Greenpeace

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

I haven't written a web log entry for a few days. I've been busy building dams for Greenpeace.  I never thought I'd type that line.  Usually we're opposing dams, not building them.

Building dams is apparently extremely laborious and time consuming work. Fortunately we've had an infusion of community members from the local village helping us out.  They really know how to work and have shown up most of the city folk here.  They also are extremely entertained by seeing a "bule" put in some hard labor.  They've taken to calling me by the name of some soccer player who plays for AC Milan who they think I look like.  Probably some white dude with a beard.  They also call me "Mister Sport", which I'm not sure is a compliment or an insult.

So yesterday we finished two dams, and it was incredibly satisfying to see the water level rise behind the dam.  Rob said it one of the coolest and most effective actions he's ever been a witness to.  We have three more dams to go, however.

The idea of building these dams is to help raise the level of water in the peatland area to its previous height, thereby restoring the area to it's natural state.  This would take quite some time, as the forest has been cleared and burned.  But damming the canals is the first step towards restoration.  The oil palms, already planted in the area certainly aren't going to like the rising water levels.  But that doesn't really concern us, especially as seeing as this palm concession is illegal under international law.  The law states that any peatlands over 3 meters in depth may not be deforested and converted.  The peatland area where this concession exists has peatland depths of over 8 meters (26 feet).  8 meters was the maximum depth that could be measured with the tools that were used by the surveying crew of scientists who helped us measure the peatland depth.  In many areas the peatland depth exceeds 8 meters.

So far we haven't had any reaction from the company that owns and operates the concession, Duta Palma.  Some of the workers have come by to check out our work, but none have done anything to stop us - yet. There could me many reasons for this, such as the probability that they know that their operation is illegal.  Another possible reason is that they know how much support we have among the community, and even among the local officials, which brings me to another story.

We had yet another visit from government officials.  This time we were told to expect about 6 people, and of course about 15 arrived.  They were mostly officials from the Indonesian equivalent of the county level.  Also with them were some people from military intelligence.  The government officials were extremely friendly. They even visited one of the damming sites and expressed their support.  The military intelligence officials, dressed in all black with sunglasses, weren't quite as vocal in their support.  But I assume that's just their MO. It was great though to see the support we are getting from official government in Indonesia.  This can sometimes be a risky place to make bold statements, and how Indonesian officials will react cannot always be predicted.  Right now it seems that we are safe from goverment intervention.

After our last visit from the police and police intelligence I contacted the U.S. embassy,mostly because the visiting officials asked me if I had registered with the embassy.  I have to say that I have had excellent support, especially from the consulate in Medan on Sumatra. They have kept in contact, and even read my web log.  Illegal logging is an issue that is very important to them.

I only have a few more days left in camp.  It has been nearly a month. I acclimated to the heat here, I sleep well every night, I haven't had a beer in a month, and I wake up at 5:30 almost every morning, and people make fun of me for my American accent.  I have a feeling that some changes will be coming soon.

I'll send out more updates on our progress, and any reaction from Duta Palma, if they react at all.

Also, I'm told that my web log is being translated to mandarin and is published on the largest web site in China.  So that's kind of cool.

Hayden