1) West Papuan people’s reps reject Jakarta draft

2) West Papua Calls for Independence Referendum to Avert Genocide 

3) Floods swamp residential, office areas in Keerom District, Papua  

4) Bird and orchid sanctuary in Papua showcases the rich biodiversity of Indonesia

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https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/435729/west-papuan-people-s-reps-reject-jakarta-draft

1) West Papuan people’s reps reject Jakarta draft

6:23 pm on 3 February 2021  

The head of the Papuan People's Assembly says it has rejected Indonesia's plans on special autonomy for his region.

Indonesia's government is seeking to extend the Papuan provinces' Special Autonomy Law which expires this year after two decades.

Special Autonomy was granted to Papua in 2001 in response to growing demands for independence.

A central plank of the Law was the establishment of the Assembly, or MRP, as a form of indigenous senate.

But West Papuan customary representatives and civil society have largely been sidelined from consultations over the extension.

The MRP head Timotius Murip said the assembly rejected the government's draft which effectively proposes to negate the authority of the Papua provincial governor, the MRP and the Papuan Representative Council (DPRP).

He said indigenous Papuan people as represented by MRP feel disadvantaged because the proposal was a violation of the rights of Papuans whom are also citizens.

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https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/03/west-papua-calls-for-independence-referendum-to-avert-genocide/

FEBRUARY 3, 2021 

2) West Papua Calls for Independence Referendum to Avert Genocide 

BY JEFF ARMSTRONG

The Indonesian-occupied nation of West Papua has called for urgent international intervention against Indonesia’s intensification of what a 2016 report called “slow motion genocide.”

West Papua is facing an onslaught of colonial settlement backed by the military of the fifth largest nation in the world, with the largest army in Southeast Asia. Papuans are quickly becoming a minority in their own country, if they are not there already. Former Indonesian intelligence chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono recently called for the forced removal of some two million indigenous Papuans to the island of Manado in apparent response to a Dec. 1, 2020 reaffirmation of West Papuan independence, first declared 59 years earlier on that date.

The pro-independence coalition known as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) on its national independence day raised the outlawed Morning Star flag and named a provisional government headed by interim President Benny Wenda, who was arrested and tortured by Indonesia but now lives in exile in England after escaping from custody 18 years ago.

“This is racial ethnic cleansing, a genocidal fantasy at the highest levels of the Indonesian state,” President Wenda said in a recent statement.

The occupation of West Papua is driven by greed and fueled by deep-seated racism that depicts the tribal peoples of the nation as subhumans incapable of self-government, a concept that even penetrates Indonesian textbooks. The chairman of an organization tied to Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently referred to a prominent West Papuan human rights defender as a “monkey,” a common racial slur among Indonesians.

Similar expressions of Indonesian racism sparked demonstrations throughout West Papua in 2019, as did the Black Lives Matter protests that broke out throughout the US and the world last spring and summer. Such demonstrations have been met by the Indonesian state with lethal force and lengthy prison terms. In recent days, 13 West Papuans were arrested and charged with treason for campaigning for an independence referendum, while two others were arrested for displaying the Morning Star emblem on a bracelet and a bag, according to the Free West Papua Campaign. Indonesia has placed tight restrictions on media and human rights observers in West Papua, severely limiting the information available to the world.

According to the 2016 report of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, “The situation in West Papua is fast approaching a tipping point. In less than five years, the position of Papuans in their own land will be worse than precarious. They are already experiencing a demographic tidal wave.”

Jakarta-based human rights activist Mas Wibowo said that tipping point has come.

Wibowo called on “all countries of the world and the UN [to] immediately intervene in overcoming the extermination of indigenous Papuans and the extermination of all natural resources in the land of West Papua.” Papuans are demanding international recognition for peace talks and a legitimate UN-sponsored referendum on their status. West Papua is rich in natural resources and home to virgin rainforests threatened by Indonesian plans to build new roads into the forests.

“The Indonesian government through its military security forces kills and shoots dead indigenous Papuans every day,” Wibowo said.

Protection of the environment will be a priority of a free West Papua, Wenda said upon assuming the interim presidency. ““Embodying the spirit of the people of West Papua, we are ready to run our country. As laid out in our Provisional Constitution, a future republic of West Papua will be the world’s first green state, and a beacon of human rights – the opposite of decades of bloody Indonesian colonisation.”

Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Papuans have been killed or disappeared in the conflict since Indonesia assumed control in 1963 under UN administration, with a referendum slated to follow six years later. United Nations General Secretary Dag Hammarskjold had recognized West Papua’s independence aspirations before dying in a mysterious plane crash on his way to the Congo in 1961, just months before West Papua declared its independence.

