Papa Papua

Finally a glimmer of hope, light at the end of the tunnel and all that. In this extremely boring meeting, the UN COP (Conference of Parties aka Circus of Politicians) that I am stuck at in Bali, desperately trying to figure out the jargon and the posturing, the chaos and the confusion, the security and the insecurities, I finally got to meet yet another real life hero. Mr. Barnabas Seubu, the Governor of Papua(center in the pic).

My Papuan friend Bustar Maitar (left in the pic), a tireless campaigner trying to facilitate development of Papua without destruction of its forests was kind enough to notice that I was star struck and requested the Governor to pose for this pic with me.

Like my other hero, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor Seubu is truly a green blooded governor. He has during his short tenure already stopped illegal logging in the ancient intact forests of Papua, resisted the lure of pulp, paper and palm oil, engaged with and addressed the needs of his indigenous people and stood up against his own federal government and powerful logging interests.

At a side event organised to discuss Tropical Deforestation Emission Reduction Mechanism , crafted by the Greenpeace Climate guru Bill Hare (aka Still Here), Governor Seubu explained the steps taken by his government to stop deforestation and made an emotional appeal to the world to help him help his people to protect the forest to protect the climate and save the mostly undiscovered biodiversity of Papua.

I hope that Governor Seubu will be heard at this circus, I hope that the two volumes of The Ecology of Papua that Bustar and the Governor presented to me is read and appreciated by people around the world and I hope that the developed (aka industrialized) countries will offer the necessary financial assistance and technical support to the people of Papua to save the last of this amazing stretch of land in what Greenpeace identifies as Paradise Forest from destruction. The world needs it. The climate needs it. The fantastic species other than us humans that reside in the Papuan forests need it. Do read my advice to the Governor that I wrote many months ago in Jakarta Post, if you are wondering why I was the recipient of the honor of the picture and the two books.