THE BURNING SEASON

Every year, there is a burning season in Indonesia. Across the vast archipelago, swathes of rainforest are cut down and burned off to make way for palm oil production. From small-plot farmers to huge agribusiness corporations, thousands of Indonesians are employed in oil production for soap, cooking oil, biscuits and biofuel. The result is an environmental disaster: Indonesia’s forest clearing, the world’s worst, contributes around 20% of international carbon emissions every year. It’s also pushing the orangutan, one of the world’s most endangered species, close to extinction.

Young-gun carbon trader Dorjee Sun is Asian-Australian, and he does business in planes, trains, bars, boardrooms and backrooms worldwide, from Indonesia to Hong Kong, London New York and San Diego. He’s managed to convince three Indonesian provincial governors to sign over exclusive rights to trade their forests’ carbon credits on the burgeoning global market, in deals potentially worth a fortune to the Indonesians, and to Dorjee himself - provided the forests aren’t logged and burned down first. Dorjee’s global contacts link him with some serious players, including billionaire George Soros, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and President Bush’s neo-conservative policy advisor, Paul Wolfowitz.

Back in Sumatra, Indonesia, Governor Irwandi is turning a catastrophe into an opportunity. His province of Aceh emerged from three decades of a war for independence only to be obliterated in the 2004 tsunami disaster. Rebuilding from scratch, Irwandi knows he must embrace inventive income streams for his people, starting with carbon trading. Irwandi is an innovator - he’s declared a moratorium on logging, and he’s put his trust in Dorjee.

In Kalimantan, Borneo, Danish flight attendant turned conservationist Lone Droscher-Nielsen is at her wits’ end trying to rehabilitate the flood of injured orangutans made homeless by forest destruction. The animals are almost extinct, but the local authorities and palm oil companies refuse to stop clearing. Lone’s desperate hope is that opinion will be shifted by Dorjee’s carbon trading proposal, and the acceptance of ‘avoided deforestation’ at the December ‘07 round of Kyoto talks in Bali. There’s a chance the orangutans can survive: leaders must recognise that the rainforest habitat is worth more if it’s left intact than if it is logged and burned.

In Jambi, Sumatra, small-plot palm oil farmer Achmadi is under pressure to stop his traditional ‘slash and burn’ practices, but also needs to feed his growing family. There are millions of farmers like Achmadi all over the world, caught between fulfilling their families’ needs and the increasing pressure to take responsibility for their environmental impact of their actions. Facing opposition from conservation groups and the provincial Governor himself, the defiant Achmadi moves from narrow denial to a wider view of sustainability, and a willingness to change.

As the Kyoto talks loom and environmental leaders gather in Bali, Dorjee Sun fine-tunes his proposal and goes into combat mode. The agenda is colossal and delegates are easily distracted. Dorjee’s ambitious vision must win their support, or the burning will continue…

Producers:
Jeff Canin and Cathy Henkel, Hatchling Productions

Director, Writer:
Cathy Henkel

Executive Producers:
Roger Graef, Films Of Record
Trish Lake, Freshwater Pictures

Assistant Director:
Felicity Blake