalists. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) had also proposed it as a Ramsar site, wetlands protected by the Ramsar Convention. " The area proposed for logging is part of the water catchment area for Bukit Merah lake. Logging will disturb the natural ecosystem and lead to flooding. " The wetlands are shrinking fast. Some 1,400 hectares had been taken for the breeding of Boer goats while hundreds more had been planted with oil palm, " he told reporters here today. Disturbance and destruction to the habitat in the areas had also resulted in the declining number of wildlife and plant species. Abdul Rahman said proposed logging at Kota Siam forest reserve in Manjung district was disappointing as it was the only single dominant forest in the district. " The 396 hectare area surrounded by oil palm plantations is a habitat for a single dominant wildlife. Any disturbance to the habitat will force the animals to invade nearby settlements causing a conflict with humans. " He said PEA viewed the proposed logging in five compartments in the two areas seriously and wanted it reconsidered. " We are not against logging in other areas as it will not affect the ecology system. Logging in each of the 80 hectare compartment will have serious effects on the environment and local population. " Abdul Rahman said PEA had already sent a letter of protest to the Perak Menteri Besar. http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=370653 22) The state has added RM16.3 million to its coffers from logging concessions in the Ulu Muda forest reserve. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the amount was five times higher than the revenue earned by the former state government when it allowed logging at the forest reserve last year. " The state government earned RM16.3 million through open tender for 1,000ha in the forest reserve this year. " Under the previous administration, the state government earned only RM3 million from the same acreage in Ulu Muda last year, " he said after attending the Kedah/Perlis branch Middle East Graduate Association's 13th annual general meeting here yesterday. Azizan, however, declined to elaborate on the concessionaires and how many were awarded the tender. He said that the process of felling the timbers would be carried out prudently. He also confirmed that the RM16.3 million would be used to develop the state. A portion of the revenue would be used to carry out programmes for the Kedah people. In April, Azizan had announced that the state government would introduce guideline for tenders on new development projects. The guideline would act as a reference when deciding whe-ther to offer a project as an open or negotiated tender. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2391152/Article/index_htm\ l 23) A SARAWAK MP has proposed that the Government allocate special forest reserves with sufficient natural resources for the Penans to continue with their lifestyle. Billy Abit Joo (BN – Hulu Rajang) said the special forest reserves with sufficient natural resources would help them survive and at the same time, also introduce them to the modern world. " One should not drag them out of the forest to lead a modern life. Such change will be too drastic for them, " Billy said when debating the Budget. He said there were about 10,000 Penans, including 3,500 to 5,000 still living the " traditional " way. Billy said human activities such as logging had disrupted their lives in the forest. The main problem faced by the community, he said, was that most of them did not have birth certificates and identity cards. " Many of them live and die in the forest. To them, they do not need identity cards, " he said. Billy also called on the Government to develop tourism in the Sarawak inland. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/30/parliament/2413282 & sec=par\ liament 24) Manser protested on an international level on behalf of Sarawak's Penan tribe. On 17 July 1991 Manser chained himself to a lamppost with a banner during the G7 summit until cut loose by the police. His protest was featured on the front page of The Independent newspaper the next day. In 1992 he parachuted into the Rio World Summit on the Environment. As of 2006, Manser has been declared missing and presumed dead. His last known communication is a letter mailed to his girlfriend on May 22nd, 2000, from the village of Bario, in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak, where he had returned to meet the nomadic Penan he had lived with for so long. Manser is still regarded by the Penan as somewhat of an idol, named Laki Penan (Penan Male). A man from the outside world who united the Penan and was accused by the Sarawak government of instigating blockades of logging roads (although no proof was ever produced). Manser's efforts created an impact in Tokyo and Europe, alerting people to the inhumanity of the tropical timber industry. After search expeditions proved fruitless, a civil court in Basel ruled on March 10th, 2005, that Bruno Manser be considered dead. Manser's unpopularity with Sarawak's government and the logging companies such as Samling Plywood - who have been known to use intimidation and violence as scare tactics - have raised suspicions about his disappearancce, none of which has yet been proved. Anonymous information concerning the presumed murder of Bruno Manser can be sent to this address. bm.searchandrescue http://magickriver.blogspot.com/2008/11/bruno-manser-tribute-to-ecowarrior.html 25) Just when the dust has just settled, another appeared. This time logging in Perak. Another environment concern to people of Perak. Wake