Sylvan Silence

It's been a long time since my last post. I don't know why. Staying in Jakarta over the long holiday break didn't generate a lot of newsworthy postings I guess. Anyway, in an earlier posting titled "Gengsi", I talked about the popular habit of cutting down a perfectly healthy, shade-giving tree that stands in front of a house and restricts the view of passers-by . In the photo, Sabina sits atop what remains of an obviously healthy tree that once stood on the footpath outside someone's house. It's just around the corner from where we live. Unfortunately, there are many more examples to be found within walking distance of our house.

I'm reminded of the Joni Mitchell song lyrics: they cut down the trees and put them in a tree museum, and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see them. I recently heard a great new version of that song (Big Yellow Taxi) by the group Counting Crows, with Vanessa Carlton contributing vocals. If cutting down the tree is too difficult or expensive, then savage lopping is often carried out instead. Indonesia is about to overtake Malaysia as the world's largest producer of palm oil. The forests with all their biodiversity are disappearing rapidly and massive palm oil plantations are taking their place. Big but illegal profits are to be made, firstly from the timber (that is sold to China and other countries) and secondly from the palm oil itself. Within a few years, tree museums will be the only place to view Indonesian rainforest trees. These museums will be little pockets of rainforest, left standing in an effort to attract tourists who will be charged a dollar and a half (around 15,000 rupiah) just to see them. So it goes.