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"Papua Focuses
On Rural Development Programs"
The Jakarta
Post, 15 May 2009, by Markus Makur - The Jakarta Post/Timika
Regencies in Papua should focus
on community-based development, Governor Barnabas Suebu said Thursday.
In his keynote address read by
vice governor Alex Hesegem during a working meeting with regents in
Mimika, Suebu said regents in Mimika, Mappi, Asmat, Puncak and Paniai
should work together to promote the ongoing Rural Development Strategic
Program (Respek), and Rural Community Development Movement (GMPK)
program.
Suebu also said regencies should
synchronize financial organization at state, provincial, regency and
municipal levels to support the rural budget and promote good
governance.
On the whole, Papua's provincial
and regency development programs had been successful, but faced
underlying problems such as a lack of financial accountability, Suebu
said.
He added they still lacked
financial accountability in relation to the special autonomy funds and
special allocation funds (DAK), designated for regional development.
This lack of accountability, he
said, created a deficit of trust between the administration and state
auditors.
Civil service and
professionalism remained limited, and internal supervision and control
mechanisms were ineffective, as evidenced by recurring issues, Seubu
said.
Bureaucratic procedures lacked
the coordination and commitment needed for effective policy
implementation, he said.
Seubu said that these underlying
issues warranted discussion and required the mutual agreement of
regencies.
He named border control and
corruption as two issues that required attention in the lead up to the
upcoming presidential election.
He also urged regencies to look
toward providing free access to education and health care for native
Papuans, in addition to boosting community-based economic development
programs.
This could be achieved, he said,
by promoting the production and distribution of commodities made by
local communities.
Suebu said regencies should also
accelerate their basic infrastructure development in the form of
transportation, cheap and eco-friendly energy sources, clean water,
telecommunications and coordinated inter-regency development.
These programs should target
less privileged and low income earners in the isolated and mountainous
regions of Papua, he said.
"I call on regents to actively
work for the benefit of all Papuans as well as newcomers," he said.
At the meeting, Papua Police
deputy chief Brig. Gen. Ahmad Riadi Koni also briefed the meeting on
security developments in Papua.
He acknowledged that the
security situation prior to the legislative elections on April 9 was
unpredictable due to "irresponsible violence" occurring across the
province.
He said electoral violations had
been filed at the courts in the areas where violence had occurred, but
the security situation in Papua after the election was stable.
Currently, the condition of
regencies in Papua and West Papua, according to the police chief's
report, is favorable.
"Papua is ready for the
presidential election in July," said Riadi.
Top of page
"Obama Effect Hits Asian Green Energy"
The Jakarta Post, 29 June 2009, by Terry Lacey
Walter North, Deputy
Head of Mission, US Embassy, says the US, will back
climate change and renewable energy in Indonesia and
Asia.
He was speaking to
the first Indonesia Clean Energy Investors Forum
organized with the Private Finance Advisory Network (PFAN),
showcasing its services to over 130 project developers
and associates in its first public event, Thursday, in
Jakarta.
Peter du Pont, PFAN
team leader, announced it would now focus increasing
project support and financial brokering on China.
Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia.
Participants
welcomed that Indonesia was now a top priority for new
US support for renewable energy and climate change
projects in Asia.
North had said
earlier this month to the Indonesian Renewable Energy
Society (METI) that the US was "back in the game" on
climate change for a planet in peril.
The US Congress has
just narrowly passed the climate change bill, but Obama
said he was very "frank and blunt" with Mrs Angela
Merkel, the German Chancellor, during her visit to
Washington just before the vote, when both of them had
urged Congress to support it, that it would take a while
to turn the US into a world leader on climate change.
Congress
subsequently passed the bill by only 219 votes to 212,
with eight Republicans for and 44 Democrats against, a
hard-fought but important victory for President Obama
and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
North confirmed the
Obama administration is taking steps to re-jig the role
of US international agencies including USSAID, the
Import-Export (Exim) Bank, the supporting role of the US
Department of Energy (DOE), and private sector support
mechanisms, to help Indonesian and Asian renewable
energy developers to develop their projects.
