• Indonesia says 200,000 hectares of palm plantations to be made forests
• 'Green Nobel' winner is reclaiming Indonesian forest land
• The little-known nut that may save at-risk rainforests

• Bringing Maharishi Vedic Architecture to Indonesia
• Consciousness-Based Education brings fulfilment to students in Bali
• Transcendental Meditation, natural health care expanding in Bali

• Mutated coronavirus strain found in Indonesia as cases jump
• 'Dangerous' air pollution in Indonesia's Borneo leads to school closures
• Indonesia's Pertamina says oil spill recovery will take until March 2020

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Indonesia says 200,000 hectares of palm plantations to be made forests
11 November 2023 - Some 200,000 hectares (494,210 acres) of oil palm plantations found in areas designated as forests in Indonesia are expected to be returned to the state to be converted back into forests, a government official said. Indonesia has launched several programmes to improve governance in its massive palm oil industry, amid criticism by environmentalists of the crop's impact on deforestation (more)

'Green Nobel' winner is reclaiming Indonesian forest land
26 April 2023 - Every year, six environmental activists from each of the world's inhabited continental regions are honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize, or the 'Green Nobel.' One of this year's [winners] has spent decades fighting for environmental preservation and Indigenous Indonesian rights, protecting tens of thousands of acres of carbon-rich biodiverse lands from industrial exploitation. (more)

The little-known nut that may save at-risk rainforests
24 November 2022 - Food scientist Marcello Giannuzzi asks an intriguing question. 'What do Italy and the Indonesian rainforests have in common?' he says. 'Gelato,' he quickly answers. While few of us would make a connection between Italian ice cream, and Indonesia's tropical forests, Mr Giannuzzi is forging one thanks to a nut that is little-known outside of the Asian country, or even within. (more)

'Spiderwebs' to the rescue for Indonesia's coral reefs
9 August 2022 - Ultra-strong fibers, multi-legged robots, pain relievers -- all are human innovations inspired by spiders. Now, conservationists in Indonesia are rehabilitating coral reefs using what's known as the coral spider technique. The method is a type of reef restoration project involving the installation of man-made 'spiderwebs' onto which new corals are grafted. (more)

Coal-dependent Indonesia starts tapping huge solar power potential
6 January 2022 - Despite being a tropical archipelago of 17,000 islands blessed with year-round sunshine, Indonesia ranks last for solar power capacity among the G20 nations. But demand is starting to pick up in the world's fourth-most populous country, driven by policy changes, a steep fall in the prices of Chinese-made photovoltaic cells (PV), and environmentally conscious middle-class consumers. From the end of 2018 to November 2021, the number of private rooftop solar panel users has risen more than sevenfold. (more)

Indonesian peat restoration has more benefits than it costs, study finds
15 December 2021 - Restoring Indonesia's tropical peatlands is a cost-effective strategy to reduce the impacts of fires tearing through the carbon-rich soil, a new study says. The benefits of effective peatland restoration -- blocking drainage canals to restore water levels and reestablishing vegetation cover -- will outweigh the cost of restoration, according to the peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Nature Communications. (more)

People want to do right by nature. They just need a nudge, study shows
2 October 2021 - Subtle messaging and cues can encourage tourists to engage in behaviors that protect the marine ecosystem, a new study says. The study authors urged stakeholders in the tourism sector to apply these approaches as a simple effort to reduce local impacts on the environment, particularly marine ecosystems. (more)

Indonesia introduces solar power programme into universities to cultivate future talents
14 August 2021 - The Indonesian government has launched the Solar Power Initiative Movement Programme to universities across the country, aiming to encourage college students to choose their future careers in the clean energy industry. ... The programme is one of the government's initiatives to attract the interest of the public and businesses to consume more clean energy. (more)

