FOR ADVERTORIAL: SATURDAY, JUNE 5

FOR ADVERTORIAL: SATURDAY, JUNE 5

Total E&P Indonisie has strong commitment to protect ecosystem

For Cenni, a shrimp farmer in Muara Kayu village in East
Kalimantan, a job offer to replant a mangrove forest was a
blessing that he could not have imagined before.

The married man was in financial trouble and in dire need of a
side job because his three-hectare shrimp pond had failed to
produce a good harvest. He kept wondering why the harvest failed
until one day he was informed of the reason: the absence of
mangrove trees in his pond.

In the midst of his uncertainty over his future due to the
failed shrimp harvest, Cenni was offered work replanting mangrove
trees in the estuary of the Mahakam River Delta.

"The money I received for the work was good enough. As we
worked in a group, we could plant around 2,000 trees a day,"
Cenni recalled while viewing the growing green mangrove trees
that he and his group planted three years ago.

While still hoping to receive more mangrove seeds to plant, he
now feels confident about the future of his pond because he also
replanted mangrove trees in his pond.

Cenni is one of 300 residents of different villages in East
Kalimantan who benefited from the mangrove-replanting project
implemented by Total E&P Indonisie, one of the country's largest
oil and gas producers, in cooperation with local governments and
related parties.

Villagers living in areas surrounding Total's operational
sites are mostly shrimp farmers and fishermen. There has been
growing concern about failed shrimp harvests over the last
several years, with uncontrolled deforestation caused by
aquaculture development cited as the cause. Therefore, many of
the villagers welcomed Total's mangrove-replanting project.

Even though environmental issues in the Mahakam Delta area in
East Kalimantan are the responsibility of local governments,
Total, as one of the stakeholders in the area, has a strong
commitment to protect the Delta's ecosystem for sustainable
development, besides implementing best practices in environmental
management for its operations.

French-based Total E&P Indonisie has operated the Mahakam
block in East Kalimantan province since the 1970s, with seven oil
and gas fields and, today, 500 production wells. The company's
operations cover an area of 2,000 hectares or about 2 percent of
the delta.

The company's environmental activities refer to the policy set
by its headquarters in Paris, France. This policy respects
international, national and local laws and regulations.

Externally, the company has been active in conserving the
environment, with mangrove-replanting projects being one of the
company's top priorities.

The mangrove-replanting program was introduced in 2000 when
uncontrollable deforestation, which began in the early 90s,
reached its peak. Thousands of hectares of forest have been
converted into shrimp ponds with an average area of between 1.5
hectares and 40 hectares. As seen from above, numerous small and
large areas have been left neglected and resemble football
fields, except with no grass.

Based on the company's monitoring with satellite images
integrated in a GIS (Gisoil) of the variations in vegetation
coverage of the delta in 2000, it was found that deforestation
reached about 80 percent of the total delta land area of 1,000
square kilometers. This had resulted in the loss of biodiversity,
although some specific species like monkeys, varan, kingfishers
and fish were found close to the company's installations.

Initially, local villagers were reluctant to replant mangroves
when the program was launched, due to their lack of knowledge
about the importance of the mangroves. However, many of them were
willing to replant the mangrove after attending regular
information courses.

According to Total's Environment Department head, Suripno, the
first phase of replanting two million mangrove trees on some 550
hectares of land started three years ago and was targeted to be
completed in 2005.

"However, it can be completed earlier than expected due to the
local community's enthusiasm for the program," he said.

To attract the participation of local young people in
conserving the environment, Total has turned mangrove-replanting
into an interesting activity by holding mangrove-replanting
contests, with participants coming from local junior high
schools. The program involved junior high school students and the
Bina Karya Environment Group and targeted eroded coastal areas in
Handil Baru, Samboja district, not far from Total's Peciko Gas
Processing Area (PPA).

"About 40,000 mangroves were planted in January of this year
in the area. The plants are expected to stop further erosion by
the tide," Suripno said.

In response to the problems arising from traditional ways of
clearing land for shrimp ponds, which are detrimental to the
sustainability of the activities, Total, in collaboration with
local governments and related parties, has introduced the silvo-
fishery pilot project, which is an environmentally friendly
shrimp pond.

