well, it's hot – really hot. perched just below the equator is a crap
place to live. I'm taking anti-malarials but that won't stop me from
picking up dengue fever, japanese encephalitis, or a host of other
vector borne tropical diseases should i be unlucky enough to be bitten
by the wrong mosquito.
yesterday we found an endangered cat of some sort – not a civet – but
something very similar. it had been snared in a trap designed to catch
something bigger and we're not sure it will survive but we're doing
our best to nurse it back to health.
today there is an anti-greenpeace protest happening in rengat,
sponsored and driven by the oil palm plantation companies who are
worried about our work here harming their profit margins. we're
hopeful that it won't tun violent and decide to destroy our makeshift
office in rengat – or worse still, troublemakers rocking up here at
the forest defenders camp. our essential and expensive gear has for
the most park been packed up and is ready to be loaded onto a boat
should things get a little weird.
the best news of late is that it looks like the recent report we put
out has been taken quite seriously by the environment minister and
we're optimistic that the indonesian government is soon to be making
an announcement that they will place a moratorium on the destruction
of their peatland forests. this would be a huge victory for us and the
world as in riau alone an estimated 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2 are
locked up in the peatland forest – almost as much as the entire
planet's annual CO2 emmissions.
fingers crossed!
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