The US hopes soon to
upgrade the remit of the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) in Indonesia as this already works
quite well in India. North said this first meeting of
the PFAN network in Jakarta was an important step in the
right direction.
Du Pont, based in
Bangkok, but planning his team should also work from
Jakarta, explained that the gap between project
developers and project finance was technical,
presentational and conceptual. PFAN targeted projects
mostly needing from US$1 million to $50 millions.
The job of PFAN "Was
to identify the fruit, wash it, polish it and present it
on a platter to the investors," so PFAN gave technical
help to project developers on how to put their case and
access funds. This was part of the Climate Technology
Initiative (CTI) in cooperation with the UNFCCC Expert
Group on Technology Transfer.
Eight Indonesian
project developers presented their case for investment
during the meeting to a board of judges, and others plan
to do so in later meetings.
The judges awarded
first prize for best bid to PT Tiara Energi with a
proposal for a 10 megawatts
(MW) rice-husk fueled power station in Makassar, in
Sulawesi. Joint second position went to PT Gikoko to
help expand their landfill methane gas technology to
more sites. In joint second place also came Selo Kencana
Energi with an initial 10 MW geothermal project. PFAN
will help these companies complete bankable proposals
and mobilize funds.
The competition was
judged by Dr Indra Darmawan, director of planning for
agribusiness and natural resources at the Investment
Coordinating Board (BKPM); Niki R Joenoes, vice
president and head of investment banking of PT BNI
Securities; Dr Ir. Arnold Soetrisnanto, head of nuclear
project development at PT MedCo Power Indonesia and Dr
Ir Verana J Wargadalam, coordinator of the renewable
energy group at the Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry.
A panel of speakers
discussed the new policy frameworks and facilities being
introduced by the Indonesian government. These included
Dr Ir Bastary Pandji Indra, director of public private
partnership development at the National Planning Agency
(BAPPENAS), Mr Askoloni director of fiscal policy at the
Finance Ministry, Ir Ario Senoadji, vice president of
alternative energy of state power utility PLN, Pandri
Probono-Moelyo director of PT Indika Energy and Irwan M
Habsjah, commissioner of PT Bank Tabungan Persiuan
Nasional (BTPN).
Du Pont said PFAN
would pursue further cooperation with BAPPENAS, the
Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, other agencies,
banks and private sector stakeholders, backed by a
regional networking capacity, to support Indonesian
renewable energy project developers.
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Donors To Distribute $18m In Reconstruction Funds
The Jakarta Post, 1 August 2009
YOGYAKARTA: International donors have distributed
US$76 million out of the $94 milion raised to rebuild infrastructure
damaged by a major earthquake in 2006, which devastated Yogyakarta and
parts of Central Java.
The Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) manager,
Shamima Khan, told a press conference Thursday that the remaining funds,
amounting to $18 million, would be put into other reconstruction
projects and microcredit loans for small to middle-size enterprises to
help strengthen them.
The quake killed 5,600 people and flattened
200,000 houses. Material losses from the disaster were estimated at Rp
29 trillion. -JP
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Education - Next Govt's Priority
The
Jakarta Post, 1 August 2009
Iwan Pranoto - Bandung
With the presidential election process
almost complete and the next president almost certain, a number
of issues are still lingering. Some, however, were not
sufficiently debated during the election process. One of the
issues is education.
Now that we are almost certain who is
going to occupy the presidential seat, it is time for us to find
out how the incumbent will continue to rule the country. One
should be curious to know if the education policy and vision
will be part an important part of his continued plans.
In the past presidential term, and in the
previous governments, education has always been considered a
secondary area for Indonesia. The perception was that we were a
nation that could not afford to have a quality education system
before the national economy was strong enough to support it.