Maleos bounce back in Sulawesi after villagers resolve to protect their eggs
9 August 2021 - The maleo (Macrocephalon maleo), [is] an endangered bird endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Two community-led projects that protect maleo nesting grounds from poaching and ensure maleos can nest naturally have reported the first sustained increases in maleo numbers due to conservation efforts. The projects have quadrupled and tripled local maleo numbers over a 14-year and five-year period, respectively. (more)

Palm oil grower looks to make amends for past deforestation in Indonesia
28 July 2021 - One of the biggest palm oil growers in Indonesia has announced a plan to rehabilitate an area half the size of New York City to atone for its past clearing of rainforests and peatlands. KPN Plantation, formerly known as Gama Plantation until 2019, recently published a document detailing its plan to rehabilitate 38,000 hectares (nearly 94,000 acres) on the islands of Borneo and New Guinea. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Bringing Maharishi Vedic Architecture to Indonesia
19 July 2013 - Last year Gde Brawishwara Putra, a business executive from Bali, Indonesia, completed a course on Maharishi Vedic Architecture in the Netherlands, and he has been involved in locating suitable land in Bali for the construction of a Maharishi Vastu development. Gde was also happy to discover that Maharishi University of Management offers an MBA degree in sustainable business. He feels this is the right education he needs to create a business back home that aims not only to maximize profit, but to care for the people and the environment. (more)

Consciousness-Based Education brings fulfilment to students in Bali
17 July 2011 - Nearly 1,000 students have learned the Transcendental Meditation Technique as part of Consciousness-Based Education programmes in Bali. The culture in Bali is very open to Transcendental Meditation, said a teacher of the programme working there. 'It's just so close to the way they live their lives.' (more)

Transcendental Meditation, natural health care expanding in Bali
17 July 2011 - The Transcendental Meditation Programme, natural holistic health care, and other programmes to benefit diverse areas of life are offered at Bali's two new Maharishi Invincibility Centres. (more)

Indonesia: Growing interest in Consciousness-Based Education among Bali educators, schools
6 May 2010 - Educators in Bali, Indonesia, are increasingly interested in implementing Consciousness-Based Education programmes at their schools. Many students are already enjoying the benefits of practising the Transcendental Meditation Technique, and now have an opportunity to create invincibility for their nation through participating in large coherence-creating groups of meditators in their schools. (more)

Indonesia: Students the channel to create perpetual peace in their nation and the entire world
9 April 2010 - Students in Indonesia are gaining inner serenity and simultaneously creating a more peaceful nation and world through their practice of the Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

Transcendental Meditation Teachers catalyst for expansion of Maharishi's programmes in Indonesia
23 March 2010 - Teachers of the Transcendental Meditation Programme and other Yogic Flyers in Bali, Indonesia, have been very active in leading Consciousness-Based Education initiatives in the area, as well as establishing a Maharishi Invincibility Centre. (more)

Indonesia: Five schools in Bali help create invincibility through student Yogic Flying groups
21 March 2010 - Bali, Indonesia is taking great strides towards national invincibility, with the establishment of Yogic Flying groups in multiple schools. (more)

Expansion of Consciousness-Based Education in Indonesia
18 November 2009 - Interest in Consciousness-Based Education is soaring in Bali. Two Consciousness-Based Education seminars drew large, highly attentive audiences; several school administrators attended a weekend Maharishi Invincibility Centre course on the topic; and a new board focussing on Consciousness-Based Education has been established to continue the momentum. (more)

Indonesia: Students can create national invincibility
17 November 2009 - Hundreds of students in Bali are enjoying the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation Technique, and hundreds more may soon learn. (more)

Laying the foundation for invincibility in Indonesia
15 November 2009 - Invincibility is rising in Indonesia--particularly in Bali--through Consciousness-Based Education; great interest in an upcoming Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course; and Refresher Courses for the Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme and for Transcendental Meditation Teachers. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Mutated coronavirus strain found in Indonesia as cases jump
30 August 2020 - A more infectious mutation of the new coronavirus has been found in Indonesia, the Jakarta-based Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology said on Sunday [30 August], as the Southeast Asian country's caseload surges. The strain, which the World Health Organization said was identified in February and has been circulating in Europe and the Americas, has also been found in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia. (more)