up dear Pakatan Government of Perak! The Perak Environment Asso¬ciation has opposed the selection of two forest reserves which were re¬¬cently opened for tender for logging. Association president Abdul Rah¬man Said Alli said logging in parts of the Pondok Tanjung and Kota Siam forest reserves would have dire consequences to the ecosystem. According to a notice put up at the state Forestry Department, the two forest reserves were among 28 sites selected for open tender for logging, he said. " The Pondok Tanjung reserve is a 5,000ha wetland in the Larut Matang and Selama districts that serves as a natural water catchment area for overflowing water from the Bukit Merah reservoir. " Logging activities will destroy the land there and worsen the flooding problem in Bukit Merah and some areas in the Kerian district, " Abdul Rahman told a press conference here yesterday. The forest reserve was home to a wide range of protected animal and plant species and was also a popular research site for Universiti Sains Malaysia, he said. The Kota Siam Forest Reserve in Manjung district would also see the destruction of wildlife habitat if logging were to be conducted there. " The 300ha forest reserve is like an island surrounded by oil palm estates and other plantations. " If the wild animals' habitat is destroyed, they would be forced to intrude into human settlements, cau¬sing conflict between them, " he said. Abdul Rahman pointed out that the Kota Siam reserve was one of the smaller forests gazetted by the Forestry Department and that there were many other more suitable sites for logging. " We are not against logging and have no problems with the other sites but Pondok Tanjung and Kota Siam should be off the list (of 28 sites for tender), " said Abdul Rahman. He said the association would write to Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jama¬luddin for appropriate action to be taken. Efforts to get confirmation from the Forestry Department about the matter proved futile. http://forestexplorers.blogspot.com/2008/11/concern-over-logging-plan.html 26) GUA MUSANG, Bernama -- The logging issue in the Lebir Forest Reserve remains unsolved when the state government's plan to open up the area was strongly opposed by the local residents and federal agencies. For the residents, the importance of the flora and fauna as well as the purity of the water source in the forest reserve must be preserved, regardless of the views on legal and technical aspects offered by the state government and the local authority. Kampung Kuala Koh Orang Asli Chief, Hamda Keladi said the villagers were worried that the natural balance of the forest would be affected due to the development. " Although we had moved from Pahang to live temporarily near the forest reserve here, we need the natural resources to be maintained, " he told Bernama. Gua Musang Umno Youth chief, Bazlan Baharuddin also expressed concern on the environmental destruction especially involving the Kuala Koh National Park. He said the matter could turn worse if the state government approved logging activity in the 400-hectare forest reserve. He claimed that a company had used the Gua Musang Orang Asli Association's name to obtain a logging licence, saying that the income derived would be used to provide housing and other facilities for the people. " The company started the clearing work a month ago, including building a workers' quarters and a site to store its logs, even though they had yet to receive any approval, " he said. Kelantan Forestry Department on Nov 5 refuted the allegations of illegal logging taking place in the Lebir Forest Reserve. Instead, its Wan Yusoff Wan Ahmad, said the area mentioned was state land covering 60 hectares and was being cleared for logging where the company concerned was in the process of obtaining the licence for the purpose. Explaining that the logging took place in the Mukim of Relai in the Chiku district, he said: " The area shared a border with the Lebir Forest Reserve and that's what created the confusion. " Wan Yusoff said the logging area did not require approval from the Department of Environment (DOE) as they did not exceed 500 hectares and therefore did not require the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). However, Kelantan DOE claimed that the logging activity had violated the Environmental Quality Act as it involved forest area at the border of a national park and did not have the EIA approval for the purpose. Deputy Kelantan DOE Director, Rohimi Harun, said a thorough investigation was conducted by the department following the complaint on the alleged illegal logging last week and found that clearing of land and building of workers' quarters were being done. http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=371211 27) The Perak Forestry Depart-ment has identified five sites in the state where trees rarely found in other parts of the world are thriving. