Indigenous people

Forest and land fires, which occur on an annual basis in Indonesia, affect the entire Southeast Asian region. Such man-made disasters are detrimental to the environment and have irreversible long-term impacts on human health, undermining progress towards achieving almost all Sustainable Development Goals. Indonesia’s forest and peatland fires are estimated to cause approximately 110,000 premature […]

Forest and land fires, which occur on an annual basis in Indonesia, affect the entire Southeast Asian region. Such man-made disasters are detrimental to the environment and have irreversible long-term impacts on human health, undermining progress towards achieving almost all Sustainable Development Goals. Indonesia’s forest and peatland fires are estimated to cause approximately 110,000 premature […]

In the Autumn of 2015, a thick yellow toxic haze — the likes of which had never been seen before — fell over Kalimantan. Peatland fires from slash-and-burn agriculture and their accompanying toxic smoke are by no means unprecedented in the region, but the exceedingly hot and dry El Niño event that year exacerbated the already-precarious […]

By Johan Kieft (UN Environment – Regional technical specialist) and Richard Wecker (UNICEF Indonesia – DRR specialist), originally published on the UN-REDD blog. Large-scale conversion of natural peatland and forests to croplands on the islands Sumatra, Borneo (Kalimantan) and Papua has radically altered the lives and livelihoods of millions of Indonesians in recent decades. Slash-and-burn […]

How the media can help protect Indonesia’s peatlands By Rose Foley and Leona Liu, originally published on Forests News Indonesia – For some residents of South Sumatra, Indonesia, peat is a constant preoccupation. “Life keeps getting harder,” says 53-year-old Maemunah. She lives in Talangnangka village in the center of the province, among peatland that was once […]

A conversation with Emmanuela Shinta, Dayak Leader, Filmmaker and Activist at the Ranu Welum Foundation during the Global Landscapes Forum: Peatlands Matter thematic event in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 18, 2017.