Philip Jacobson
Mongabay
Indonesia
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Past articles by Philip:
Young Indonesian climate leaders demand safe future in new essay book
On his ninth birthday, Robertus Darren Radyan gave a present to each person who came to his party. Each guest got to take home a light-red flower pot that had a written appeal: “Take care of me. Save the Earth and Go Green!” Born in Jakarta in 2001, Darren discusses his schoolboy “go green” awareness […] → Read More
Reef ruckus: Fish fights erupt after mass coral bleaching, study finds
As mass coral bleaching events grow in frequency and intensity, scientists are finding out more about how corals, which make up the physical foundation of reefs, respond during times of heat stress. But what is less well known is how mass bleaching events affect other components of reef ecosystems, such as their amazingly colorful array […] → Read More
Six steps to tackle exploitation in Indonesia’s palm oil smallholder scheme (commentary)
When the palm oil industry began growing rapidly in Indonesia in the 1980s, the government developed a scheme aimed at ensuring communities would benefit. To gain subsidized funding, companies routinely promised communities as much as 80% of their plantations, in plots known as “plasma.” By 2007, the principle was baked into law, with companies required […] → Read More
On Lombok, rising sea levels force fishers into different jobs
In 2009, a group of Indonesian researchers published a report on the vulnerability to climate change of the eastern Indonesian island of Lombok, home to about 4 million people. Their prediction, based on International Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emissions Scenarios projections, was that the sea level along the Lombok coast would rise […] → Read More
Study: Paying fishers to ease off sharks and rays is cost-effective conservation
More than a third of all elasmobranch (shark and ray) species are at risk of extinction due to overfishing. Indonesia is both a hotspot of elasmobranch biodiversity and one of the leading shark and ray exporters in the world, putting already critically endangered species such as hammerhead sharks and wedgefish under great pressure. Reducing that […] → Read More
On Sumatra coast, mangrove clearing sparks scrutiny of loophole
EAST TANJUNG JABUNG, Indonesia — Ambo Angke trudged through the cemetery knowing he had been right to worry. A high tide surge had inundated the resting place here on the eastern coast of Sumatra after developers ripped out the trees protecting the shoreline. “The mangroves were completely cleared,” Ambo, 48, told Mongabay Indonesia in November […] → Read More
EU demand for frogs’ legs raises risks of local extinctions, experts warn
Each year, the European Union imports an estimated 4,000 metric tons of frogs’ legs. That sum is the equivalent of around 200 million frogs killed to feed demand, the majority of which are caught in the wild as part of a trade that’s unregulated and unsustainable, according to a group of conservationists and researchers. In […] → Read More
As dry season looms, Sumatra villagers hope their peat restoration pays off
PEKANBARU, Indonesia — Intensive efforts in recent years to prevent fires in Indonesia’s Riau province, the country’s perennial epicenter of forest and land fires, will be put to the test this year as the dry season makes a full return. At the heart of these efforts are community-led initiatives aimed at restoring degraded peatlands and […] → Read More
In Indonesia’s Flores, a lifelong bamboo flautist looks to the next generation
NGADA, Indonesia — Marselus Selu wanted to be a musician from an early age, but he didn’t have the money back then to buy a flute. Today, he’s a master craftsman of bamboo instruments and has played for Indonesia’s president. “In the early ’70s it cost 5 rupiah, but I didn’t have any money,” Marselus, […] → Read More
Strong marine protected areas credited with manta ray surge in Indonesia
Ocean-dwelling sharks and rays, including the majestic reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), have declined globally by an estimated 71% since 1970 due to fishing. But a new study of reef manta rays in eastern Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, combined with an exciting discovery from Komodo National Park further west earlier this year, suggests reef mantas […] → Read More
From bombs to seasonal closure, Indonesian fishers move toward sustainability
KAHU-KAHU, Indonesia — Fishers in this village on the northwestern tip of Selayar Island, in eastern Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, are a fortnight into a community experiment. For three months, from mid-November to mid-February, they’ve committed to zero extraction or exploitation of the 6 hectares (15 acres) of sea off Jeneiya Kahu-Kahu Beach. That means […] → Read More
Sulawesi hydropower dam could flood important archaeological sites
KALUMPANG, Indonesia — In January, as representatives of a hydropower company explained their plan to dam the river near his home, Kasman wondered if he was staring at annihilation. Kasman is the head of the village deliberation body in Kalumpang, a village on the Karama River in western Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s biggest islands. Jakarta-based […] → Read More
Indonesia’s mangrove revival hindered by conflicting policies
At the recent G20 summit in Bali, Indonesian President Joko Widodo brought world leaders to the Ngurah Rai Grand Forest Park, a former fish-farming site being converted into a conservation area. His intent was to showcase climate action taken by Indonesia, home to the world’s largest expanse of mangroves. “I ask G20 members to join […] → Read More
Video: Life in the awe-and-terror-inspiring vicinity of the Sumatran elephant
Electric wire fences set up to keep marauding elephants out of farms and villages in Indonesia’s Aceh province worked well — at least at first. When the elephants realized the electric current did not extend to the fence posts, they knocked them down, causing the whole barrier to collapse. Sumatran elephants are “not just clever […] → Read More
Severe malaria cases in rescued orangutans raises concerns for wild populations
Rahayu, a juvenile female orangutan, arrived at a rehabilitation center on the Indonesian part of Borneo island feverish, unresponsive and almost comatose, recounts Karmele Llano Sanchez, program director at International Animal Rescue’s Indonesia affiliate. Based on the symptoms, veterinarians suspected a severe case of cerebral malaria and began treatment. Though Rahayu made a full recovery,… → Read More
Shallow-water mining isn’t the eco alternative to deep-sea mining, study says
Concerns about the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining have increased over the past few years, and for good reason: nearly 77% of the seafloor, home to highly unique biodiversity, has not been mapped or explored. To sidestep debates over the deep sea, some companies and countries are turning to shallow seabed mining, under the assumption […] → Read More
Thai zoos come under scrutiny again as tourism rebounds from COVID-19
BANGKOK — A run-down department store tucked among Bangkok’s skyscrapers is home to the rooftop Pata Zoo, where nearly 300 animals pace in cages littered with feces, food scraps and trash. Bua Noi, the main attraction at the zoo and the only gorilla known to be in Thailand, has been kept in a cage here […] → Read More
Indonesian palm oil firms not acting fast enough on no-deforestation vows: Report
JAKARTA — Less than a quarter of companies producing or sourcing palm oil from Indonesia have forest-related policies in line with best practices, a new report says. The report, by CDP, a global nonprofit that promotes environmental reporting and risk management by companies and cities, analyzed data provided by 167 firms. While 86% of companies […] → Read More
Faced with grouper, snapper decline, Indonesia adopts harvest strategy
MAKASSAR, Indonesia — Indonesia is drafting a harvest strategy for snapper-grouper fisheries as part of a fisheries management plan for WPPNRI 713, the fisheries management area that borders the islands of Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali and Flores and encompasses the Makassar Strait, Bone Bay, Bali Sea and Flores Sea. The new regulations would restrict the number […] → Read More
A millennial advocate pushes for a youth-led digital future for Indonesian fisheries
JEMBER, Indonesia — Earlier this month, Siti Aisyah Amini, a fourth-year law student, took a break from campus life in Semarang, Indonesia, to attend the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Committee on Fisheries summit. Not from a fisher family herself, 24-year-old Aisyah, who goes by her middle name, was drawn to the issue of fishers’ rights […] → Read More