Scientific accord `crucial' on oceans, forests as carbon sinks

Desy Nurhayati and Adianto P. Simamora

Indonesia has stressed the urgency for climate change experts to issue
scientific assessments on the roles of forests and oceans in absorbing
carbon to fight global warming.

Rachmat Witoelar, head of Indonesia's National Council on Climate Change
(DNPI), made the call Monday in his speech to the Inter-governmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, before 430 climate
scientists from 140 countries.

Rachmat, the former environment minister, said scientific findings would
help developing countries step up their efforts to address the impacts of
climate change.

"Most developing countries are being hit by the impacts of climate change
because their science has not been adequately developed," he said.

"They lack capacity to produce adaptation and mitigation measures due to the
lack of a scientific basis.

"The world now demands stronger scientific assessment to pursue adaptation
and mitigation measures at local levels, of a high degree of certainty that
can be measured."

Rachmat urged the IPCC to produce scientific statements on forests and
oceans as carbon sinks, as well as set up reference emissions levels for the
now-debated REDD scheme.

The IPCC is the world's highest body on climate matters, set up by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).

The reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)
scheme is expected to be an alternative mechanism to cut greenhouse gas
emissions as forestry activities contribute up to 20 percent of global
emissions.

International communities have hailed Indonesia's move to promote forests
and oceans in climate talks.

However, Indonesia, with 120 million hectares of forests and 5.8 million
square kilometers of sea covering 70 percent of the archipelago, has no
scientific data yet on the capacity of its forests or oceans to absorb
carbon emissions.

The four-day IPPC meeting is expected to reach an agreement for its fifth
assessment report to be published in 2013 and 2014.

Indonesian delegation chairwoman Sri Woro B. Harijono said the oceans had
huge potential to absorb carbon because of currents.

"Once the carbon is absorbed, it flows with the current, so there isn't any
saturation," she said.

IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri suggested the discussion should also touch
on the socioeconomic impacts of climate change to support policy making on
the issue.

In Jakarta, a civil-society forum urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
to get directly involved in discussions on Indonesia's agenda to be promoted
in Copenhagen.

"Yudhoyono must attend the meeting organized by the DNPI to discuss
Indonesia's agenda and determine the negotiators at Copenhagen," said Reza
Damanik, secretary-general of the People's Coalition for Equal Fisheries.

Source:
http://www.thejakar tapost.com/ news/2009/ 10/27/scientific -accord-crucial0 39-oceans- forests-carbon- sinks.html

Indonesian Government Says Oil From Australian Spill Has Polluted Parts of

Eras Poke & Fidelis E Satriastanti

Kupang. The regional environmental management agency in East Nusa Tenggara

confirmed on Tuesday that the waters of the Timor Sea had been contaminated

by oil spilled in August from a well operated by a Thai company.

The Montara oil well, which is located in Australian waters, began spewing a
reported 400 barrels of oil a day into the ocean on Aug. 21, creating an oil
slick at least 100 times the size of Sydney Harbor. The well, which is
operated by Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Australasia, is
located about 700 kilometers west of Darwin.

More than two months after the oil spill started, efforts to stop the leak
have yielded little result, with oil now spreading to at least 6,000 square
kilometers.

“Water samples we took on Oct. 10 tested positive for oil suspected to have
come from the Montara oil field,” said Oematan, the head of the agency,
which is also known as the BPLHD.

He added that the samples had been taken from the waters off Kolbano Beach
in Kualin village, South Central Timor district.

Oematan said the agency conducted further tests on Friday to determine the
spread of the oil in the Timor Sea. Samples were taken from four locations,
two in the southern part of Rote Island, near Ashmore Island, and two in the
waters off Kolbano.

The agency, he said, had reported the results to East Nusa Tenggara Governor
Frans Lebu Raya, as well as to the Environmental Management Center in
Denpasar, because the issue involved both Australia and Indonesia.

Oematan said his agency was awaiting the results of meetings on the issue
between the central government in Jakarta and the provincial government.

In its report, he said, the agency recommended further investigation of the
source of the pollution off Kolbano Beach. It also called for the government
to set up a team that could respond to the spill, and establish an early
warning system in case the oil continued to spread in Indonesian waters.

Oematan said that if left unattended, the Montara oil spill could harm
marine life in the country’s waters, especially in the Timor Sea. He said
the threat posed by the spill required the central government in Jakarta to
cooperate with Australia to manage the problem.

The Directorate of Marine Transportation at the Ministry of Fisheries and
Maritime Affairs began monitoring pollution levels in the Timor Sea on Oct.
23 to determine the severity of the problem after local fishermen reported
finding clumps of crude oil in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Rote Ndao district head Leonard Haning said he had received information that
fishermen from Rote and Kupang districts had discovered hundreds of dead
fish in Indonesian waters.

He said that in response, his office had ordered the fishermen not to offer
the dead fish for consumption, pending the results of an investigation by a
team of experts from the Directorate of Marine Transportation.

Meanwhile, Riza Damanik, secretary general of the Fisheries Justice
Coalition (Kiara), urged the government to send a letter of protest to the
Australian government over the oil spill.

“A letter of protest would be a diplomatic step taken by the government of
Indonesia to urge the Australian government to accept responsibility for its
neglectful handling of marine pollution,” Riza said.

“Since the incident occurred in the transboundary part of the sea where
maritime borders are not recognized, it would also be a good idea to write
to a world organization like the UN,” he added.

source :
http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-government-says-oil-from-australian-spill-has-polluted-parts-of-timor-sea/338113