Indonesia

Two forest projects in Borneo show the value of a United Nations-backed scheme that protects forests and wildlife, reduces carbon emissions and benefits local communities. This is the second of a two-parter on the carbon credit market.

In the centre of Borneo island are two projects that protect patches of peat swamp forest three times the size of Singapore.

Once threatened with destruction by palm oil and mining firms, these two privately run businesses were early movers in a United Nations-backed scheme called REDD+ that rewards investors who protect nature and fight climate change.

Tropical rainforests soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and store the carbon in tree trunks, roots and leaf litter. By protecting the forest, every year the Rimba Raya and Katingan Mentaya projects in Central Kalimantan province prevent about 11 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted – that’s like taking about three million cars off the road annually.

Over its project life of 60 years, Katingan Mentaya, the project’s developers estimate, would prevent 447 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted, equivalent to the annual emissions of France – all from 150,000ha of forest.

Auto and insurance giants, oil and gas companies, tech firms and others buy carbon offsets from these projects, with each offset equivalent to a tonne of CO2 removed or locked away. The firms use these to meet their own emissions-cutting goals.

The Rimba Raya and Katingan Mentaya projects began more than a decade ago and their success is testament that forest carbon schemes work and, if done right, have the potential to curb the pace of global warming.

It also shows that carbon finance represents a vital, if still small, lifeline to fund conservation of fast-disappearing ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass meadows and wetlands. If scaled up, the benefits could be immense, potentially unblocking billions of dollars in conservation investments.

“Forest protecting must be done right,” says Mr Dharsono Hartono, co-founder of the Katingan Mentaya project. “Natural forests with healthy biodiverse ecosystems create the best conditions for sequestering and storing carbon. Large-scale tree planting is a fantastic endeavour and should be encouraged, but we must prioritise protecting and restoring the forests we already have.”

Globally, forests soak up billions of tonnes of CO2. But widespread clearing, such as with fires, and the growing impact of climate change are fast threatening this natural brake on global warming.

The world lost an area of tropical rainforest the size of the Netherlands last year, according to a recent assessment by the University of Maryland on the Global Forest Watch online platform of the World Resources Institute. Rainforest loss in Indonesia and Malaysia fell for the fourth year in a row last year, the analysis found, but the area was still about 345,000ha, or nearly five times Singapore’s size. That represents a huge amount of CO2 emitted into the air and a large loss of rich plant and animal life.

True value

The trade in carbon offsets, or credits, occurs through a well-established voluntary market where projects are designed to strict standards and are annually verified, and the credits sold directly to the buyer. Though small – about US$300 million (S$399 million) in 2019 – the market is changing the calculus of valuing nature.

Financing forest carbon projects, or nature-based climate solutions as they are also known, means forests can be worth more alive than dead – especially as demand is growing for offsets from high-quality projects as more and more companies and governments pledge to meet strict climate targets.

And few areas are more valuable than peat swamp forests.

Rimba Raya and Katingan Mentaya sit on carbon-rich peat domes that have accumulated hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon over the centuries in the form of dead plant matter. Clearing the forest and draining the swamps are a very bad idea: Once dried out, deep peat domes can burn for months and produce toxic haze and lots of CO2.

Both projects are also reserves for orangutans, proboscis monkeys, clouded leopards and other endangered wildlife and plants. Rimba Raya’s 64,500ha also acts as a natural buffer zone to the adjacent Tunjung Puting national park.

Investors are increasingly seeing the potential of forest carbon projects, which are estimated to comprise the majority of future carbon credit flows. Investors, such as Pollination Group, a climate advisory in Australia, and banking giant HSBC, say that nature is greatly undervalued and billions of dollars of investment are needed to create nature as a new asset class.

“It is critical to finance global rainforests,” says Mr Martijn Wilder, Pollination’s founder. “They are not only critical to climate change but also to the preservation of global biodiversity. They are disappearing at a rate of knots and they need large-scale climate finance. And critically they are home to indigenous communities. There is enormous potential for nature if we take the right approach.”

