January 12, 2016 edition
A group of 50 men and women form a line, sitting crossed-legged, their hands on their chests. They are all wearing black and white. I Wayan Wirasa, 46, is among those assembled at the Seruling Dewata Silat School in Tabanan, Bali, two weeks ago. "We have to regulate our breathing before we practice the moves," he told Tempo after the training.
At the 40-acre vicinity, the men and women are students learning the ancient Balinese martial arts of Seruling Dewata, surrounded by lush greenery and a view of the towering Watukaru Tabanan mountain. Wayan said that during the reign of the Majapahit, when the Balinese martial arts tradition began to form, the mandala (training facility) was located on top of the mountain. Today, it is 40 kilometers from the summit.
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THE government will soon issue a moratorium on peatland farming to put a stop on all uses of peatlands and restore degraded peatlands damaged by forest fires. President Joko Widodo said he will engage indigenous people to care for the forests. In his statement during the opening of COP21 (United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties21), the President stated that Indonesia was committed to unconditionally reduce 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 41 percent with international assistance.
The government said peatlands are currently in critical condition and will stop issuing new licenses on peatlands. According to Minister for the Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar, as of late 2014, licenses had been issued to operate on 6.3 million hectares out of a total 31 million hectares of peatlands. The largest licenses, covering 4.5 million hectares, were issued to process timber products and natural forests, while other licenses were issued to cover 1.8 million hectares of industrial forests. She added that the area of peatlands needing to be restored cover no less than 2 million hectares, most of it damaged by the 2015 forest and land fires across the country.
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December 8, 2015 edition