On April 9 the Duke Lemur Center welcomed two new Pygmy Slow Loris twins to mother Loris, Sovanni. The Duke Lemur is the foremost prosimian research and advocacy center and sanctuary. Prosimians are primitive primates that include lemurs, lorises, bushbabies and tarsiers. (via zooborns)
An MSF physiotherapist assists Suleiman*, a 15-year-old boy in the intensive care unit. He underwent an emergency laparotomy the night before after suffering a complete bowel obstruction due to a traumatic injury.
Before the opening of the MSF surgical hospital in Kunduz Province, northern Afghanistan, people in the region suffering from severe injuries had two options. They made the long and dangerous journey to Kabul or Pakistan, or they visited an expensive private clinic. As a result, few patients received the trauma care they needed.
In less than a year, the MSF trauma center, equipped with an emergency room, two operating theaters, and an intensive care unit, has seen more than 3,700 patients. The majority are victims of so-called “general trauma”—road traffic accidents, domestic violence, or civilian gunshot wounds.
More photos: Trauma Care Where There Was None in Northern Afghanistan
*All patients’ names have been changed.
Photos: Afghanistan 2012 © Michael Goldfarb/MSF
VIDEO REPORT: Mobilizing communities against polio
South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, together with UNICEF and other partners, is working to increase vaccinations against deadly but preventable diseases like polio.
You can learn more by visiting: http://uni.cf/Jy6mgw
Indigenous group paid $0.65/ha for forest worth $5,000/ha in Indonesia

Aerial view of jungle and delta in Indonesian Papua. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.
A palm oil company has paid indigenous Moi landowners in Indonesian Papua a paltry $0.65 per hectare for land that will be worth $5,000 a hectare once cultivated, according to a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Indonesian NGO, Telepak. The report outlines similar disadvantageous deals in timber with the same companies breaking their promises of bringing education and infrastructure.
“Papuans, some of the poorest citizens in Indonesia, are being utterly exploited in legally questionable oil palm land deals that provide huge financial opportunities for international investors at the expense of the people and forests of West Papua,” said Jago Wadley, EIA Senior Forest Campaigner, in a press release.
During investigations in 2009, the EIA and Telepak interviewed the Moi tribe about their interactions with palm oil producer PT Henrison Inti Persada (PT HIP). Although the tribe never received a copy of the contract, the EIA was able to secure a hand-written contract for the 1,420 hectares of forest.
“Highly one-sided negotiations were characterized by persuasion and pressure from company staff backed by local government officials and, at times, intimidation from military and police,” the report reads. “Landowners unanimously reported they had initially agreed to release large areas following up-front cash offers, but also largely due to company promises of benefits such as new houses, vehicles, and free education for their children.”
Yet, the tribe was paid over 7,000 times less than the company expected to profit, and the promises of a better life never materialized.
The tribe told the EIA that the primary reason for signing the contract was the promise of free education. However, they were not told that education would only be offered to a few students selected by the company who would receive three years of polytechnic education in Java for free—but with conditions. In exchange for the education these same students must commit to working for the palm oil company, PT HIP, for seven years. The EIA says the scheme “verg[es] on indentured labour.”
The Noble Group, a commodities trading giant, has a majority stake in PT HIP, but did not respond to questions from mongabay.com regarding the report and if it planned to investigate the allegations.
The report goes on to accuse Norway of profiting off the exploitation of Indonesian Papuans by investing in Noble Group, even while the Nordic nation spends a billion dollars to jump-start a program in Indonesia to reduce deforestation. Norway is a major backer of Indonesia’s first Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program, but at the same time has invested nearly $50 million in Noble Group through its sovereign wealth fund.
“Norway is perhaps now the biggest state investor—albeit indirectly—in deforestation in Papua and West Papua,” notes the report, which adds that this “[highlights] how unreformed global investment markets maintain the perverse incentives that are the biggest threat to forests and the success of REDD+.”
The EIA says it has urged the Norwegian government to drop these controversial shares for two years, but that “the country’s Finance Ministry and Prime Mister’s office continue to authorize increased investment in Indonesian forest destruction—investment far greater than that paid to Indonesia thus far to reduce emissions from deforestation.”
Economic exploitation for land wasn’t the only issue. The Moi tribe was also underpaid for its wood according to the report. Valuable merbau wood (Intsia bijuga) milled by the Kayu Lapis Indonesia (KLI) Group fetched the Moi tribe $25/cubic meter, but garnered the company in the international market $875/cubic meter. In all, KLI made $9 million from its investment, with Australia buying over a third of the wood. Merbau is primarily used for flooring, and has been overexploited to the point of being endangered in some Southeast Asian countries.
The EIA also found several instances of clearing of plantations occurring before permits were granted and forest being illegally logged. The environmental group calls on the Indonesian and provincial governments to investigate these irregularities.
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
May 23, 2012
Read more:http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0523-hance-eia-exploitation.html#ixzz1viSHoE91
See what Nature Conservancy supporters are helping to accomplish in the Gulf two years after the spill!
100,000 People Without Essential Health Care in North Darfur
MSF Forced to Suspend Lifesaving Medical Activities After Restrictions Imposed on Its Work
As a result of increasing restrictions imposed by Sudanese authorities, MSF has been forced to suspend most of its medical activities in the Jebel Si region of North Darfur State in Sudan.
Increasing obstacles over the past year led to the suspension of MSF’s activities. No shipments of drugs or medical supplies have been authorized since September 2011, and MSF has encountered growing difficulties obtaining work and travel permits for its staff. Transport options to and from Jebel Si have also been drastically reduced. MSF has been the sole health provider in the region.
“With the reduction of our activities in Jebel Si, more than 100,000 people in the region are left entirely without health care,” said Alberto Cristina, MSF operational manager for Sudan. “If we are not allowed to deliver medicines and supplies to our hospital and health posts soon, disease outbreaks are likely to occur, and maternal and prenatal deaths are likely to increase and may even reach emergency levels.”
Photo: Mothers and children at an MSF facility in Jebel Si, where obstacles threaten MSF’s continued operation
Sudan 2012 © MSF
life:
May 24, 1974: Duke Ellington dies at the age of 75.
Here’s a great photo of Duke Ellington at a jazz jam session in LIFE photographer Gjon Mili’s studio — see more photos here.
(Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