Pollination and HSBC have formed a venture to invest in nature-based solutions, and other major investors around the globe, including Singapore, are also eyeing the burgeoning carbon market. That’s good for Rimba Raya and Katingan Mentaya. Both have seen a surge in buying of their carbon offsets and expect prices to steadily rise from the present range of US$4 to US$8 a tonne, with buyers keen to lock in future flows of offsets even if prices are higher.

Track record

What helps is that both projects have a strong track record and have achieved the highest standards in the market covering carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection and community development. Rimba Raya last year was certified as meeting all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Both projects use carbon credit sales to support more than 40 villages – 34 for Katingan Mentaya and 11 for Rimba Raya. The projects have developed a wide variety of livelihood and health programmes, including food production as well as employing locals as fire wardens and in tree nurseries for replanting cleared areas. Katingan Mentaya employs more than 400 local people to protect the forest during the fire season and has also replaced “river toilets” with cleaner land-based latrines.

Rimba Raya has expanded its orangutan release sites deep in the forest, is replanting mangroves along the coast nearby and also launched a floating health clinic that travels along the Seruyan river, which borders the project.

“We built a boat and staffed it with government nurses and doctors and it goes village to village. People line up for health checks. That’s been an incredible success,” says project co-developer Jim Procanik.

Mr Todd Lemons, chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based firm InfiniteEarth, which is the project’s developer, says: “Optometry has been the big one. Giving people glasses so they can see for the first time.”

Mr Procanik adds: “The other thing that is life-changing is we have dug wells in many of the villages and set up a water filtration system. We’ve set it up as a local business that they own.”

Speaking from the US, they say that the increase in carbon revenues of late means that they can spend more on programmes, including more orangutan release sites and running the health clinic more often.

And, after more than a decade and spending about US$5 million, the project is finally paying for itself. “We are just now beginning to pay back investors,” says Mr Lemons. “As things have improved, we are dramatically stepping up what we’re doing this year and next year, things that we always wanted to do but were big-ticket items.”

One of those is agroforestry by developing previously degraded areas and planting native crops in a mixed-crop fashion. “But they will all be cash crops – spices, oils. So they can reforest in the most polycultural fashion possible and also that this will deliver permanent income to communities,” Mr Lemons says.

Get wild

These sorts of community benefits, on top of carbon sequestration, are what many investors and credit buyers are looking for.

Ms Leah Wieczorek, business development lead – Asia, for South Pole, a leading global carbon offset project developer, says that there is a clear trend in the market for higher-impact carbon offsets.

“While many companies were extremely price-driven in the past, today they are seeking more qualifications and co-benefits,” she says, referring to credits eligible under the UN’s aviation emissions reduction scheme as well as projects that support the health of women and children.

“There is also a growing awareness that climate action and protecting ecosystems go hand in hand: We see a clear trend for nature-based solutions, especially when it comes to long-term offtake agreements,” she says.

Looking ahead, Mr Procanik says that there is strong interest in selling Rimba Raya’s future credits. “Everyone in the market foresees there is going to be a robust liquid market. The market today is not yet liquid, I believe it will be soon, and definitely five years in the future. What I believe is that people are positioning themselves for the future.”

By then, Mr Procanik and Mr Lemons expect their carbon credits to be worth US$20 to US$30 a tonne.

After a decade, both projects underscore that protecting nature is not easy and takes time. “Protecting nature and addressing climate change have no quick fixes,” says Katingan Mentaya’s Mr Dharsono. “We must create the right conditions for nature to do what it does best: grow, get wild and lock in carbon.

Down in the dumps, Indonesia struggles to control growing amounts of Covid-19 waste

At the Burangkeng dumpsite on the eastern edge of Indonesia’s capital, green and blue surgical masks and white rubber gloves are strewn among the detritus of daily household living.

Under the scorching sun, waste picker Oom Komalasari, 48, protected by only socks and gloves, sifts through the refuse for anything of value as goats scavenge the same foul-smelling trash for food.