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's botany Professor Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Mohamad, who headed scientific expeditions to Royal Belum State Park, said the department had identified the five areas as high conservation value forests. Among the five areas identified are the Segari Forest Reserve, Gunung Bubu and Temengor Forest Reserve. Dr Abdul Latiff said Balau Putih (scientifically known as shorea lumutensis) trees were found at the Segari Forest Reserve and Sungai Pinang Forest Reserve in Lumut. Balau Putih trees were found nowhere else in the world except in those forest reserves, he said after Perak State Secretary Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim launched a seminar on Royal Belum State Park scientific expedition recently. " If they are logged, they will be wiped out from the face of the earth, " he added. Another rare tree was the palm tree called pokok sang (scientifically known as Johannesteijsman-nia perakensis), and Dr Abdul Latiff said the plant had a high aesthetic value and was found only in Gunung Bubu near Kuala Kangsar. He added that the orang asli used the leaves to make roofs for their homes. Such were the assets found in Perak and tight control must be exercised to prevent them from going extinct, he added. Dr Abdul Latiff noted that Perak was home to four species of the world's biggest flower Raffle- sia while other states had only three species. The flowers were found in Temengor Forest Reserve and they could be used as tourist attractions to bring revenue for the state, he said. http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/11/12/north/2520057 & sec=north 28) Due to uncontrolled logging practices in the last few decades, the Forest Department of Sarawak in 2003 estimates that only 18,920.45ha or 1.47%, of peat swamp forests remains in primary state. This palm oil concession granted by the government for oil palm exploitation puts even more pressure on the ecosystem and renders their promise for 'green' palm oil untruthful. The Lubok Pasir peatdome close to the town of Marudi in Sarawak is of high conservation value as it represents the world's last remaining area containing two unique and endangered peat swamp forest vegetation types A team of experts has implemented a series of investigations in the area to survey the unique different communities of plant and tree species, two of them found only in this specific area. During the survey of 2002, most of this area was still in good state. On 23 August 2008, a team from Wetlands International Malaysia office conducted a ground truthing survey to the peat dome north west of Marudi and to the west of the Baram River as part of its project on the `'Status of Peatlands in Malaysia: Its relation to CO2 Emissions and Climate Change''.The survey found extensive logging to be ongoing and infrastructure developments moving up the to the top of the dome of this deep peat area. Several engine driven carriages transporting timber consisting mainly of Combretocarpus rotandatus (keruntum) were seen being transported out of the forest. Presently, some parts of the dome still remain intact , but the presence of logging rails on the dome suggest that these are destined to be logged in the near future. http://bio-fuel-watch.blogspot.com/2008/11/biofuelwatch-unique-peatswamp-forest-\ in.html Borneo: 29) Borneo has provided much of the world's tropical hardwoods for years but now only half of its forests remain, mostly in the higher central areas. The lowland forest is disappearing rapidly owing to the planting of oil palm crops. The natural vegetation is being burnt in order to plant oil palms and other commercial trees and of course many species of animals and plants are under threat. The Borneo pygmy elephant lives happily in the lowland forest areas which are diminishing rapidy and the island's orangutans are endangered. Their population has fallen by more than 50 percent in the past 50 years. Currently 500 orphans are cared for by the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Centre in indonesian Borneo. Divided among the nations of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, Borneo supports at least 15,000 knowns plant species, including more than 2,500 species of orchids - including the largest orchid known. Southeast Asia's lowland forests, including Borneo's, are the tallest tropical rain forests in the world, and may have as many as 240 species of trees on a single four-acre site. Borneo's future may well be the most critical conservation issue on our planet at this moment. At present government crackdowns have slowed illegal logging and exports, but constant vigilance is needed. http://druidcircle.gaia.com/blog/2008/11/vanishing_forests_-_national_geographic\ _-_nov_08_issue 30) " To many people, peat swamps are inhospitable places that are only of interest to nature lovers, " said Dato Hamdillah Wahab, Chairman of the Brunei Heart of Borneo Council and Deputy Minister of Industry & Primary Resources, " But if the Badas peat swamps stop supplying water to Brunei Liquid Natural Gas, the company would stop operating within 24 hrs. " " You cannot produce liquid natural gas without water and what we have in our rivers would be unmanageable and too expensive to clean up without the filtration and slow release that the peat gives us for free, " he added, " We could not invent a better, more cost-effective system, yet we tend to take it for granted. " Dato Hamdillah was speaking prior to the royal visit to the Badas peat a tri-country (Brunei-swamps in the Heart of Borneo conservation area Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia) initiative which aims to preserve one of the world's most important centres of biological diversity, approximately 220,000 square kilometres of equatorial forests, or almost a third of Borneo. Brunei's swamps, which include the best preserved peat domes with their vast stores of carbon, are vital to absorbing and regulating water flows and avoiding floods and potential dry season issues such as saline intrusion into rivers. However, when these waterlogged peat areas are drained, they become very susceptible to fire, as well as releasing huge quantities of their stored CO2 into the atmosphere. This is of major concern – it has been calculated that, in the last few