Environment

Why Now? A West Papua Backgrounder
By: Jim Elmslie
Source: New Matilda

NM has kept a close eye on West Papua as pressure in the breakaway Indonesian province builds. Long-time Papua watcher Jim Elmslie explains why the situation has escalated - and may get worse in coming months

Two seminal events have shattered the uneasy status quo in West Papua: a labour strike at the Freeport mine, and the declaration of an independent West Papua at a landmark mass meeting of Papuan nationalists, the Third Papuan Congress.

Mpur Peoples and Development
a film by Mnukwar, with support from DTE

This new film explores the views of the Mpur community, West Papua, on development plans for their region which will affect their land, livelihoods and culture.

Mpur Peoples and Development from Down to Earth on Vimeo.

West Papua Report January 2011

Source: West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT)

This is the 81st in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm. Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.

West Papua is comparable to the Amazon as the most biologically diverse region on earth. Its vast forests are part of "the lungs of Asia" because they play such a critical role in producing oxygen. I firmly believe West Papuan forests are being destroyed faster than any other forests in the world, including the Amazon (which has recently seen a decrease in the rate of destruction) and this rate is escalating. However, there is no way to prove anything. This article in Free Malaysia Today clearly explains why. Journalists beware - investigating the business interests of the Indonesian military can be fatal!

West Papua invited us to visit: Greenpeace

Peter Alford, Jakarta correspondent
From:
The Australian October 16, 2010 12:00AM

GREENPEACE has told the Indonesian government its Rainbow Warrior vessel has been invited to visit a natural disaster area in politically sensitive West Papua.

The ship remained anchored outside Indonesian territorial waters yesterday as officials and MPs wrangled over the government's refusal to allow it to port in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Dear Friends,

Please help us help humanity by reading and encouraging other adults to read the graphic novel at www.papuanvoices.com in English, German or Korean. We're working on an iPad/iPhone version and hope to have this graphic novel soon in print and published as an eBook. (Tip: Try your scroll wheel to flip pages.)

The Illustrator and I have chosen to release the first three chapters (64 pages) now, given the urgency of the content (see the WestPAN Home page) and also because we can update and add to this "flip book" over time. You can read the remaining three chapters of the book in text form with occasional illustrated pages as they are released. Just go to the last page of the graphic novel for the link. (Tip: There's a Table of Contents at bottom left.)

If you care about disappearing cultures and biodiversity, you can help raise the world's awareness of West Papua by forwarding this appeal to your friends and colleagues, or by letting them know about this through Facebook, Twitter or word-of-mouth. If you enjoy the beautiful illustrations in this book and come to appreciate the global significance and urgency of its story, please tell others about papuanvoices.com.

The Author

Resource-Rich West Papua, But Who Benefits?

The Jakarta Post - Friday May 14, 2010
by:Carmel Budiardjo

Indonesia is these days praised as a success story among the countries of Southeast Asia, with growth figures that compare favorably with its neighbors and an absence of conflict. It is also the largest country in the region which enjoys an abundance of natural resources that have lured foreign companies to its shores. Since the fall of Soeharto in 1998 and the end of his dictatorship, economic progress has fostered a growing middle class.

A referendum in East Timor 18 months after his exit secured that country’s independence after 25 years of devastating occupation, while in the other conflict-ridden province, Aceh, where thousands of people died from 1976 till 2004, a peace agreement has secured it an era of reconstruction, thanks largely to the devastating tsunami in December 2004 and to the agreement reached a year later between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and Jakarta.

However, the situation in its most easterly region, West Papua, is far from satisfactory and rarely draws international attention except when shooting incidents take the lives of foreigners employed by a mining company which is recognized as being Jakarta’s largest taxpayer.

Activists say Papua food estate ‘not the answer’
by Arti Ekawati & Fidelis E. Satriastanti
Jakarta Globe – March 04, 2010

Activists warned on Thursday not to put too much hope in the Merauke food estate, saying it would do little to provide food security or eliminate starvation in Indonesia.

“It will eventually decrease our dependence on [importing] food crops, but it does not automatically reduce famine in our own country. It does not work that way,” said Witoro, the head of a food-crop working group from the Prosperity Village Alliance, which comprises 18 nongovernmental organizations focused on implementing sustainable living in villages across the country.

Indonesian Govt Gives Green Thumb-Up To Plant Papua 'Food Estate'
The Jakarta Globe, January 18, 2010
by Arti Ekawati & Muhamad Al Azhari

The government is moving forward with the country’s first integrated food production zone in Merauke, Papua, a minister told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. “Drafting of the [food estate] regulation has been finished and it is ready to be signed by the president,” Agriculture Minister Suswono said.

The food estates, as they are known, are designed to stimulate large-scale investment in the agriculture sector and beef up food security. The developers will be prevented from exporting any of their produce until the nation’s food needs have been met. If the pilot project, which aims to attract domestic and international investors with a series of tax breaks, is successful, the government hopes to establish similar zones elsewhere in eastern Indonesia. The completion of the food estate regulation was one of the objectives of the government’s program for its first 100 days.

West Papua Report September 2009

Source: West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT)

This is the 64th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm. Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.