In 1969, Indonesia organized a plebiscite on the status of West Papua under the auspices of the United Nations, known with painful irony as the “Act of Free Choice.” In it, just over 1,000 Papuans were held by force for two weeks without contact with their families or the outside world and threatened with violence if they did not accede to annexation by Indonesia. There was no recorded vote, only a purported show of hands in assemblies of literal captives surrounded by armed Indonesian soldiers.

Nevertheless, the UN recognized the farcical colonial assemblies as the expression of self-determination rights by West Papua, with only scattered international dissent at the UN. Although a 1969 report by the US embassy cited UN officials on the ground who said 95% of Papuans opposed Indonesian rule, the United States was aligned with the brutal dictatorship of Gen. Suharto at the time, and offered no objection to the annexation of what the regime renamed West Irian.

US military assistance to Indonesia was suspended through most of the Clinton Administration in response to international revulsion over Indonesia’s genocidal war on East Timor, whose annexation the US was virtually alone in the world in recognizing. Military ties have increased since then, beginning with frequent military training exercises with the Hawaiian National Guard but recently expanding to combat training for elite Kopassus troops on the mainland with US special forces. US military ties to Kopassus had been restricted due to the elite force’s role in human rights abuses. An additional 450 members of an elite Indonesian battalion have been deployed to Indonesia this month.

Even before the formal annexation of West Papua, Indonesia conducted aerial bombing and other scorched earth tactics against a resistance initially only armed with bows and arrows. The armed wing of the ULMWP, the West Papua National Liberation Army, has held its own for decades, but the beleaguered nation of West Papua will have to rely on international solidarity as much as its own determination and ingenuity to win freedom from a nation 100 times its population. Current and former parliamentarians from at least 15 nations have joined Papuan calls for an independence referendum, including Catalonian President-in-Exile Carles Puigdemont and former British labor leader Jeremy Corbyn. Former Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghín Ó Caolain called on the Irish government in 2001 to “state publicly its support for self-determination for the people of West Papua.”

“We indigenous Papuans ask you all for moral and social responsibility to save us from the genocide of indigenous Papuans and ecocide in the land of West Papua,” Wibowo said.

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/167256/floods-swamp-residential-office-areas-in-keerom-district-papua

3) Floods swamp residential, office areas in Keerom District, Papua  

11 hours ago

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Floods struck parts of Keerom District in Papua Province, submerging residential and office areas on Wednesday.

Floods inundated the Arso Swakarsa-Arso II area, Arso City, and the villages of Asyaman, Yanamaa, Walukubun, Workwana, and Pitewi.

The East Arso Police Sector office was also inundated, Deputy Chief of the Keerom Resort Police Commissioner Martha Tolau stated when contacted from Jayapura.

The police deployed personnel to help residents whose settlements were affected by flooding.

"Several police officers have been deployed to help the flood-stricken residents," she confirmed.

The flooding was triggered by incessant heavy rains that had fallen since Tuesday (Feb 2) and caused the Tami River to overflow its bank.

Meanwhile, massive flooding had hit South Kalimantan Province in January this year, affecting 10 districts and cities and claiming at least five lives. 
A total of 197 natural disasters had hit Indonesia during the period between January 1 and January 23, according to data of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

Most of those disasters were hydrometeorological disasters, the agency wrote on its official Twitter account on Saturday.

The disasters comprising 134 incidents of floods, 31 incidents of landslides, and 24 incidents of whirlwinds, claimed 184 lives, injured 2,700 people, rendered nine people missing, and affected or displaced 1.9 million people.

In January 2020, during the same period, the BNPB had recorded 297 disasters affecting Indonesia, particularly massive flooding in Jakarta and the surrounding areas, and claimed 91 lives.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned of likely hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwind, occurring simultaneously in several regions during the peak of the ongoing rainy season.

"Since October 2020, the BMKG has issued early warnings of potential extreme weather-related conditions due to various phenomena that are feared to coincide with the rainy season," BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati stated.

Related news: President's aid reaches isolated flood-hit areas
Related news: Nearly 3,143 flood victims in South Sulawesi still take refugee
Related news: Five urban communities, three villages in E Java's Pamekasan flooded

Reporter: Evarukdijati, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati

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https://forestsnews.cifor.org/70824/bird-and-orchid-sanctuary-in-papua-showcases-the-rich-biodiversity-of-indonesia?fnl=en

4) Bird and orchid sanctuary in Papua showcases the rich biodiversity of Indonesia

Wilderness area gets an eco-makeover

 NABIHA SHAHAB 

Tuesday, 2 Feb 2021

Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua arguably has the richest biodiversity in the country, offering potential for sustainable eco-tourism, eco-education and conservation opportunities. Situated primarily on the western half of the island of Papua New Guinea, its mostly intact forests, peatlands and other ecosystems are often considered the “last frontier” due to areas that scientists speculate are likely home to many unidentified species. The area also represents more than a third of Indonesia’s remaining intact forests.

