Summarised presentation of deforestation By: Ming Chun, Shang Wen, Chloe and Amanda

Palm oil By: Amanda Auyong

Uses  Ingredient in food  Cheap substitute for bread  Make biodiesel  Make bread, cereal, sweets and soaps

Countries with large palm oil production  Indonesia -More than 20.9 million tons  Malaysia million tons -Uses 4,500,000 hectares of land -Employ more than 570,000 people  Nigeria -More than 2.5 million hectares of land used  Columbia -Uses 1,000,000 hectares of land -35% made into biofuel

Why does palm oil cause all this? Can only be cultivated in rainforests Orang-utans live there Orang-utans run away from the fire Orang-utans fled from their habitats Eat farmers crops Get shot down by them

Current measures By: Ming Chun

1.Conservationists groups Have them to promote conservation Why not working?? Factories: Less land for plantations Less people with jobs Population decrease!! What is Indonesia?

2.Signing of regulation  President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a regulation on an implementation of a national inventory of greenhouse gases. There was a program called "Moving Towards a Green Indonesia" which helped conservationists groups and also deal with deforestation.  Why EPIC FAIL: Deforestation is not fully banned even though the carbon usage is thought to be able to decrease by 26%. Fun fact: Duta Palma, one of the palm oil producing companies in Indonesia argued to BBC news arrogantly after BBC meant that Duta Palma done illegal logging.

The rebuttal of Duta Palma  Duta Palma Group We are a group of palm oil plantation companies that has been established and operated since 1987 under Indonesian laws. We have at all times tried to obey/comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Duta Palma and its subsidiaries have already obtained all required authorisations for a plantation company. To date, we have not received any complaints or reminders from the authorities relating to the above authorisation, as we are to believe that we have complied with all such applicable regulations.

The rebuttal of Duta Palma (cont.)  Illegal logging and High Conservation Value Forest As a palm oil plantation company, may we confirm that we have never done such illegal logging as meant by BBC. If there is the activity of cutting trees, which have economic value, it can be confirmed that such was done by another party or even possibly by local people beyond our control. Duta Palma and its subsidiaries have never done an illegal act or business. For your information, previously the land was owned by several companies before we acquired it, the purpose of the land is as a plantation but they didn't do it properly. By the time we opened the oil palm plantation there was no forest any more, therefore, no more High Conservation Value Forest in that area.

The rebuttal of Duta Palma (cont.)  Peat land We realise that the structure and condition of land in Kalimantan, some of them are peat lands, but we would never opened palm oil plantation on peat land with 3 meters depth, since it is not feasible to be planted and economically damaging to us. The plantation land that we have opened is on the peat land with average only meters depth.  Retrieved from: newsid_ / stm newsid_ / stm

3. Pressure from conservationist groups’ fans  Supporters of Greenpeace pressured companies like Nestle and Unilever to change their palm oil sourcing policies to stop deforestation as the forests are cleared mostly for palm oil. This helped as companies (which were providing palm oil to the buyers) used less land for palm oil plantations as they need less palm oil. Why EPIC fail  Still a lot of other companies using palm oil and thus the problems are not solved.  Fun fact (not really fun after all): Unilever is one of the biggest buyers of palm oil from Indonesia but it buys only 3% of the palm oil bought all the companies!

Things to note Nestle (you should know) sells stuff like Milo, Kit Kat, Koko Krunch and the latest product is Nescafe Dolce Gusto (the coffee maker stuff) while Unilever (you should NOT know) sells a range of products like Dove, Sunsilk, Lipton, Lux, Vaseline, Ben and Jerry's, Clear, Cif, Comfort, Lifebuoy, Rexona and Domestos

Efforts to prevent deforestation (not in Indonesia)  Brazil   Creation of a federal force to fight environmental crime – for which 3,000 new agents will be hired – and the training of 1,500 current staff in Brazil’s environmental agencies  Assembly of a committee composed of six ministers with portfolios affecting deforestation, such as rural credit and land property policy.  Inclusion of protected area costs in highway plans and budgets – a key measure as new and improved roads often cause greater deforestation  Why EPIC fail: This is not working as this is only among 10% of the Amazon forest in Brazil. There are still a lot of other areas that would be worse

Stakeholders By: Ming Chun

Who they are and how they uses it  Tribes-They use it for home and shelter  Eco-tour Operators-they use the rainforest as a tool for education and for them to show people the beauty of the rainforest  Factories- They use the rainforest as a source of income  Animals-They use the rainforest as a home and for protection  Scientists- They use the rainforest as a way of discovering things (like new plants for medication) that can benefit others  Government-They try to protect the rainforest and stop things that help destroy it  Conservationists-They use the rainforest as a tool for education and they try to protect it