She then hikes to the mountain of solid waste churned out by three bulldozers moving at a full throttle, as trucks line up to unload their trash.

Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the single mother of five had often found medical waste such as needles and intravenous fluid bottles scattered among the garbage. But now there is more.

“Nearby factories dispose of their masks and gloves here and many more have been thrown here lately,” Ms Oom told The Straits Times during her break.

The situation is not unique to Burangkeng. In late May last year, sheet piles at the Cipeucang dumpsite on the western edge of Jakarta collapsed, sending debris including masks and gloves into the Cisadane River. The river is the main source of water for Tangerang city’s nearly 2.3 million residents.

Environment group Banksasuci Foundation found around 50 items of medical waste, including masks, in the river each day from the end of May to July last year, after which the numbers declined gradually.

The two dumpsites illustrate the struggle faced by Indonesia’s 270 million people to manage the nation’s huge mountains of waste, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Indonesia is still struggling to contain the number of coronavirus infections. The country has suffered South-east Asia’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

Long before the pandemic, medical waste was already dumped on empty land and into watersheds and rivers in Jakarta and its satellite towns, despite environmental rules, said Mr Bagong Suyoto, head of the coalition.

“After the pandemic we found many more places made into illegal dumping sites for the medical waste,” he said. “Most were masks.”

Last October, used Covid-19 test kits and hazmat suits from a health clinic in the nearby Jababeka industrial estate were found on a street side in Bekasi, local media reported. Instead of incinerating the waste or hiring a waste disposal company, the clinic had resorted to illegal dumping instead.

To address reports of medical waste management, the Environment and Forestry Ministry ordered regional governments on Oct 27 last year to bar hospitals and other healthcare facilities from disposing their waste in landfills, which are intended for household trash only.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry estimates medical waste has increased between 30 per cent and 50 per cent since last March.

In total, medical waste generated from the start of the pandemic in March to October last year across Indonesia’s 34 provinces amounted to 1,662.75 metric tonnes, the ministry’s director general for management of rubbish, waste and toxic and hazardous materials Rosa Vivien Ratnawati said last November.

Only 118 hospitals out of 2,925 hospitals and community health centres nationwide operate incinerators, while only 17 waste disposal companies are licensed to manage toxic and hazardous materials, and all are located on Java island.

That leaves about 88 metric tonnes of medical waste that cannot be managed properly each day due to the lack of facilities, according to the ministry’s estimate.

The government plans to build 32 waste management facilities to tackle toxic and hazardous waste by 2024.

Despite the enormous challenges, a few regions have managed to set up a system to address Covid-19 related waste smoothly.

Jakarta, for instance, has provided special bins for medical waste at some 200 temporary disposal sites as well as disposal sites dedicated for toxic and hazardous materials across the city, while residents can also hand over masks to waste pickers circulating in neighbourhoods. The city has hired PT Wastec International to collect the masks from municipal disposal sites for incineration.

Disposable mask waste produced by Jakarta residents totalled 203kg in April last year, when the city’s environment agency first collected the data. As of December last year, this figure amounted to 1.21 metric tonnes.

Mr Amri Restu Rianto, who supervises the Kramat Jati disposal site in East Jakarta, said that prior to the pandemic, masks were treated as residual waste with no economic value and were consequently dumped into the Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java.

Bantargebang is the largest landfill in South-east Asia. The Kramat Jati disposal site collected 128.3kg of masks from April to December last year.

“During the pandemic, disposable masks have been treated differently as they are considered infectious waste,” Mr Amri said, adding that this practice will likely continue even after the pandemic ends.

Mr Muhammad Reza Cordova, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences’ (Lipi) Research Centre for Oceanography, said that the government had to act promptly to build incinerators as the pandemic continues to grip Indonesia, to avert improper disposal, particularly in waterways and the ocean.

Healthcare waste made up 16 per cent of the total garbage floating in Cilincing and Marunda estuaries in Jakarta Bay in March and April last year, according to Lipi’s survey.