As recently as 2018, a native species of orchid was discovered in Papua. Called Bulbophyllum irianae, it is named after Indonesia’s First Lady Iriana.

“The biodiversity potential is invaluable, we keep discovering new species,” said John Mampioper, head of the bird and orchid sanctuary on Biak Island.

The island features a diverse number of orchids, known for their fragile, often colorful blooms. Around 2,500 – or nearly half of the country’s species – can be found here. Some of the most spectacular are native to Papua, such as Paphiopedilum glanduliferum, Grammitis ceratocarpa, Grammitis coredrosoraand Grammitis habbensis. One well-known species is the Irian giant orchid known as Grammatophyllum papuanuum.

Papua also provides a home for many unique bird species, a recent survey reporting around 716 observed on the island.

Read alsoEx situ management of orchids and birds in Papua

“Indonesia has 17 percent of the world’s biodiversity, about 50 per cent of it is in Papua, including Biak Island,” Mampioper said. “The huge biodiversity potential both in the forests and in the ocean should motivate us to develop more and more research in Papua.”

And yet, species and habitats are under threat due to deforestation, environmental damage, illegal hunting and trade. Despite the challenges, efforts have been undertaken by various actors to conserve endemic species through various means, one an off-site conservation park, which has existed for quite some time.

Biak’s bird and orchid sanctuary

The bird and orchid park on Biak island, known as Taman Burung and Taman Anggrek (TBTA Biak), was established by the Papua provincial government in the late 1980s as an effort to conserve the region’s biodiversity, especially birds and orchids endemic to Papua.

The park is located in a 28-hectare primary forest with well-protected flora and fauna. It functions as an off-site zone in an effort to conserve species outside their habitat managed by the Environment and Forestry Services of Papua province, while continuing onsite attempts to conserve and protect endemic plant and animal species. After its inauguration in 1990, a 5-hectare area was constructed as a sanctuary, while the remainder was left unmanaged.

Three decades after its establishment, the park manager and relevant actors identified a number of weaknesses, despite significant environmental services potential through education and tourism.

They pointed to the absence of a master plan that would provide them with guidance on implementing strategies and plans for the development and management of the park, which was established 30 years ago — and would enable them to achieve the park’s  two primary goals. The first is to collect, protect and conserve orchid, bird and endangered species, particularly those native to Papua. The second is to develop the park into an eco-park or a center for eco-tourism and eco-education in Papua.

With the master plan and well-equipped strategies, the park manager would be able to effectively lead TBTA Biak to conservation as well societal outcomes. The sanctuary can also benefit from further development and cooperation with other research and conservation  networks.

Under the 2018 Manokwari Declaration, the Papua provincial government has committed to promoting conservation. Realizing the importance of supporting this commitment, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has been working with the Environment and Forestry Services of Papua province to ensure that the park’s draft master plan to support the conservation of orchid and bird species is well understood, and lessons learned from other similar initiatives shared.

Two seminar — or knowledge sharing — events were organized by the TBTA Biak of the Environment and Forestry Services of Papua province, with additional support from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the UK Climate Change Unit (UKCCU). They were held in 2019 and 2020 in Biak. Simultaneously broadcast online, they delved into potential collaborations with various organizations.

Attendees at the two events discussed how to ensure optimal conservation outcomes, and how to meet goals to make a center for eco-tourism and eco-education in Papua.

The events featured a number of speakers from the management of TBTA Biak, the cultural park Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in Jakarta, consultancy firm PT Tranadi Tata Utami, which is developing the master plan, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and key scientists from local educational institutions, including Universitas Papua, Universitas Cendrawasih and Universitas Ottow Geissler.

CIFOR researchers shared lessons learned from activities surrounding community-based conservation of orchids in West Kalimantan.

Biodiversity for the people 

The symbiotic relationship between the communities around the forest and their ecosystems increases opportunities for improved incomes through the use of non-timber forest products and environmental services.

By expanding tourism, the local economy will benefit, Mampioper said.

“The current trend shows that many tourists prefer natural and beautiful nature as their destination,” he said. “This means that with a high number of tourist visits, the level of welfare of the community around the forest will also be raised.”

Around 80 to 90 per cent of communities in Papua rely on forest products, especially non-timber forest products such as sago, he added, explaining that sago, a type of palm tree (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) found in many areas in Indonesia, is mainly harvested for the starch extracted from the center of the sago palm tree. Sago starch is a common staple food in Papua.

“All parts of the sago tree are used from the roots to the leaves. People use parts of the sago tree to build houses. Sago is also the main source of food,” Mampioper said.

However, serious threats to conservation efforts loom, such as illegal hunting and forest and land degradation, he added, warning that “these threats to conservation can cause the loss of undocumented forest biodiversity data and in the worst case: extinction.”

This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

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