Karmele Llano, 2007 Naider Action and Commitment Award, directs for more than two years a project for the protection and conservation of the forest in Sumatra, Indonesia. During this time, from Ekopass and Naider we have followed and accompanied the work of Karmele, trying to support the proper development of the project from our sphere of action.
The main activities carried out have been, among others, the preparation of a series of studies on flora, fauna, water resources, geology, etc. from the Batutegi area (near Bandar Lampung, Sumatra). In this way, knowledge about this area has been increased and its main environmental aspects have been valued. In addition, reforestation activities have also been carried out around the Batutegi swamp, linking this aspect with the founding purpose of Ekopass, that is, the fight against climate change. Regarding this last question, Karmele has just sent us a series of photographs that I show you below:
The project, started with funding from the AECID, has continued thanks to the complementary funds provided by different entities, including the Bilbao City Council, Unesco Etxea or BC3.
In 2009 I had the opportunity to visit the project; You can consult the chronicles of the trip at the following links:
In the last link, “Back to the center” you can see shocking photographs of deforestation on the island of Borneo; Although it is not the project area (Sumatra), we took the opportunity to accompany Karmele to visit the area and check in situ how the cultivation of African palm is deforesting Indonesia. Deforestation generates more than 17% of GHG emissions, and Indonesia is one of the countries that in recent years has registered one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007.
a) Global annual emissions of anthropogenic GHGs between 1970 and 2004. b) Proportional share represented by different anthropogenic GHGs with respect to total emissions in 2004, in terms of CO2 equivalent. c) Proportional share that different sectors represent in total anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2004, in terms of CO2 equivalent. (Deforestation is included in the forestry sector.)
Karmele Llano has lived and worked in Indonesia since 2003 as a primate veterinarian at International Animal Rescue.
Serve this post as recognition of your work, hoping to have contributed, at least, to the dissemination of the results of the reforestation project.