Plastic waste remains a huge problem for Indonesia, the second biggest marine plastic polluter after China. Plastic waste fouls many major rivers in Indonesia, which then washes out to sea where bottles to food packets to flip flops wash up along coastlines across the archipelago. The waste can ensnare sea animals or is eaten by birds, turtles or whales that mistake it for food.

“Our biggest concern is that the masks can serve as a new source of micro plastics polluting the ocean,” Mr Reza said, adding that when fish and other animals eat the tiny plastic particles, it could be detrimental to human health when people eat tainted seafood.

Jakarta Environment Agency spokesman Yogi Ikhwan said: “With the presence of a proper system in medical waste management, the increase in mask waste should not create a new problem to the environment.”

At the Kramat Jati disposal site, waste sorter Mr Mirta fears catching the virus. He says he always wears personal protection equipment while sorting out masks from all over East Jakarta.

“Performing my duty makes me scared. I fear that I will bring the virus home and spread it to my family,” the father of two said.

In contrast, at Burangkeng landfill, Ms Oom, wearing neither mask nor boots, ruled out the possibility of contracting Covid-19 as she believes the coronavirus would not survive the heat generated by the garbage.

In her 17-year job of sorting trash there, she said she only got sick occasionally and sought treatment for either itchy skin or the flu.

“Whether we catch the disease or not depends on our fate. It’s about destiny,” she said.

This piece was produced by The Straits Times and shared as part of the World News Day initiative

“Mangrove Care Villages will also be formed as a spearhead of sustainable mangrove rehabilitation.”

Indonesia, which is home to one of the world’s largest mangrove forests, has set a target of rehabilitating 150 thousand hectares (ha) of its area under mangroves in 2021.

Based on data recorded in 2011, about three million hectares of mangrove forests can be found along 95 thousand kilometers of Indonesia’s coastal areas, constituting 23 percent of the world’s mangrove ecosystem. Papua, Kalimantan, and Sumatra Islands are considered the most crucial regional mangrove ecosystems.

This year’s ambitious mangrove rehabilitation program, which will be carried out particularly in critical and tsunami-prone areas, was announced by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, during a recent coordination meeting held to discuss the accelerated program.

The online meeting was attended by Minister of Environmental Affairs and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Wahyu Trenggono, representatives from the Home Affairs Ministry and the National Development Planning Ministry/Bappenas, and head representative of the World Bank for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Satu Kahkonen.

About 84 percent of the funding for the 2021 mangrove rehabilitation program will be sourced from the State Budget (APBN), including from the Additional Assistance Budget (ABT), through the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN), while the remaining 16 percent will be derived from non-APBN sources.

Pandjaitan has urged local governments across the country to support the mangrove rehabilitation program.

“We urge the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate, so that the provinces and districts will also help maintain the mangroves, and they will also reap the fruits of this program, as it creates jobs,” he remarked.

The minister also discussed the carbon credit potential that could be optimized through the program. To this end, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry will identify suitable locations to serve as pilot projects for carbon trading, and regulations are also being prepared to regulate carbon trading activities, he said.

Meanwhile, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Nurbaya has emphasized the importance of the public gaining a comprehensive understanding of the program that has drawn international attention owing to its effect on the climate change agenda.

“The good news is that climate change in Indonesia is considered to be in the medium category. We have nearly become a role model country for good (mitigation of) climate change,” she affirmed.

Keeping carbon stored is vital for keeping global warming in check and meeting targets under the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change, according to scientists.

Indonesia’s mangrove forests store around 3.14 billion metric tons of carbon (PgC), or five times more carbon per hectare than highland tropical forests, according to Daniel Murdiyarso, a long-time principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and a leading wetlands expert.

Mangroves, however, have been disappearing more quickly than inland tropical rainforests, particularly due to clear-cutting for shrimp farms.

