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West Papua's forests and Copenhagen
Protection of West Papuan forests essential for global community
Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) Media release - December 7, 2009
West Papua contains some of the last great tracts of undisturbed rain forest in the Asia-Pacific region. Figures vary but total forest cover in West Papua is believed to be about 40 million hectares.
However, what is not in doubt is that the rich, bio-diverse forests of West Papua are coming under major threat as the Indonesian Government looks to replace the exhausted forests resources in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The cutting down of tropical forests in West Papua will only lead to increased global warming and it is in the interest of the global community to support the West Papuan people in protecting their forests.
The world's demand for bio-fuel is causing deforestation in tropical forests around the world and oil palm plantations are now a major threat to the forests of West Papua. Although the governors of West Papua and Papua are committed to the protection of the forests, if the price of palm oil goes higher, the West Papuan forests (and any REDD scheme) would come under great pressure as companies looked for loopholes to exploit the forests.
Although a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme, (where developed countries would basically pay developing countries to preserve their forests) is expected to be part of a Copenhagen agreement, such an agreement raises a number of questions concerning the forests of West Papua.
A number of reports have pointed out that there is widespread corruption in Indonesia among police, military and forestry officials which raise concerns over whether the Indonesian Government has the will to protect the forests.
Another important question is who would receive the money for the protection of forests? The central government, the provinces or the Indigenous people who traditionally actually own them or should own them? Joe Collins of AWPA said "West Papua's forests are important for the global community and we call on the International Community meeting in Copenhagen to do all they can not only to protect the forests of West Papua but also to recognize that the West Papuan people themselves must be involved and consulted if any scheme to protect the forests is to work. If the West Papuan people are not involved, any scheme is bound to fail and leave the forests open to exploitation. A good start would be for the Indonesian government to impose a moratorium on all proposed oil palm plantations and any scheme should guarantee the rights of the Indigenous people".
For more information contact Joe Collins Mob. 04077 857 97
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