[ad_1]
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
1
00:00:02,335 –> 00:00:04,379
What does this forest
in the middle of Borneo
2
00:00:04,379 –> 00:00:07,340
have to do with Indonesia’s
energy future?
3
00:00:07,340 –> 00:00:11,052
The answer may lie in the controversial
rise of biomass energy,
4
00:00:11,594 –> 00:00:15,140
a solution touted as part of a
push towards sustainability.
5
00:00:16,016 –> 00:00:18,435
But as we dug deeper into these plans,
6
00:00:18,435 –> 00:00:20,645
we discovered a far darker story emerging
7
00:00:20,645 –> 00:00:23,273
and a looming threat to both the forests
8
00:00:23,481 –> 00:00:25,233
and the people
who rely on them.
9
00:00:27,235 –> 00:00:29,487
In Indonesia today, coal is king,
10
00:00:29,487 –> 00:00:32,741
but the Southeast Asian nation
has pledged to replace fossil fuels
11
00:00:32,741 –> 00:00:35,160
with renewable alternatives.
12
00:00:35,160 –> 00:00:39,289
And they are betting big on a
resource known as biomass.
13
00:00:39,289 –> 00:00:44,419
Starting from the Paris Agreement at the COP,
14
00:00:44,419 –> 00:00:48,798
every country promised to contribute
to reducing the climate crisis.
15
00:00:48,840 –> 00:00:50,175
This is Amalia Reza,
16
00:00:50,175 –> 00:00:52,844
a researcher at the NGO Trend Asia.
17
00:00:52,844 –> 00:00:56,264
She’s been researching the impacts
of bioenergy across Indonesia.
18
00:00:56,556 –> 00:01:01,019
Now there is a push for another form of energy
from bioenergy, namely biomass,
19
00:01:01,019 –> 00:01:06,399
which is solid organic material that,
once burned, produces energy.
20
00:01:06,399 –> 00:01:08,610
The most readily available form of biomass
21
00:01:08,610 –> 00:01:12,614
is often wood pellets made from
timber grown on large plantations.
22
00:01:12,614 –> 00:01:16,117
Indonesia wants to create these plantations,
make the pellets
23
00:01:16,117 –> 00:01:18,870
and then burn them to produce bioenergy.
24
00:01:18,870 –> 00:01:24,084
The use of biomass leads to deforestation, land grabbing,
25
00:01:24,084 –> 00:01:31,466
and results in emissions that are much higher than
the emissions they initially planned to reduce.
26
00:01:32,550 –> 00:01:38,348
Companies are lining up to develop new areas of land
to meet Indonesia’s targets for biomass energy production.
27
00:01:38,973 –> 00:01:41,976
Indonesian officials have downplayed
concerns about deforestation,
28
00:01:41,976 –> 00:01:45,772
saying there’s ample non-forested land
available for new plantations.
29
00:01:45,772 –> 00:01:50,527
Recently, however, Mongabay received
a tip from the island of Borneo
30
00:01:50,527 –> 00:01:52,153
that told a different story.
31
00:01:52,153 –> 00:01:55,198
So we traveled to one of the
most remote corners of Indonesia
32
00:01:55,198 –> 00:01:56,199
to investigate.
33
00:01:59,202 –> 00:02:01,621
This is Ipu Angit, an Indigenous Dayak man
34
00:02:01,621 –> 00:02:04,165
who knows the forest
like the back of his hand.
35
00:02:04,165 –> 00:02:07,669
He can use the leaves, branches,
stems and roots to make anything
36
00:02:07,669 –> 00:02:10,588
from an evening meal to a makeshift umbrella.
37
00:02:12,090 –> 00:02:17,512
We grew up with the forest,
with nutritious food from the forest.
38
00:02:17,512 –> 00:02:20,807
We know, it’s all from the forest.
39
00:02:21,141 –> 00:02:25,103
His community, Laban Nyarit, is one of at
least four villages in the area
40
00:02:25,103 –> 00:02:27,814
that has negotiated with a
company called MHL,
41
00:02:27,814 –> 00:02:29,649
over the rights to use their land.
42
00:02:29,649 –> 00:02:35,321
Ipu says his land, including rich primary rainforest,
was signed over to the company without his consent,
43
00:02:35,864 –> 00:02:40,618
a common issue in rural Indonesia,
where residents often lack formal land title.
44
00:02:41,161 –> 00:02:43,371
The company, MHL, came to the village.
