Saharjo has produced evidence for criminal trials against firms that have been accused of using illegal methods to clear peatland for crops such as palm oil. He has been an expert witness in over 500 cases since 2000, for which he has faced harassment, intimidation, legal action and death threats.[5] In 2018, a multibillion lawsuit by the palm oil industry against him was dropped, about which he said "I was criminalized for presenting evidence and [threatened with a multibillion dollar lawsuit] by palm oil companies that had been found guilty of preparing to plant palms by burning down 1,000 hectares of peatland. Eventually, the lawsuit was rejected and I am free."[4][6] According to the Guardian, the fires cause annual environmental damage of $10 billion, respiratory problems for children, and produce 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions every season.[7][8]
Saharjo has published over 50 papers to date and his work has been widely cited in academic literature on the topic.[9] In November 2019, Saharjo was awarded the Sense About Science John Maddox prize for researchers who take personal risks in the course of their scientific work.[3] He told the Times that "I have spent years alone, working in the field. Now I’m very happy because I’m not alone. I have supporters. So it has made me very powerful, to fight this environmental destruction.” [10]
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute. The biological features of sphagnum mosses act to create a habitat aiding peat formation, a phenomenon termed 'habitat manipulation'. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition. Peat properties such as organic matter content and saturated hydraulic conductivity can exhibit high spatial heterogeneity.
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a grassroots organizing campaign that in 1987 succeeded in convincing Burger King to cancel $31 million worth of destructive Central American rainforest beef contracts. Protecting forests and challenging corporate power has remained a key focus of RAN’s campaigns since, and has led RAN into campaigns that have led to transformative policy changes across home building, wood purchasing and supplying, automobile, fashion, paper and banking industries.
Sinar Mas is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia. It was formed in 1938. It has numerous subsidiaries including Asia Pulp & Paper and palm oil producer PT SMART. The company also acquired Berau Coal Energy from Asia Resource Minerals PLC, a major mining group founded by Nathaniel Philip Rothschild, in a takeover initiated by Fuganto Widjaja.
IOI Corporation Berhad, commonly referred to as IOI, was incorporated on 31 October 1969 as Industrial Oxygen Incorporated Sdn Bhd. IOI is one of Malaysia's biggest conglomerates. It ventured into property development in 1984, followed by oil palm plantations and refineries in 1985. IOI was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and trading as MYX: 1961—now known as Bursa Malaysia—in 1980.
Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates.
The Borneo peat swamp forests ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, are on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
IPB University is a state-run agricultural university based in the regency of Bogor, Indonesia.
The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related recurrent transboundary air pollution issue. Haze events, where air quality reaches hazardous levels due to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter from burning biomass, have caused adverse health, environmental and economic impacts in several countries in Southeast Asia. Caused primarily by slash-and-burn land clearing, the problem flares up every dry season to varying degrees and generally is worst between July and October and during El Niño events. Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia has been recorded since 1972 with the 1997 and 2015 events being particularly severe.
Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited, or APRIL, is a developer of fibre plantations and the owner of one of the world's largest pulp and paper mills with operations mainly in Indonesia and China. APRIL mainly produces bleached hardwood kraft pulp and uncoated, wood-free paper, including its Paperone brand of office paper. Founded in 1993, APRIL is managed by Royal Golden Eagle and owned by Indonesian business man Sukanto Tanoto living in Singapore. Royal Golden Eagle also manages companies in paper, palm oil, construction, and energy business sectors.
Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. It is locally used as cooking oil, exported for use in much commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel. It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soybeans, rapeseed or sunflowers.
Deforestation in Indonesia involves the long-term loss of forests and foliage across much of the country; it has had massive environmental and social impacts. Indonesia is home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and ranks third in number of species behind Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance. The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, with a satellite office in Jakarta. RSPO currently has 5,650 members from 94 countries.
Royal Golden Eagle is a global integrated, resource-based industrial group, with businesses in paper, palm oil, viscose, construction and energy, property and asset management. Owned by Indonesian businessman Sukanto Tanoto, the group employs 60,000 people worldwide with assets exceeding US$30 billion.
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types of mires share the common characteristic of being saturated with water, at least seasonally with actively forming peat, while having their own ecosystem. Like coral reefs, mires are unusual landforms that derive mostly from biological rather than physical processes, and can take on characteristic shapes and surface patterning.
Indonesia and Myanmar established diplomatic relations in 1949. Indonesia has an embassy in Yangon, while Myanmar has an embassy in Jakarta.
Palm oil production is important to the economy of Indonesia as the country is the world's biggest producer and consumer of the commodity, providing about half of the world's supply. In 2016, Indonesia produced over 34.6 million metric tons of palm oil, and exported 25.1 million metric tons of it. Oil palm plantations stretch across at least 12 million hectares. There are several different types of plantations, including small, privately owned plantations, and larger, state-owned plantations. There are a variety of health, environmental, and societal impacts that result from the production of palm oil in Indonesia. A recent publication by the NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) indicates that the use of palm oil by some of the biggest chocolate and snacks' producers is increasing this problem.
Paludiculture is wet agriculture and forestry on peatlands. Paludiculture combines the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands through rewetting with continued land use and biomass production under wet conditions. “Paludi” comes from the Latin “palus” meaning “swamp, morass” and "paludiculture" as a concept was developed at Greifswald University. Paludiculture is a sustainable alternative to drainage-based agriculture, intended to maintain carbon storage in peatlands. This differentiates paludiculture from agriculture like rice paddies, which involve draining, and therefore degrading wetlands.
A trans-national air pollution crisis affected several countries in Southeast Asia from February to September 2019, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The John Maddox Prize is an international prize administered by Sense about Science in partnership with Nature. One or two individuals are recognised annually by the Prize for their work promoting sound science and evidence despite hostility. The prize was started in 2012 in commemoration of John Maddox, former editor-in-chief of Nature, who was distinguished in his advancement of science for the public interest. His daughter, Bronwen Maddox, is the current patron of the Prize. Winners receive a monetary award and an announcement is published in Nature. As of 2023, Nature has withdrawn their funding for the prize.
Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (STROPI) is a research institute that was set up by the government of Sarawak in 2008, with the stated aim of conducting research on tropical peatland in Sarawak. Its claims which suggest that agriculture practices on peatlands have minimal impact on their roles as carbon sources, are used to justify the development of tropical peatland for agricultural purposes, contrary to the broad scientific consensus on peatlands and its impact on climate change.
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