Tag Archives: United Nations

Forestry Solutions: Indonesia

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Elephant in Indonesian forest (Photo courtesy of ForestEthics)

Elephant in Indonesian forest (Photo courtesy of ForestEthics)

Indonesia has the third largest tropical forest area in the world after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tragic fact is that this forest is disappearing rapidly. At a meeting in Bali in July 2010, Frans Bongers, President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), said “No nation on Earth is losing forest faster than Indonesia—at a rate of roughly 1.5 million hectares a year. This is one of the most serious environmental threats we face anywhere.”  The main reasons for this deforestation are logging, conversion to plantations for palm oil, and supplying resources for the pulp and paper industries.

Organizations like the Nature Conservancy are working hard on conservation issues in Indonesia. Two of their forestry projects are working with loggers in the Berau District to “make changes that yield more intact forests, healthier people and more trees sequestering carbon;” and an education program “saving forests and training the next generation of conservationists in…[the] Lore Lindu national park.”  According to the Nature Conservancy, not only is “the protection of forests…a vital part of combating climate change,” but also, “classrooms are cultivating a new generation’s interest in conservation.” From working with loggers to school children, it is clear engaging on a direct level with the local community is key to the success of any forest conservation program.

The United Nations program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) has been working in Indonesia since 2010. The website provides links to several articles and studies on the state of forests in Indonesia, as well as current programs being undertaken. For English, click here. For Indonesian, click here.   To see what the United States is doing on REDD+ in Indonesia, check out this site.

Guest Blog: Solar Sister #4

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Solar Sister’s Energy Access & Health Matters Series:
Clean Energy Services to Achieve Millennium Development Health Goals

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from basic forms of injustice and inequality in our world: extreme poverty, illiteracy and ill health. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) to be achieved by 2015. Health is at the heart of the MDG’s with three goals related directly to health: reduce child mortality, improve material health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases). Health is also linked with the achievement of all the other goals, especially eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, universal education, and gender equality.

A key ingredient of achieving these health goals will have to be reliable access to clean energy. This has two dimensions: First, displacing the use and consequences of unhealthy fuels like kerosene and fuel wood that I have written about in my earlier blog pieces in this series. Second, reliable clean energy supply is vital for health care providers to help them focus on their job of improving health of the poor. It is this second dimension that I want to speak to you about now. For without energy, how can hospitals and clinics ensure refrigeration of critical vaccines and sterilization of equipment? How can important medical procedures like delivery of babies be carried out in the dark? How can simple medical records be digitized for faster and more efficient service? How can public health messages to prevent deadly diseases be spread on radio and television?

Solar Sister Zuura is also pursuing a Bachelor of Nursing. Hear Zuura talk about providing clean energy for better healthcare services in her village on YouTube. (Photo and Video Credits: Solar Sister, 2011)

Good news is that we have a growing number of innovative organizations and individuals around the world, who are working hard to raise awareness on this important connection between health and energy. For example, Solar Sister Zuura in Uganda is also pursuing a Bachelors of Nursing degree. Zuura talks about the need of light for night and evening shifts in health clinics while putting up IV fluids and emergency blood transfusions. She is proud to be a Solar Sister Entrepreneur because not only can she earn a living now, but help her bring light which can save many lives in her community.

Another inspiring story is that of Solar Sister’s friend Dr. Laura Stachel, Co-Founder & Executive Director at WE CARE Solar. In 2008, Dr.Stachel went to Northern Nigeria to study ways to lower maternal mortality in state hospitals. She witnessed deplorable conditions in state facilities including sporadic electricity that impaired maternity and surgical care. Without a reliable source of electricity, nighttime deliveries were attended in near darkness, cesarean sections were cancelled or conducted by flashlight, and critically ill patients waited hours or days for life-saving procedures. The outcomes were often tragic. Moved by this critical need, she wrote to her husband Hal Aronson, a solar energy educator back in Berkeley, California. Together, Laura and Hal co-founded WE CARE Solar to improve maternal health outcomes in regions without reliable electricity which designs portable, cost-effective solar suitcases that power critical lighting, mobile communication devices and medical devices in low resource areas without reliable electricity.

WE CARE Solar's robust, plug-and-play Solar Suitcases facilitate timely, safe, appropriate emergency obstetric care and improve outcomes for mothers and newborns (Photo credit: WE CARE Solar, 2011)

If we can support many more women like Solar Sister Zuura and Dr. Laura Stachel around the world, no more lives would be lost for the lack of light. The UN has announced 2012 as the International Sustainable Energy for All Year. As part of the initiative, the United Nations Foundation has launched a new global Energy Access Practitioner Network to mobilize execution. You can also make a difference by understanding and increasing awareness on this important issue of energy and health.

These posts are written by Neha Misra, the Chief Collaboration Officer of Solar Sister.  You can follow her on Twitter at @LightSolar.

Join Solar Sister in spreading light, hope and opportunity. Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Learn more at www.solarsister.org.

Sustainable Development

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Cambodian farmer shows a rice plant grown from a single seed with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. (Photo courtesy of SRI)

Cambodian farmer shows a rice plant grown from a single seed with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. (Photo courtesy of SRI)

An important part of the sustainability discussion is sustainable development, which is defined in Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”

One of the most famous organizations working on sustainable development issues is the United Nations’ Division for Sustainable Development, which operates within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The organization’s website houses and explains Agenda 21, a the “comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.”

In addition, there is a page devoted to free, downloadable resources like periodicals and newsletters on sustainable development innovation, including “Agro-based industries and growth: prospects for Sub-Saharan Africa” and “Buildings and construction as tools for promoting more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.” There are also downloadable reports that cover different trends in sustainable development, focusing on specific areas like small island developing states as well as more general trends like linking a country’s prosperity to environmental stresses.

What do you think of these special reports, newsletters, and other documents available online? Do you find them helpful for learning about environmental issues, or are there other websites and organizations where you prefer to get your information?