The loss of mangroves has led to a decline in fisheries, degradation of clean water supply, salinization of coastal soils, erosion and land subsidence, as well as increase in gas emissions, among other things.

As high carbon storage ecosystems, peatland and mangrove ecosystems have a strategic role as nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation. Peatlands and mangroves store up to two to 10 times more carbon than forests.

Given the significant role of mangrove and peatland ecosystems, the government has recently converted the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) into Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM).

“Peatland restoration and mangrove rehabilitation at several places are interrelated. This is because the nature of these ecosystems are connected. Hence, we will maximize our efforts to conduct synergistic activities in the two ecosystems,” BRGM head Hartono remarked.

BRGM has highlighted that six strategies will be applied to expedite mangrove rehabilitation, in accordance with the instructions of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

The six strategies comprise conducting coordination and data synchronization among ministries and agencies, macro planning and details of mangrove rehabilitation, and spreading education and disseminating information on the mangrove movement.

“Mangrove Care Villages will also be formed as a spearhead of sustainable mangrove rehabilitation,” Hartono informed at the Thought Leadership Forum held by the Nusantara Nature Conservation Foundation.

Synergized rehabilitation of mangroves will be conducted by involving relevant ministries, local governments, the private sector, and NGOs, he said. The agency will also develop an instrument for a measurable and continuous mangrove rehabilitation program, he added.

Meanwhile, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) is drafting a roadmap for the management of wetlands for mangrove and peatland forests to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The roadmap is one of the instruments supporting the important pillars to achieve Indonesia’s Vision 2045, namely sustainable economic development,” Bappenas deputy head for maritime affairs and natural resources, Arifin Rudiyanto, said on February 2, 2021.

Mangrove and peatland ecosystems have multiple benefits, which can potentially support several areas, including economic growth, creative economy, tourism, maritime interests, food security, water resources, and the environment, he said.

Mangroves and peatlands also benefit the national economy, the environment, and social life, including supporting mitigation and adaptation to climate change, he pointed out.

Hence, the roadmap for the management of wetlands will be drafted to also serve as a long-term guidance to support the achievement of the vision, he said.

Three working groups will supervise the formulation and implementation of the roadmap in collaboration and consultation with ministries and institutions that have adopted a strategy, management plan, and data related to the mangrove and peatland ecosystem, Rudiyanto said.

Bappenas had set up a wetland management strategy coordination team on October 30, 2020 and tasked it with accelerating the attainment of sustainable development goals.

Proper mangrove and peatland conservation and management will support the target of greenhouse gas reduction and prevent the release of carbon stored in the two ecosystems, Rudiyanto said.

The roadmap for the management of wetlands would help achieve several targets of sustainable development in 2030.

To support the mangrove rehabilitation program, large-scale nurseries will need to be developed in various regions.

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) recently built a mangrove nursery in Pasuruan district, East Java.

TB Haeru Rahayu, director general of marine space management at the KKP, explained that the mangrove nursery in Pasuruan has primarily been set up to ensure the availability of mangrove seeds to meet the needs of mangrove nurseries and for planting and rehabilitation efforts.

The Mangrove Center of Excellence Program aims to produce 100 million seedlings for mangrove planting programs in Indonesia. The nursery spans 3,093 square meters and houses 500 thousand seedlings of the species Rhizophora sp.

It has been built by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries through the directorate general of marine space management using funds from the additional budget for the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN) for the 2020 fiscal year.

This story, originally published by ANTARA News, has been shared as part of World News Day 2021, a global campaign to highlight the critical role of fact-based journalism in providing trustworthy news and information in service of humanity. #JournalismMatters. 

“All types of fish are here in Sali. Hence, all fishermen from Ternate, from Bacan, come here, because here you can say it is like a fish center.”

At first glance, a small island of Sali Kecil, located between Bacan Island on the west side and Halmahera Island in the east, does not look any different from the other coastal villages.

However, once we first set foot on a wooden pier that is also the main gate of Sali Kecil Village in North Maluku Province, its beauty and uniqueness will be revealed.