Their job and what they do Tribes-  They help spread around the seeds of eaten fruit  They eat the fruit then let the animals carry around the seeds, planting more of that species Eco-Tour Operators-  They tell people how the rainforest is being threatened and what they can do to help stop this  They take tour groups around and show them the rainforest and how wonderful it is so they can appreciate it Factories-  Cut down trees for plantations Animals-  Spread around seeds and “plants” them  Make trees and plants grow as well as fruits that tribes in the rainforest can live off

Their job and what they do (cont.) Scientists-  To go into the rainforests and try to find good uses for new plant specimens  They find new plant species then use them in experiments to see if they can be used for medicine or something like that Government-  Help with world environmental issues  Ask countries to sign agreements that say that their particular country will stop cutting down that much trees Conservationists-  They try extremely hard to make people stop mining, logging, etc. in the rainforests  They do protest and start organisations that help save the rainforest and the environment like Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund

Their rights Tribes-  To not have their home cut down  To be able to find food fairly easily  To have water  To feel protected in their home  To have clothes Eco-tour operators-  Educate people  Fine people if they pollute(Example: Litter) the rainforest.  Show tourists the rainforest and let them appreciate it Factories-  Make money  Be able to support themselves and their families

Their rights (cont.) Animals-  To feel protected in their home  To always have food  To have shelter in their home  To not lose their habitats Scientists-  To be able to explore the rainforest (with conditions)  To be allowed to observe different species but make NO contact  To be granted permission to explore different parts of the rainforest in order to look for new plant species

Their rights (cont.) World governments-  To be allowed to request countries to reduce greenhouse gases  To be allowed to try and pay countries to protect their rainforests  To put in the Kyoto (international agreement against greenhouse emissions) into place Conservationists-  To be able to at least try to protect the rainforests  To be able to protest against non-environmental projects (things that hurt the environment and it’s rainforests) and not get in trouble for it

Their responsibilities Tribes-  To help distribute plants and seeds so that species can keep growing  To only take what they need and nothing more Eco-tour operators-  Educate people  Be role models by not polluting the rainforest  Respect laws that try to protect the rainforest Factories-  Burn trees in designated areas (not illegal places)  Burn trees sustainably Animals-  To keep spreading around seeds for food purposes  To protect the forest from other threats

Their responsibilities (cont.) Scientists-  To not move/change around any areas of the rainforest e.g. plant fruit where animals are trying to sleep  Not to disturb the wildlife inside the rainforests  To respect how the rainforest and to not do anything to pollute it World governments-  To reduce greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels in other countries  To protect the rainforests and what’s left of them Conservationists-  To be able to protect the rainforest and everything in it  To not stand by and watch the environment along with it’s rainforests be destroyed

Effects if their rights are not fulfilled Tribes-  The tribe will die out  People will forget about them Eco-tour operators-  People will forget how they should treat/behave in the rainforest  People will forget how important rainforests are Factories-  They can’t help/support themselves or their families

Effects if their rights are not fulfilled (cont.) Animals-  Animals could become more aggressive because of the stress from everything happening around them Scientists-  Cures for diseases that could’ve been found would’ve disappeared because scientists couldn’t explore and look for them World governments-  Rainforests will have even MORE threats working against the existence of them! Conservationists-  No one will be there to help the rainforests exist

What are the effects if their responsibilities are not fulfilled Tribes-  The rainforest and the species within it will diminish faster than before because seeds of plants aren’t being distributed Eco-tour operators-  Rainforests will be in even worse conditions  Different species will perish faster Factories-  There would be unemployment

What are the effects if their responsibilities are not fulfilled (cont.) Animals-  More animal species will die out  More plant/fruit species will die out Scientists-  Animals could start acting up because scientists have made with the animals and they’ve reacted badly  Cures that can solve current illness would be extinct World governments-  Rainforests won’t be protected at ALL anymore! Conservationists-  Rainforests simply WON’T exist anymore

Other country involvement and consequences on other countries By: Shang Wen

Chart  Deforestation Haze In turn leads to Economic losses More house pollution Higher PSI levels

Consequences 1. Haze As you all know, the wide-spread haze appeared in 2010 in Southeast Asia and The haze is the main effect of burning of land. This haze in turn leads to many other consequences. 2. Economic losses WHY? 1. Clinic efficiency To reduce the effects of haze, countries like Singapore have to splurge money, mainly to build more efficient clinic services to cure their health problems. 2. Tourist income Some countries, especially Singapore, rely a lot on tourists to survive. With the haze, they will avoid coming, and thus we will lose a lot.

