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Reafforestation in China and India

19th February 2011

Image source: The Economist

Here is an interesting chart if ever there was one. The Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) — a reliable source, one would think — has published data on the annual rate of deforestation over the past decade which shows that some countries are bucking the trend and have become net reafforestors (if that is a word) between 2000 and 2010. Amazingly, among the largest reafforestors are China and India. Everything I read suggests the opposite should be true. A classic case of misreporting by government agencies perhaps, or have I just become way too cynical? Australia, meanwhile, is in the same bracket as Brazil and Indonesia, which is not something to be especially proud of.

Forget Cancun, this is where the real action takes place

29th November 2010

I blogged about Green School when I first visited last year. Since then, the school has gone on from strength to strength and now has in excess of 200 students, a number that is set to grow when boarding facilities open next year. Those meeting at COP16 in Cancun this week should go and take a look at Green School for some inspiration, because here they actually walk the talk, rather than come up with elaborate excuses to continue to do nothing.

Chunky KitKats are back with a clear conscience

18th May 2010

Image source: ecofriendlymag.com

Breaking news in The Guardian yesterday is that you can now have a break, and have a KitKat, and do so with a clear conscience. The article entitled: Nestlé uses NGO to clean up palm oil supply chain reports on how a company with USD100 billion in revenues will bow to pressure from consumers to clean up its act. Once upon a time this might not have been the case, but it is a different story in an era where social networking has been become such a powerful medium.

Greenpeace takes on Nestle over Indonesian rainforest destruction

20th March 2010

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV1t-MvnCrA]

An article published in The Guardian the other day describes how Nestlé is ‘fighting a PR battle with Greenpeace over claims that it is continuing to source palm oil from Sinar Mas, the Indonesian company accused of illegal deforestation and peatland clearance’. Greenpeace alleges that plantation expansion by Sinar Mas is endangering orangutans by encroaching on their habitat, and the latest campaign video (see above) features an office worker inadvertently biting into an orangutan finger instead of a KitKat chocolate bar. This hard-hitting clip (temporarily withdrawn yesterday from YouTube for reasons unknown) focuses more on the plight of the orangutan and less on the climate change and pollution dimensions. It doesn’t really matter though, as Nestlé can be censured on a number of fronts as the ‘fans’ at the Nestlé Facebook site have been pointing out in their droves these last few days. It will be interesting to see how this corporate juggernaut copes with this kind of criticism in the new, socially mediated world.

Update 22 March: This story from Mongabay would tend to corroborate the view that no matter how big you are, it is dangerous to under-estimate the power of social networks.

The physicality of greeness

24th March 2009

I had the good fortune last week to spend some time at the Green School in Bali, Indonesia. It has attracted a lot of publicity of late from the likes of CNN and ABC (Australia), amongst others, and not without good reason. It is probably as good an example of authentic learning as you are ever likely to find, and according to the founders, John and Cynthia Hardy, it’s about children experiencing the ‘physicality of greeness’. The school does not have any courses that focus specifically on sustainability because simply by attending, students are living and breathing what it means to be sustainable.

Set on 20 acres, the school’s buildings are constructed entirely from bamboo, lalang-alang grass (a local grass), and mud bricks, and the campus is powered through renewable energy sources such as solar power, biogas, and micro-hydro power from the river. The ecological footprint of the school is pretty close to zero as it functions in perfect harmony with its environs, an organic permaculture system — cultivated and managed by the students — providing a source of food and a sink for recycling waste.

The Green School is a fee-paying international school and it opened its doors to students in September 2008. It currently has 17 different nationalities including Indonesians who can take advantage of scholarships. It ultimately plans to move towards the International Baccalaureate curriculum, and while this will require the study of traditional subjects like maths, science, a second language, and the arts, the principle of sustainability will remain at the heart of the curriculum. In the process, graduates of the Green School will be supremely well-placed to provide the kind of leadership that is required in a post-industrial, ecologically sustainable society.

The Haze

7th October 2006

The view from my home office window is not gentle on the eye at the best of times. I am a regular witness to ExxonMobil’s direct contribution to global warming through its oil refinery at Jurong. Today, however, the view is much worse thanks to what Singaporeans commonly refer to as ‘The Haze’. Sadly, it is becoming a regular phenomenon because the Indonesian government does nothing to prevent land-clearing by burning. According to the Singapore Straits Times today, the Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) hit a high of 130 at 10am this morning which is considered ‘unhealthy’. Meanwhile, Greenpeace activists have staged a demonstration [RealPlayer required] outside the Indonesian foresty ministry in Jakarta, filling the building with smoke to make a point.

Tag: Indonesia