As we walk slowly on the wooden pier approaching the gate, colorful small fishes swimming swiftly along the sidelines of the coral reefs greet us.

The seawater is so clear that the tropical fish cannot escape our sight. Far behind the village gate and residential area, a stretch of forest can be seen along with the faint sounds of birds audible from a distance.

However, Ibrahim Nasir, a Sali Kecil Village resident, who participated in receiving ANTARA and others partaking in the Maluku EcoNusa Expedition last October, stated that the healthy coral reefs and the variety of tropical fish swimming around them are not something unique to them.

It is part of the villagers’ increasing awareness to protect the environment and to reduce waste in their waters in accordance with the local government’s recommendations.

The local fisheries office had urged villagers to protect Sali Kecil Island’s coral reefs, as they hold vast potential.

The beauty of Sali Kecil Island is alluring. It is not surprising if four-star resorts also operate there, as the islands there are included as an underwater paradise for divers.

“There are people, who are already aware of that (potential). Hence, we take care of each other,” Ibrahim, who works as a fisherman, stated.

Not only are they striving to reduce waste dumped into the sea, but the villagers have also begun prohibiting the use of fishing gear, such as bombs and fishing trawlers, that can damage coral reefs.

However, Ibrahim believes that the people’s awareness to protect their environment did not come instantly but involved a long process.

“In the past, many fishermen used trawlers to catch fish, but now, many local fishermen have begun abandoning this environmentally unfriendly practice,” Ibrahim noted.

As a result, Sali Kecil’s marine wealth has been preserved and has also become a blessing for other fishermen from around the island.

“All types of fish are here in Sali. Hence, all fishermen from Ternate, from Bacan, come here, because here you can say it is like a fish center. We have many types of fish here,” Ibrahim stated.

In order to support sustainable fishing, Ibrahim explained that local fishermen have their own plans of sea fishing. They usually fish at a specified location for twice a month before moving to another location to follow the same pattern.

Green forest

Sali Kecil Island not only consists of sea but also green forests that are home to wild birds and deer that have co-existed with the people since long.

The sight of deer descending to the coast and drinking seawater before sunset is not unusual for the residents of Sali Kecil Village. However, it is a special experience for those who have just visited the island.

Local villagers still hunt deer, but usually, they seek permission from elders of the village, as they believe it would be easier to find prey.

However, now, the position of the community elders in Sali Kecil lies vacant. Ibrahim noted that in exchange, they sought permission from the guardian of the sacred tomb, which the villagers believed was the final resting place for their ancestors, thought to have come from Tidore.

Not only that, the community also limits the land cleared for plantations. There are several parts of the forest in Sali Kecil that cannot be used as plantations for planting coconut, which is the main commodity for producing copra.

According to Ibrahim, the restriction was applied since vast acres of land were cleared by the previous generation, and it can still be used today.

Limitations

Natural resources and ecosystems still being maintained is certainly a blessing for the people of Sali Kecil Village. It is the source of their well-being.

However, akin to other small villages in Indonesia, although they are rich in natural resources and their ecosystem is still preserved, they still await help from the government to lead a safe and peaceful life.

Limited transportation at that location creates difficulties for the people living there. One of the problems that arise is when the community experiences acute health problems, while Sali Kecil has only one health worker serving as a midwife.

In fact, villagers often need urgent medical assistance. To avail health services, they have to cross the sea by boat to the nearest big island, Bacan Island.

Hamid Baca, one of the community leaders in Sali Kecil, stated that when a villager has to give birth in the middle of the night, they have to bring a ketinting, or a kind of small boat, to Bacan. Sometimes, the midwife had to bring the patient to East Bacan Sub-district on her boat, which was actually faster than the other residents.

“We were forced to leave in a small boat,” Hamid stated.

In fact, getting to Bacan aboard a ketinting takes about three hours. Meanwhile, using a fast boat takes up to an hour, Hamid noted.

School children there also face the problem of transportation. With only one elementary school in Sali Kecil, children of the village have to cross the sea to receive higher education.