years, the CO2 emissions from drained and fire-affected peatlands in Indonesia amount to some 2,000 million tonnes, putting Indonesia third in the CO2 emissions league behind the USA and China, and ahead of Russia and India. " About 60% of Brunei's peat swamps are still relatively pristine, compared to only a fraction of that elsewhere in Borneo, " said Dato' Dr Mikaail Kavanagh, WWF's Special Advisor to the Heart of Borneo Programme, " Brunei has laid out a roadmap of priority work to be done to implement the Heart of Borneo nationally, and peatlands management is one of the top issues. It is vital to manage these areas for their water, for fire prevention, and for their carbon storage and biological diversity. " http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=149182 31) Borneo emerged from a volcanic eruption in the South China and Java Seas millions of years ago. In the years which followed, Borneo was exploited and controlled by many countries seeking possession of its natural treasures; today political control of the island is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Borneo. Borneo is considered to be one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world; although rain forests cover only two per cent of the Earth's surface, they are rich in plant and wild life and home to over half of the world's plant and animal species. Borneo is known to have more than 15,000 species of plants, including 2,500 species of orchids. There are about 11,000 species of flowering plants of which a third are indigenous. Borneo has some of the world's tallest tropical rain forests and it is estimated that there may be up to 240 species of trees on one four-acre site. Borneo has the world's largest flower (Rafflesia arnoldii), the world's largest orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum) and the world's largest carnivorous plants; some of Borneo's indigenous fruit trees are Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera), Mango (Mangifera indica), Banana (Musa ssp) and Orange (Citrus sinensis). Many of the tree species have practical uses but perhaps their most valuable use is in medicine; trees need to survive the eco-systems of the rain forest and as such have developed complex defense mechanisms to protect themselves. Past contributions by the rain forest trees to the advancement of pharmaceutical drugs include natural plant extracts and chemicals for diseases such as cancer, arthritis, leukemia, heart disease and for birth control. http://plant-ecology.suite101.com/article.cfm/saving_the_rain_forests_of_borneo 32) Stranger in the Forest, by Eric Hansen is easily one of the most absorbing and well-written travelogues I have ever read. This extraordinary book chronicles Hansen's remarkable journey across the island of Borneo in 1982. The author traveled some 2,400 miles on the island, largely on foot and through tropical rain forest on an island that straddles the equator; actually he made two trips, traveling four months and 1,500 miles before turning around and going back across the island, a mere 50 miles from the ocean (to the astonishment of his traveling companions and shouts of " Crazy man! " ). Writing of his childhood imaginations about exotic and faraway jungles and his own later adult fantasies after spending hours in the library reading about the island, Hansen found he had a lot to learn about the realities of Borneo. Emboldened by an earlier visit to the island in 1976, his first attempts to penetrate the interior and reach the highlands and meet real forest nomads - the " jungle of my library fantasies " - met with continual frustration. For over eight weeks he went up one river after another, sometimes getting as much as 70 miles before being stymied by dishonest guides, insufficient amounts of gasoline for the outboard motors, or unfriendly villages, which would often price gouge Hansen, charging exorbitant rates for simple services and fail to provide him the necessary guides to proceed further on foot. The trade goods he bought generally did not interest the locals, Hansen found it hard to interact in the non-monetary economy of the interior, and even his Western manners were a source of problems (it took the author a while to realize direct questions were quite rude in many situations and would not likely produce the answers or results he sought). Retreating to the coast, Hansen reevaluated his trip and had the very good fortune of becoming friends with Syed Muhammad Aidid, a man in Marudi, Malaysia. This businessman, familiar with both the ways of both the West and the jungle interior, took Hansen under his wing, teaching him the complex economic system of the highlands and jungle. The author learned that an empty, 8-ounce tin of sweetened condensed milk was the standard unit of measure and was called a mok, with all other volumes being calculated in multiples of 1 mok (for example, 3 moks of dry rice equal one day's rice for a man). He learned of valuable, light-weight items to bring to trade for food and services, items like sugee (Lombek chewing tobacco), manik-manik (colored seed beads used for decoration), and in particular shotgun shells (1 shell equal to one day's labor for a man or if caught - as they were illegal - 1 year in jail). He also learned of valuable items he could procure in villages for trade later, such as gaharu, a local wood with concentrations of aromatic sap, favored in Asian medicine and in the Middle East for making incense and perfume. http://worldbuyerguide.com/2008/11/08/stranger-in-the-forest-on-foot-across-born\ eo/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.