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R. Rosemary and D. Evensen
(a) Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forest (LULUCF) Management: (1)
Primary forest protection and management, (2) Reforestation and forest
restoration, (3) Community forestry and agro-forestry development,
(b) Sustainable Economic Development: (4) Smallholder estate crop development
in partnership with private,
(c) Sector and Parastatal Estate Crops and Associated Infrastructure: (5)
Spatial planning, management, and development of capture fisheries and
aquaculture, (6) Public infrastructure development,
(d) Renewable Green Energy: (7) Geothermal energy, (8) Hydropower.
These mutually-dependent strategies are aimed to reduce environmental pressures
and resource extraction, thereby also reducing climate pressures due to deforestation, by generating greater financial value and increased job opportunities from the
resources already under use outside of protected areas (BRR 2008, pp. 4–5). Despite
the strategies to generate revenue for the province and employment for rural communities, deforestation through illegal logging in this last major tract of intact Indonesian
rainforest continues to concern the global environmental community and to threaten
the vital ecosystem in the province (and especially the remaining populations of
Sumatran tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants).
The AGV has attracted attention from international media and non-governmental
actors (Brummitt 2007; News 2007); yet, academic literature is lacking on how
widespread the Aceh Green Initiative is, and the extent to which it has become prominent with the Acehnese people. People often interpret and make sense of issues like
environment and climate change by relying on media representations as a point of
departure (Boykoff 2011). Mass media play a central role in providing information
about climate change, for example, with respect to scientific context and government programmes/policies in relation to protecting the environment (Anderson 2009;
Boykoff 2011; Smith 2005). Members of the public expect adequate, accurate, and
meaningful information to help them understand the complexity of issues such as
climate change. So-called ‘efficacy information’—information that explains what
can be done, and how, to address a problem—may enable and encourage members of
the public to take individual, group, or community action to support the government’s
goal and programme to preserve the environment, such as the AGV.
The objective of this chapter is first to examine and analyse coverage from
‘Serambi Indonesia’ about the AGV—this is the most read newspaper by the locals in
Aceh, and therefore the most relevant source when thinking about dissemination of
efficacy information on the AGV Initiative and the related environmental concerns
that the AGV seeks to address. Below we first critically review: (1) the relevant
studies, literature, and scholarship about media coverage and climate change policy,
and (2) the implications of the Aceh Green policy for raising awareness, increasing
knowledge, and influencing policymakers on the issue of deforestation, assessed
through the efficacy information provided by the newspaper. Second, we present our
methodology: the background of the local newspaper—Serambi Indonesia, the study
objectives, the data collection process, and data analysis procedures. We then share
our data and, discuss and synthesise the findings, and finally conclude by reflecting on
R. Rosemary and D. Evensen
(a) Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forest (LULUCF) Management: (1)
Primary forest protection and management, (2) Reforestation and forest
restoration, (3) Community forestry and agro-forestry development,
(b) Sustainable Economic Development: (4) Smallholder estate crop development
in partnership with private,
(c) Sector and Parastatal Estate Crops and Associated Infrastructure: (5)
Spatial planning, management, and development of capture fisheries and
aquaculture, (6) Public infrastructure development,
(d) Renewable Green Energy: (7) Geothermal energy, (8) Hydropower.
These mutually-dependent strategies are aimed to reduce environmental pressures
and resource extraction, thereby also reducing climate pressures due to deforestation, by generating greater financial value and increased job opportunities from the
resources already under use outside of protected areas (BRR 2008, pp. 4–5). Despite
the strategies to generate revenue for the province and employment for rural communities, deforestation through illegal logging in this last major tract of intact Indonesian
rainforest continues to concern the global environmental community and to threaten
the vital ecosystem in the province (and especially the remaining populations of
Sumatran tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants).
The AGV has attracted attention from international media and non-governmental
actors (Brummitt 2007; News 2007); yet, academic literature is lacking on how
widespread the Aceh Green Initiative is, and the extent to which it has become prominent with the Acehnese people. People often interpret and make sense of issues like
environment and climate change by relying on media representations as a point of
departure (Boykoff 2011). Mass media play a central role in providing information
about climate change, for example, with respect to scientific context and government programmes/policies in relation to protecting the environment (Anderson 2009;
Boykoff 2011; Smith 2005). Members of the public expect adequate, accurate, and
meaningful information to help them understand the complexity of issues such as
climate change. So-called ‘efficacy information’—information that explains what
can be done, and how, to address a problem—may enable and encourage members of
the public to take individual, group, or community action to support the government’s
goal and programme to preserve the environment, such as the AGV.
The objective of this chapter is first to examine and analyse coverage from
‘Serambi Indonesia’ about the AGV—this is the most read newspaper by the locals in
Aceh, and therefore the most relevant source when thinking about dissemination of
efficacy information on the AGV Initiative and the related environmental concerns
that the AGV seeks to address. Below we first critically review: (1) the relevant
studies, literature, and scholarship about media coverage and climate change policy,
and (2) the implications of the Aceh Green policy for raising awareness, increasing
knowledge, and influencing policymakers on the issue of deforestation, assessed
through the efficacy information provided by the newspaper. Second, we present our
methodology: the background of the local newspaper—Serambi Indonesia, the study
objectives, the data collection process, and data analysis procedures. We then share
our data and, discuss and synthesise the findings, and finally conclude by reflecting on