The elementary school building on the island is still under repair after being damaged by the earthquake that rocked the South Halmahera area in 2019.

Despite some parts of the school building being dilapidated, the teachers there decided to conduct face-to-face teaching and learning activities, as the small island is included in the COVID-19 green zone in South Halmahera Regency.

“We, who live in these remote islands, face some difficulties to reach the regency, which located far away. Hence, we need the government’s assistance to manage social services here, especially for healthcare facilities,” Hamid expounded.

In the wake of such problems and difficulties, Hamid is optimistic that the message from small islands, such as Sali Kecil, can be conveyed to the relevant authorities to help those who survive to protect nature in the midst of limitations.

This story, originally published by ANTARA News, has been shared as part of World News Day 2021, a global campaign to highlight the critical role of fact-based journalism in providing trustworthy news and information in service of humanity. #JournalismMatters. 

“The road was quiet with only palm trees around and it was only two of us in his car when he began to caress my thigh and slip his hand under my bottom. I don’t know why but I couldn’t scream. I didn’t fight back because I was so scared. I was afraid he would get angry and he could do anything to me if I screamed. I could be killed. I didn’t want to die in vain,” said a student from a state university in Sumatra, recalling her chilling story of sexual abuse at the hands of her lecturer. She was going with him on a field trip to do research.

Her story is among 174 stories from survivors, which reveal that sexual harassment and abuse on campuses in Indonesia are widespread in 29 cities from the western to eastern parts of Indonesia, encompassing 79 state, private and religious-based universities.

Most of the survivors were female college students at the time of the alleged abuse, with seven being male.

The cities include Serang and Tangerang in Banten, Medan in North Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Malang in East Java.

Many of the cases were not reported and those that were are mostly unresolved.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

From Feb 13 to March 28, The Jakarta Post, Tirto.id and VICE Indonesia working in collaboration in a project called #NamaBaikKampus (CampusReputation) received 207 testimonies, of which 174 were alleged cases of sexual harassment.

Eighty-eight per cent of the survivors, who shared their stories on an online testimony form, come from universities in Java, with Semarang and Yogyakarta being named the two cities with the highest number of survivors who filled out the collaborative online form.

Yogyakarta and Semarang are home to Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and Diponegoro University (Undip), respectively, which have been named in high profile cases of alleged sexual abuse. There have been two cases at UGM, one of which went viral in November last year, in which a student, whose pseudonym is Agni, reported that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student.

Last month, #NamaBaikKampus revealed a case at Undip, in which students testified that they were harassed by a male lecturer. The collaboration recorded a spike in testimonies coming from Undip after Tirto.id, the Post and VICE Indonesia published the story.

The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said sexual abuse reports were usually the tip of the iceberg, with more reports meaning more survivors speaking up, but no reports from a certain institution does not mean there was no abuse at that institution.

HAPPENED ON- AND OFF-CAMPUS

Most of the survivors were female college students at the time of the alleged abuse, with seven being male.

Data compiled from their testimonies showed that 50 percent of the survivors said they had experienced sexual harassment multiple times, while the other 50 percent said it happened only once. They were harassed on- and off-campus by students and lecturers when going about their daily activities, during university events, internship programs, community service programs or when doing research.

In another story shared by a survivor, who was a medical student at an Islamic-based university in Central Java, she claims to have been harassed before an operation by a doctor during her internship at a hospital.

“He was sleeping in a resting room so I called him because the patient was ready for surgery. He then asked me to sit next him for a chit chat. He was my professor so I did what he asked me to do, I sat down. He then put his arms around me and tried to kiss me. I was so shocked I didn’t fight back; I just covered my face with my hands. Luckily, my friend suddenly opened the door, I got up and excused myself,” she told #NamaBaikKampus.

The medical student then told the story to her parents. Although they were angry, her parents decided not to do anything about it.

“We couldn’t do much. He is a doctor, a professor and the former director of that hospital,” she said.

