IN SEARCH OF THE FOREST: DEFORESTATION IN INDONESIA

Deforestation in Indonesia to make way for an oil palm plantation. Source: Wikipedia.

By Gundhramns Hammer
November 2, 2014 
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AugeFilms´ "Cari Hutan-In Search of the Forest-Ich suche Wald" is perhaps one of the best documentaries on Indonesia´s deforestation. 

It is important to watch it to become aware of this problem which is of great concern for all earthlings on the planet.

Indonesia´s deforestation problem is tied to local poverty and greed from the outside world, according to Prof. Bungaran Saragih, former Indonesian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (2001-2004).

To the above, we should add man´s worldwide never ending demand for palm oil-based products and biofuels, the two leading causes of deforestation not only in Indonesia but also in other parts of the world (e.g., Guatemala).

So, man´s perpetual quest for money and mega-consumption are at the root of this planetary evil (Video 1). 

Video 1. Green (Palm oil deforestation). A film by Patrick Rouxel.

Let us take a good look at our own massive environmental evils in Indonesia (Videos 2-9): 

Video 2. In Search of the Forest. 1/8

Video 3. In Search of the Forest. 2/8

Video 4. In Search of the Forest. 3/8

Video 5. In Search of the Forest. 4/8

Video 6. In Search of the Forest. 5/8

Video 7. In Search of the Forest. 6/8

Video 8. In Search of the Forest. 7/8

Video 9. In Search of the Forest. 8/8

In a world where everything is connected, no one with enough money to buy processed foods can eat a particular palm oil-rich chocolate bar, trying to fill in an emotional hole late at night, without ever touching and messing up the lives of hundreds of species living close by or far away in tropical the forests.

In the mirror of life, any fisherman will tell you that "the fish dies by its mouth". 

Will this happen to humans (Homo insapiens)? 

Will humans fish themselves by their own mouths and by the gas tank mouths of their beloved cars  in the long run?

So far, that´s what looks like.

References

Barber C.V., Matthews E., Brown D., Brown T.H., Curran L. & Plume C. (2002). The State of the Forest: Indonesia. World Forest Institute & Global Forest Watch, Washington, DC, USA. 104 p.

El Observador (2013). Palma Africana Enraizándose en las Tierras de Ixcán. Enfoque, Año 5 (30): 1-24.

Shrier-Uijl A.P., Silvius M., Parish F., Lim K.H., Rosediana S. & Anshari G. (2013). Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Palm Cultivation on Tropical Peat. Reports from the Technical Panels of the 2nd Greenhouse Gas Working Group of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO): 131-168.