Consequences (cont.) 3. More house pollution WHY? 1. Increase of air purifiers With haze, the amount of air purifiers to purify the air in the house will soar. However, many of these purifiers release ozone, which in turn causes people to suffer similar diseases as to the haze. 2. Living more in the house Some furniture that are in the house release harmful chemicals, that causes the air in the house to be dirty as well. They too give off a pungent smell like those of a renovation of a house.

What are other countries doing?  Singapore - Provided efficient satellite equipment and good photos, to view where the hot spots were. They managed to detect 146 hot spots.  Malaysia - Provided fire-fighting equipment that Indonesia lacked funds to buy and able- bodied fire fighters to help put out the fire. *Please note these were only solutions to stop the fires but not deforestation.

What are other countries doing? (cont.)  Norway – Signed a letter of intent with Indonesia. In exchange for up to US$1 billion, Indonesia would place a two-year moratorium on new logging concession. This is expected to put curbs on Indonesia's palm oil industry and delay plans for the creation of a huge agricultural estate in Papua province, where the Papua Forest is home to orang utans.  Also, to prevent illegal burning after this letter, Norway will set up a system in Indonesia to reduce corruption so that the deal can be enforced. With the money, Indonesia would have enough resources to combat deforestation. The money goes to making the farm land more productive and thus reduce the need for deforestation.

Rate of deforestation in Southeast Asia As you can see, Malaysia and Indonesia’s rates are the highest.

Worrying reasons  A study broke down changes in forest cover by island. Borneo, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, topped the list in terms of total area lost at 5 million hectares during the period, accounting for 12% of its 2000 cover.  The most worrying sign is, forests declined at a faster rate in Sumatra, which lost 23.7% of its forest cover or 3.5 million hectares. If other countries cannot defend themselves, I cannot see them helping Indonesia.

Consequences By: Chloe

A brief summary

Extinction of species  With deforestation, trees will be burned down. Many animals will lose their homes and migrate to other unsuitable environment.  Some animals are unable to adapt, and they might die easily. Predators will of course, be introduced and the population will be unbalanced. Thus, some animals might die of quickly.  In addition, when the poor animals seek refuge from a farmer, they get killed or injured badly.

Greenhouse effects  Enormous quantities of CO2 are released from the burnt trees. While the input of CO2 to the atmosphere is increased, its output decreases.  Many scientists believe that deforestation has been contributing significant amounts of carbon dioxide to the global atmosphere and thereby to the greenhouse effect or global warming.

Natural disasters  In forest fires, global warming is caused by the CO2 released during forest fires. Global warming leads to dire consequences. Floods, droughts, earthquakes and acid rain.  Trees increase water infiltration. However, when the forests are burned, they are unable to transport water from heavy rain to streams. Thus, this leads to floods.  Droughts can also be caused during the dry season, because water supply to streams are not provided.

Acid rain  WHY? Rain clouds get polluted by the haze released by deforestation.  EFFECTS When acid rain comes into contact with anything, it practically destroys it. The Sphnix has already some parts destroyed by acid rain.

Soil Erosion  Trees with the help of deep root systems are able to draw water from sub-surface water table. Humidity prevents excessive water loss and rapid desiccation. Plants contribute organic matter which upon decomposition adds humus to the soil.  Deforestation leaves the ground surface bare. Further loss of nutrients might occur. Where remaining vegetation is burned to clear the land and agriculture attempted loss of nutrients is even more rapid. Already poor tropical soil is made poorer.

Soil Erosion (continued)  The top soil which is thus lost is irreplaceable. Nature takes about 1000 years to produce 2.5 cms of top soil.  Massive soil erosion aggravates flood situation in two ways. Firstly, the deposition of silt and sediments in river beds makes them shallow. Secondly, land devoid of forest cover loses its water holding capacity.  About 10 million hectares of forested land can hold enough water to fill completely a reservoir as large as that of Bhakhra-Nangal dam. In absence of plant cover this water flows down in rapid torrents.

Interlinking Chart

 Orang Utans  About 1000 orangutans have died during the dry season earlier. Forest fires have produced thick smoke across Borneo. They have suffered from dehydration, respiratory problems, lack of food and even sustained injuries due to the forest fires. The fires have destroyed their habitats.  Orangutans flee the burning forest in search of food and safety, often to nearby palm oil plantations, where they are abused. Shouldn’t orangutans be saved? Why are they being abused? In my opinion, the world should do something to save these orangutans.

THE END!