Some survivors also reported being verbally harassed. One of them is a student at a Catholic university in West Java. She said a lecturer made a “joke” about susu, which can mean either milk or breasts, while pointing at her breasts in front of her friend and another lecturer.

TOO AFRAID TO REPORT THE CASES

Of 174 survivors, who shared their stories, 87 said they did not report the harassment to any authorities.

“I was still a student when the harassment took place. I’m afraid that [by reporting the case] the university would postpone my graduation because of this matter. Studying at the university already costs so much and I only want to finish my studies on time without any delay,” a survivor in Semarang said.

Most campuses do not have any known procedure to help survivors report their cases. The Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry’s director general of learning and student affairs, Ismunandar, said in an interview with VICE Indonesia in February that universities in Indonesia were “autonomous” entities and such sexual abuse cases should be handled by each individual institution. The ministry did not have any plan to issue a guideline on eradicating sexual abuse on campus, including abuse perpetrated by lecturers.

However, UGM might be the first one to set up a university-wide policy. After much criticism about how the rectorate handled Agni’s case, which included victim blaming from some officials, UGM is deliberating a policy to give the rectorate a tool to handle future cases better.
“My lecturer also harassed my friend when we were still students but we didn’t know what to do or who to call for help. We didn’t have any facility on campus to solve this issue until now,” another survivor said.

Some of the survivors also did not report their cases because they suspected that university officials would care more about the university’s reputation.
“I’m scared of the top officials who resolutely try to protect the university’s reputation,” a survivor in Banten said.

This story by Gemma Holliani Cahya and Evi Mariani was originally published by Jakarta Post on April 29, 2019. To read more, click here.

As he usually does in the morning, Madu greets his listeners. Madu runs his broadcast from a community radio station, Benor FM Radio, located in a remote area in Bukit Suban Village.

The village is located in the Air Hitam District of Sarulangun Regency in theJambi Province.

Benor Radio was initiated by an NGO called the Indonesian Conservation Community Warsi.

Benor Radio, that started its broadcast since 2013, priorities its radio program forthe Anak Dalam, who are also known as the Orang Rimba ethnic group.

The group is scattered amongst the Bukit Dua Belas National Park area.

The Orang Rimba is a native Jambi community who live nomaidcally in the forest as a group.

Madu is a native broadcaster from the Orang Rimba ethnic group. Beside Madu, there are five other native jungle people who are active as broadcasters.

For the children of the Suku Anak Dalam, it is not easy to learn to be an announcer. However, their willing attitudes have now made them broadcasters whose voices are eagerly awaited by The Orang Rimba in the forest and local residents.

“Well, the first difficulty was learning to operate a laptop. When I first broadcasted, I spoke stiffly, but after two weeks it went smoothly,” said Madu.

By broadcasting the radio show to cover an area of 30 kilometres, Benor Radio program can be listened to by 80 percent of the entire 2,546 jungle people in the national park area.

In addition to fighting inequality and enabling equal access to media and information, Benor Radio was established to deliver information to people who live in the forest and who are difficult to reach physically.

“To get information, Orang Rimba access is very limited. By the radio, it can provide information to the jungle people and the radio can be a learning medium for them,” said Jauharul Maknun, responsible person for Benor FM Radio.

“Benor is also expected to become a media platform that bridges the gap between the jungle people and the surrounding community, reducing the negative stigma of outside communities towards the jungle people. we can provide understanding to the outside community about the jungle people,” He added.

For The Orang Rimba, radio is the only medium they are able to get information from.

“I got the information about earthquakes, floods, and also elections (through the radio). So we got the information about who wins and loses in the election,” said Perabung, as member of Suku Anak Dalam.

Moreover, Benor Radio provides information about the arrival of health workers to the national park area.

This is important to the Orang Rimba whos secluded and nomadic livs in the forest often rob them of health facilities.

This story by Perwiranta, Syahrudin, Amir Musa and Sandy Arizona was originally published on ANTARA Indonesia News Agency in May 2019.