Turn on the Alarm, Deforestation Increases
By Hairul SobriSimpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi held a Regional Consultation meeting with the theme “Strengthen Monitoring Through Joint Advocacy” at the Grand Hotel, which was located at Jl. Pattimura No. 28, Simpang IV Sipin, Kota Baru, Jambi City.
The Regional Consultation was attended by 25 representatives of several civil society organizations who were members of Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi. Citizen journalists who had previously participated in the training of trainers (ToT) program held by Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi also attended the meeting. On this occasion, several things were discussed, including the performance of Pantau Gambut Jambi, evaluation of Pantau Gambut Jambi activities, and follow-up plan.
The Regional Consultation was opened by Feri Irawan, the Coordinator of Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi. In his speech, Feri said that evaluation needs to be done so that the previous activities become lessons for future planning. In 2018, Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi carried out several activities related to monitoring the implementation of peat restoration and advocating for sustainable peatland restoration and protection policies.
Meanwhile, Angga Septia, who represented Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi as well as the Secretary-General of the Jambi Peat Community Network, presented the progress of Pantau Gambut’s activities in Jambi in the last 2 years. One of the real contributions of the Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi is the monitoring of hotspots in company concession areas which are included as target locations for peat restoration and land clearing moratorium.
The next representative from Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut, Ipang, presented about advocacy and campaign activities, as well as research and capacity-building programs. When discussing the follow-up plan, Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi involved all members and participants to provide input on future activities. To encourage active participation, the participants were divided into 3 groups, each of which discussed one of three issues, i.e. advocacy and campaign, research, and capacity building. After the group discussions, representatives from each group presented the results. This participatory discussion session was facilitated by Irman, who represented Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi and served as the Director of People's Justice Foundation.
Simpul Jaringan Pantau Gambut Jambi hopes that all participants of this regional consultation can continue to encourage the rescue and protection of peat ecosystem and transfer their knowledge to people in their respective areas.