VZCZCXRO1747
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0664 0940040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030040Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8540
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0574
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2252
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0850
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0845
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000664 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EAP/RSP 
DEPT FOR OES/ENRC 
NSC FOR CEQ CONNAUGHTON, VAN DYKE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG SENV KGHG ECON PGOV ID
SUBJECT: THOMAS FRIEDMAN EXPLORES PRIVATE SECTOR ROLE IN 
CONSERVATION IN SUMATRA 
 
REF: JAKARTA 620 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On a visit to Indonesia in late March to 
conduct research for his upcoming book, author Thomas 
Friedman traveled to North Sumatra to look at efforts to 
protect the environment (reftel).  Accompanied by the 
Ambassador, USAID officers, NGO representatives and the 
owner of a local energy company, Friedman engaged in 
extensive discussion of effective approaches to protect 
IndonesiaQs forests and promote innovative approaches 
involving the private sector.  As a result, USAID will 
together with the GOI and NGOs explore the possibility of 
scaling up ongoing public-private efforts to promote 
conservation.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On March 24-25, Ambassador Hume, USAID officers, the 
owner of Medco Energy, Arifin Panigoro, and members of 
Conservation International, accompanied New York Times 
Thomas Friedman to visit the Batang Toru region in the 
Province of North Sumatra.  The group viewed the results of 
a $1 million USAID grant to Conservation International for 
the conservation of orangutans and their habitat provided 
through a congressional earmark.  The project has been 
successful in providing local communities with a heightened 
awareness of the importance of conservation as well as 
economic alternatives to illegal logging and deforestation. 
These measures have halted the activities of the local 
logging concessionaire and minimized illegal deforestation. 
Approximately 400 orangutans, or one-tenth of the entire 
population left on the island of Sumatra, inhabit this 
area. 
 
¶3. (U) Medco Energy owner Panigoro owns a geothermal 
concession next to this logging concession, and has 
committed to purchase these 60,000 hectares to help 
conserve the orangutans, support long-term community 
interests and assure that water generated by the forest 
continues to flow through his geothermal facility. 
Friedman and his traveling companions discussed at length 
this contribution and the role of the private sectorQs 
potential role in collaborating to conserve forests in 
Indonesia. 
 
¶4. (U) Friedman was interested in learning from on-the- 
ground efforts such as this to protect the environment, and 
in analyzing the possible roles of energy companies, and 
the private sector in general, for his upcoming book titled 
QHot, Flat and Crowded.Q  At the conclusion of the trip, he 
stated that this example provided him exactly what he was 
interested in for the purposes of his book. 
 
¶5. (U) In part because of this trip and the extensive 
discussions it stimulated between Friedman and a variety of 
actors, USAID will explore collaborative efforts between 
NGOs, the private sector, and the Government of Indonesia 
to promote conservation, innovations with the private 
sector and the possibility of taking such efforts to a 
larger scale. 
 
HUME