The annual forest and biodiversity clearing exercise in Indonesia is drawing to a close. Here's an article telling us that a thousand or so orangutans were burned to death this time around.
Every year, year after year, like a broken record or a slow motion horror movie, we sit around reading articles describing the extinction of the wild orangutan and other unique lifeforms. We human beings have just got to scratch that itch, that insatiable urge to increase one's wealth, position, rank, standing, station, prestige, fame, prominence, distinction, importance, renown, influence, eclat, celebrity, esteem, glory, status, whatever.
This practice, instead of abating, appears to be accelerating as the potential for wealth grows with the market for biodiesel, which is still being promoted by everyone from rock bands to conservative Midwest politicians.
Sure, all we have to do is put in place regulations that palm oil must be grown sustainably. You know, like our food ... isn't. That idea, which at one point in time was new, sure hasn't stopped the expansion of coffee plantations (or palm plantations for that matter), and it sure won't work for biodiesel. Instead of consuming a few ounces of coffee or veggie oil a week, consumers will burn through a hundred times as much biodiesel. There will be an insatiable market for the lower-cost, unsustainably grown biodiesel, as there is for lumber and pretty much everything else. I think we need to try out some new ideas.
From a global warming perspective, the idea that a relatively few number of individuals can dump that much CO2 into the atmosphere while simultaneously destroying biodiversity and carbon sinks makes even my CO2-intensive American lifestyle pale in comparison.
It also pisses me off because this is my planet, too. Global warming is global. Let us all hope that our new government will usher in carbon credits soon and that they will be used wisely to protect carbon sinks, biodiversity, and the biosphere in general instead of propping up environmentally destructive but highly profitable fuels for our cars.
I'm skeptical, because as it stands now, every politician out there supports biofuels in all forms because the idea strongly appeals to the voting public who are largely unaware of the environmentally destructive potential they harbor. One thing you could do is help spread that word.
Comments
View as Flat
caniscandida Posted 9:29 am
09 Nov 2006
As for the content: Yes, I agree, this is an issue of great importance. Thanks for being so Borneo-focused.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
Permalink
bookerly Posted 12:14 pm
09 Nov 2006
It is depressing. And BTW, an example of "private" land ownership at work.
The only good news is that as Indonesia trades more and more with its neighbors, it may become more sensitive to their complaints.
One of the advantages of regionalism.
We should pay attention to this BEFORE it all burns next time.
Thanks again!
patrick
Permalink
TokyoTom Posted 2:38 pm
09 Nov 2006
The rape of tropical forests happens because no one effectively owns them, so despite their importance globally - climatologically, for ecosystem services and the great genetic wealth they harbor - they are essentially an unowned, open-access resource that indigenous peoples find impossible to protect from a wave of market-linked exploitation.
We should absolutely be insisting that all nations of the world accept obligations to limit GHG emissions, and create systems that reward developing nations from protecting resources that we value as well. That's what's frustrating when there are no effective property rights - no one has an effective conservationist voice.
We should also be identifying domestic groups that already have right in tropical forests and help to defend them, and to fund other groups that are willing to purchase and protect tropical forests.
One huge piece of the climate change puzzle is the need to help the third world develop and in a responsible manner. The IPCC, Stern report and Business Rountable have all focussed on the need to establish infrastructure that protects property rights and maintains law and order, as an essential condition to economic growth. That focus requires the flow of resources and expertise from the West, and is one way in which can influence Indonesia, Brazil and the like. Trade policy is another.
Permalink
Ammonite Posted 8:26 pm
09 Nov 2006
"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money."
Permalink
kuroneko Posted 3:48 am
10 Nov 2006
Algae can also be used to clean up energy plants and then be converted to biodiesel.
Algae can also be used to clean up mercury from sediment
The Future is in ALGAE!
Permalink
EcoReason Posted 5:09 am
10 Nov 2006
Are these forests being burned by "humans scratching an itch," or something more specific and confrontable than that? Aren't these farmers encouraged by specific palm oil and timber COMPANIES? Which are themselves thet product of rational planning.
In other words, you present and describe a story about institutional and structural impacts, but blame it on "we humans." It's illogical, and unproductive. And I don't buy it. (Are YOU repsonsible for the forest fires? If so, please stop.)
Let's start defining the problem more accurately so we can better target our solutions.
Respectfully,
Kip
Permalink
Biodiversivist Posted 1:41 am
11 Nov 2006
Kip,
The article states the problem as I perceive it precisely and logically, and also offers a potential solution (not to say you need to agree with it). Why won't you cooperate with me? I'm being facetious of course. /:=) Critique (of my ideas and other) is as importatant as the idea itself.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: http://www.saveourbiodiversity.com
Permalink