The pilot project introduced in 2001 is designed not only to
encourage the sustainability of shrimp farming activities but
also to protect the Mahakam Delta area from further degradation.

Unlike traditional ways of clearing land for shrimp ponds by
cutting all mangroves and other kinds of trees, the shrimp ponds
prepared under the silvo-fishery plan provide more space for
mangroves to grow. "Based on a study, in addition to being a good
medium to sustain flood, mangroves serve also as nursery grounds
for shrimp and fish before going to sea," Suripno said.

Meanwhile, the head of the fisheries agency in Kutai
Kartanegara regency, Bahteramsyah, hailed Total's deep concern
for the Mahakam Delta area and its tangible actions to protect
the environment, saying the collaboration on the mangrove-
replanting and silvo-fishery projects were expected to continue
in light of the fact that turning the Mahakam Delta area back
into its previous condition will take time.

"It is not like turning over the palm of your hand," he said.

He acknowledged the local community's lack of knowledge about
the functions of mangroves and environmentally friendly shrimp
ponds. "Therefore, we have continue to provide information on the
mangroves because the human factor is the key to solving the
problem."

Numerous ponds, he said, have failed to produce good quality
shrimp due to the absence of mangroves. "A pond's direct exposure
to sunlight can cause shrimp to become stressed and vulnerable to
disease," he said. "More shrimp farmers are expected to copy the
environmentally friendly shrimp ponds."

While being active in environmental activities around its
operation sites, Total has also consistently implemented strict
environmental regulations inside the operation sites, given the
many dangers the facilities could present. Internally,
environment concerns include the company's methods of treating
waste resulting from oil and gas production activities.

In treating every form of waste its operations produce, like
water, gas flaring and sludge, Total has always been in
compliance with local and central government regulations on the
environment, including those on waste disposal or treatment.
Produced water from each field, for instance, is treated at
Oily Water Treatment Units (OWTU) to comply with standard
criteria as set in East Kalimantan Gubernatorial Decree No.
26/2002 and environmental ministry Decree No. 42/1996.

Under the regulation, the required maximum amount of oil
content in produced water is 40 mg/l so that it will not be
detrimental to human and marine life. However, produced water in
Total is treated into better water quality, with an average oil
content of 25 mg/l, far below the maximum content required by the
government, this being due to the company's strong commitment to
preserving the environment.

To limit the greenhouse effect, Total has managed air quality
to comply with national and international requirements by, for
instance, using non-ozone depleting substance (Non-ODS)
refrigerants for air conditioners, minimizing gas flaring to
cases of emergency only, optimizing fuel gas consumption and
monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.

"To comply with environmental Decree No. 129/2003 requiring
emission from stacks to be monitored, we have made a hole in
every stack to enable a monitoring tool to be inserted into the
stack," Suripno said.

Total has also been innovative in creating waste treatment
systems. The company has introduced bioremediation treatment, or
what is called Industrial Pilot of Oily Waste Composting (IPOC),
a treatment unit to process contaminated soils and cuttings
biologically by applying the windrow and biopile method.

The idea of bioremediation of oily waste came up in 1994 but
not until two years ago was the idea materialized because it had
to be first studied thoroughly.

"Basically, with the method, microorganisms will break down
the oil content so that the soils will turn back into natural
soils," said Total site manager Dave Hainsworth at the Senipah
gas processing facilities.

In spite of its operating normally, Total always has to be on
alert for any unexpected incidents that might affect its
operations and its surrounding areas. Apart from daily monitoring
of water and air quality, the company has also prepared an oil
spill contingency plan in case of an emergency, such as an
accident related to the spillage of oil, whether on land, river
or sea. Antipollution equipment, such as oil booms, a skimming
unit, spate pumps, pollu-spray and antipollution boats are in
place, with well-trained team on standby around the clock.

As a company with a strong commitment to the environment,
Total E&P Indonisie makes relentless efforts to maintain the
ecosystem, either inside or outside its operation areas, to
ensure the sustainability of mangrove forests, local communities
and oil and gas activities in the Mahakam Delta area. For Total,
internal and external environmental programs are equally
important given their inter-related effects.