'Dangerous' air pollution in Indonesia's Borneo leads to school closures
15 September 2019 - Schools in two cities in the Indonesian part of Borneo island will be closed for a week after smoke from forest fires caused air quality to hit 'dangerous' levels, a local government official said on Sunday [15 September]. Indonesia and neighboring countries in Southeast Asia are regularly hit by smoke from slash-and-burn clearances of forests for farms and palm oil plantations, but conditions this year have been the worst since 2015 due to an El Nino weather pattern causing an extended dry spell. (more)

Indonesia's Pertamina says oil spill recovery will take until March 2020
8 August 2019 - Clean-up efforts after an oil spill from a well in Indonesia's Java Sea will take until at least March next year, state energy firm Pertamina said on Thursday [8 August] as it struggles to plug the underwater leak. ... The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said leaking crude has affected 13 villages and waters north of the capital, Jakarta, threatening the livelihoods and health of at least 7,800 people. (more)

Tsunami kills at least 222 in Indonesia after Krakatau eruption
23 December 2018 - A tsunami killed at least 222 people and injured hundreds on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra following an underwater landslide believed to have been caused by the erupting Anak Krakatau volcano, officials said on Sunday (23 December). (more)

Indonesia mourns as death toll from quake and tsunami jumps to 832
30 September 2018 - The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday (30 September), with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help. Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, on Sulawesi island, which was hit by waves as high as six meters (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday. (more)

Aftershock jolts Indonesia's Lombok as death toll jumps to 259
9 August 2018 - A magnitude 6.2 aftershock rocked Indonesia's Lombok on Thursday (9 August), sparking fresh panic on the tropical tourist island as the official death toll from a powerful earthquake four days earlier almost doubled to 259. A humanitarian crisis is also looming in Lombok, where thousands have been left homeless and in desperate need of clean water, food, medicine, and shelter. (more)

'From high season to absolutely nothing': Indonesian quake devastates tourism
8 August 2018 - Days after a powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's resort island of Lombok, killing more than 130 people and sending thousands of tourists fleeing, its beach strip stands eerily empty, with shops and hotels shuttered. Any hotels still open are refusing guests out of safety concerns, while nearby restaurants and dive shops lie vacant in what is usually one of their busiest months of the year, reeling from the devastation of tourism caused by the quake. (more)

Tourists flee Indonesia's Lombok island after earthquake kills 98
5 August 2018 - Rescuers used diggers and heavy machinery to clear debris and search for survivors on Monday (6 August) after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake killed at least 98 people on Indonesia's resort island of Lombok, prompting a tourist exodus. The island was further rattled by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Monday evening. (more)

Jail to jihad: Indonesian prisons a breeding ground for militancy
18 January 2016 - Afif was an inmate in a high-security Indonesian jail when he transformed from aspiring radical Islamist to soldier for Islamic State, ready to sacrifice his life for a group based thousands of miles away in the Middle East. His journey ended with his death last week on a busy intersection in central Jakarta, after the gun and suicide bomb attack he launched with three other militants that brought Islamic State's brand of violence to Southeast Asia for the first time. Afif's graduation from jailbird to jihadi shines a light on a prison system where staff shortages, overcrowding, and corruption have allowed extremists to mingle and emerge as determined killers in the name of Islam. (more)

Islamic State claims Jakarta attack, targets Indonesia for first time
14 January 2016 - Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the heart of Indonesia's capital on Thursday (14 January) and the assault was claimed by Islamic state, the first time the radical group has targeted the world's most populous Muslim nation. Just seven people were killed in Jakarta despite multiple blasts and a gunfight, and five of them were the attackers themselves, but the brazenness of the assault suggested a new brand of militancy in a country where low-level strikes on police are common. (more)