Two new glimmers of hope.....

Two recent announcements offer renewed hope for conservation in Kalimantan, though it's probably a bit too soon to sit back and relax quite yet.....

In the first, described in detail in the Jakarta Globe, Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, issued a regulation setting aside 45% of Kalimantan to be "the lungs of the world". The regulation includes increased rules surrounding protected areas, and includes plans to rehabilitate degraded areas, connect conservation areas through ecosystem corridors and control agricultural expansion. Although hugely encouraging on the surface, the regulation offers disappointingly few details on how these aims might be achieved and on which ecosystems might be protected, and it is unclear how this plan will work alongside other government policies to see Kalimantan becomes self-sufficient in energy and a national energy producer by 2025. The percentage quoted is also questionable: according to Deddy Ratih of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, "real forests" currently only cover 30% of Kalimantan. It is also unclear whether local political leaders will automatically follow this central government plan. Nevertheless, this regulation represents a renewed commitment and plea from President SBY to support forest protection and promote greener development - something we should all applaud.

In the second announcement, described in detail in the American Journal of Primatology, a team of researchers led by Brent Loken working in Wehea Forest, in eastern Borneo made the incredible re-discovery of a species of primate so rare it was believed to be extinct. Using camera traps set up to record other species of interest in the area, the team were shocked to find images of a species of primate none had ever seen: the Miller's grizzled langur. An extensive survey conducted in 2005 found no evidence of the species, leading to fears among conservationists that it may be extinct. The scientists now plan to return to the area to conduct a thorough population assessment and, we can only hope, help put in place measures to make sure that this remarkable re-discovery is not followed by further headlines describing the species' demise...