45
00:02:43,371 –> 00:02:50,253
They [wanted to] plant timber to replace
the coal. That’s what they said.
46
00:02:51,296 –> 00:02:55,925
MHL is a subsidiary of billionaire-owned
coal firm PT Mitrabara Adiperdana.
47
00:02:55,925 –> 00:02:58,678
They have mined coal in this part of Borneo for years
48
00:02:58,678 –> 00:03:02,932
but with the mine nearing retirement,
the company says it wants to pivot to biomass energy.
49
00:03:02,974 –> 00:03:06,853
They say it plans to make use of
previously cleared land for its plantations
50
00:03:06,853 –> 00:03:10,231
but villagers we spoke to said
much of the land signed over to the company
51
00:03:10,231 –> 00:03:11,816
is covered in rainforest.
52
00:03:12,317 –> 00:03:15,612
Ipu and his family say they haven’t
signed anything with the company
53
00:03:15,778 –> 00:03:19,949
but MHL signboards have appeared and surveyors have
begun mapping around their home.
54
00:03:23,286 –> 00:03:31,502
I said, “Child, don’t you survey in this area.”
55
00:03:33,379 –> 00:03:37,383
“If you insist on surveying, there will be a problem.”
56
00:03:37,383 –> 00:03:46,392
“To the last drop of my blood, child,
I will not give this land to the company.”
57
00:03:46,392 –> 00:03:50,063
Three villages we visited, local
residents and village officials told us,
58
00:03:50,063 –> 00:03:52,982
have already entered into agreements with MHL,
59
00:03:52,982 –> 00:03:56,152
leasing a total of
5,000 hectares to the company.
60
00:03:56,152 –> 00:03:59,739
We found that much of that area
is covered in rainforest.
61
00:04:00,031 –> 00:04:03,660
A fourth village, Long Loreh, has so far
rejected the company’s advances.
62
00:04:03,660 –> 00:04:07,705
but they too said MHL had approached
them about acquiring their forestland.
63
00:04:08,706 –> 00:04:10,458
That land is still forested.
64
00:04:10,458 –> 00:04:14,712
In terms of percentages, its about 50:50.
65
00:04:15,296 –> 00:04:19,676
Fifty percent is under cultivation,
fifty percent is still standing rainforest.
66
00:04:20,385 –> 00:04:22,470
We obtained maps of MHL’s concession
67
00:04:22,470 –> 00:04:24,806
from villagers who had received
them directly from the company.
68
00:04:25,765 –> 00:04:28,518
While it’s not clear if these maps are absolutely final,
69
00:04:28,935 –> 00:04:30,853
analysis shows that around three-quarters
70
00:04:30,853 –> 00:04:31,980
of the company’s concession
71
00:04:31,980 –> 00:04:34,023
is covered in rich primary forest.
72
00:04:34,023 –> 00:04:36,734
and potentially at risk of being cleared by MHL.
73
00:04:37,068 –> 00:04:38,403
Yes, it will be clear-cut.
74
00:04:38,903 –> 00:04:46,327
There’s still so many valuable trees, like ironwood —
lots of valuable trees in this forest.
75
00:04:47,203 –> 00:04:51,457
Indonesia has pushed biomass in the name
of meeting its renewable energy targets.
76
00:04:52,000 –> 00:04:57,088
But the wood pellets to be produced by MHL aren’t even intended for domestic consumption.
77
00:04:57,463 –> 00:05:00,550
A company executive said at a shareholder
meeting in May
78
00:05:00,550 –> 00:05:03,094
they intend to export them overseas.
79
00:05:03,594 –> 00:05:08,224
Regarding our target market,
of course we’re targeting the overseas market.
80
00:05:08,224 –> 00:05:11,728
We haven’t settled on a specific country.
81
00:05:12,562 –> 00:05:16,899
Countries like the EU, U.K., South Korea, Japan,
82
00:05:16,899 –> 00:05:23,364
you can’t say you use “renewable” energy from biomass
while you harm the rainforests of Indonesia,
83
00:05:23,364 –> 00:05:28,453
and then expect that everything will be
alright amid the climate crisis.
84
00:05:28,453 –> 00:05:30,288
That should not happen.
85
00:05:34,417 –> 00:05:36,586
“Belatung otah ayok”.
86
00:05:37,170 –> 00:05:43,343
That’s what the Dayak people say nowadays.
87
00:05:43,343 –> 00:05:48,473
What that means is, the forest is like milk from our mother.
[ad_2]
Source link
