Local communities come to the aid of the climate defenders camp

Pretty amazing stuff going on in Indonesia over the weekend.

It started when the police issued an eviction order for the camp, after last week's action which closed down an APRIL logging concession. The action was strongly supported by local communities - the eviction notice was only secured after pressure from the logging companies.

But then, in a surprising move, the chief of police of Pelalawan district revoked the eviction order, after 300 locals from nearby Teluk Meranti village turned up at the camp the next morning to show their support.

"We want Greenpeace to stay in this camp as long as possible. Their presence in Semenanjung Kampar is really helping us to protect this forest from destruction," said Suwandi, a school teacher in Teluk Meranti. "If in the future Greenpeace is forced to leave Kampar, we demand that APRIL should also get out of Kampar" he added.

Community supporters arrived by the hundreds.

This is a great show of confidence in the dedicated team of climate defenders who have been in the camp for the past few weeks, and a great win both for them and the local communities who must live with the impacts of deforestation and peatland drainage.

"We are overwhelmed and humbled by this extraordinary support from the people of Riau - it confirms our belief that the people of Indonesia wish their forests to be protected," said Zulfahmi Fahmi of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

"This is a very important signal to President Yudhoyono, that his people are willing to help him honor his ambition to reduce emissions from deforestation. He should take immediate action to prosecute those who are destroying forests, while protecting our forests, biodiversity and the people dependent on them." he added.

The camp has been running for three weeks now. Its purpose is to bring urgent attention to the role that rainforest and peatland destruction play in driving dangerous climate change in the run up to the critical UN Copenhagen Climate Summit this December. During this time, our committed and passionate climate defenders have built dams, stopped excavators and unfurled massive banners in extremely hot conditions. It has been an intense and demanding few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian activists involved with Thursdays action have been released without charge. They have returned to the camp with orders to report to the police once a week for the next four weeks. The 11 international activists are being deported, and will have left the country by now.

Local community members with Rob, the camp leader and other climate defenders.