The citizens were told that the economy
needed to be stronger to enable a better education system. The
economy, but not education, has been the government's top
priority. This has been the principle guiding governmental
policy since the 1970s.
In his book, Education for 1.3 Billion, Li
Lanqing explains a totally different principle. He was the vice
premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1993 to
2003, and was deeply concerned with education, especially basic
education. Moreover, he has developed a strong sense of
leadership in the field of education. His principle is the
opposite of our traditional national development policy.
In his book, he uses his experience as an
economist to reason the primary principle that basic education
drives the economy of a country. Thus, basic education is the
locomotive of a nation's development.
During the last 15 years, his policy has
shown good results. The PRC is now one of the strongest
economies in the world. About 20 years ago, the Chinese
government realized that they had huge population and that they
needed to develop their culture, science, and technology fields
to become a stronger country. The huge population in particular
was a burden to the nation's development.
We are suffering from similar conditions
in our country now. Twenty years ago, one would say our economy
was in better shape than the PRC's. At the same time, the
quality of our national education might have been more or less
in the same league as the PRC's. The question now is what is the
driving force for our country to make the changes that the PRC
has already made?
In the case of the PRC, they have shown
that education, in particular basic education, should be the
primary target to strengthen before we can become a strong
economic power.
Education should be the powerhouse of the
economy, and not the other way round. Thus, our next government
should be able to redirect the developmental vision of the
nation by putting education first.
It is true that the improvement of
education is not free. It requires great financial support. It
is also true that our financial resources are limited, but we
should put our present national resources toward strengthening
our education system first. We should optimize the utilization
of resources we already have to create a quality basic education
system, similar to those in developed nations. It is almost
impossible to maintain economic growth without quality
education.
Our economy cannot be sustained, unless we
have sufficient educated human resources. We are in a new era
and we should realize that if we are implementing our old New
Order era policies that emphasize the economy, we will create an
artificial economic state of being. We should realize that we
will be driving backward instead of forward as we neglect the
education of the people who are the true foundation of a
powerful economy.
Making education a priority will enable
Indonesia to compete successfully in the in the modern world. In
particular, according to the well-known joint study by Murnane
and Levi, from MIT and Harvard University, modern people will
need more and more complex reasoning abilities in the future.
At the same time, routine cognitive skills
will be needed less. Machines or computers will do the jobs that
rely merely on fixed procedures like "if-then" rules.
On the other hand, the skills that rely on
non-routine cognitive skills like problem solving skills will be
in greater need. Unfortunately, our present education practices
seem to maintain systems of the past. The current education
practices prepare our students for jobs, situated in our
grandfathers' era, namely the industrial age. Our current
practices and policies place too much emphasis on
routine-cognitive skills.
For example, our national standardized
tests do not sufficiently assess the high-order thinking
capabilities of students. Instead, our tests focus on measuring
lower-order thinking skills such as facts, formula memorization
and procedural computation skills. Our national standardized
math tests, for example, seem to concentrate too much on
complicated calculations, but not sophisticated reasoning.
Nowadays the tests should focus on assessing students' reasoning
skills.
This unfortunate situation is worsened by
the fact the national standardized tests are seen as an absolute
measure. The present government stubbornly considers these
imperfect national tests as absolute truth.
This makes our teachers unwilling to teach
high-order thinking skills to the students. They question the
importance of teaching the students high-order thinking skills
when the most important assessment test in the country does not
evaluate their high-order thinking skills.
More precisely, the national tests have
become more of a detriment to the classroom and day-to-day
assessments. Basic education is thus forced to prepare the
students for the exams, and therefore does not nurture their
characters. This is the second challenge for our next
government. They should be able to shift and transform current
education policies to vision driven ones.
Specifically, the national education
minister should be carefully selected. The minister should not
only have sufficient understanding of educational issues, but he
or she should also have a commitment to our nation's long-term
visions. The appointment should not be based solely on
short-term political considerations.
At the university level, policies and
practices should also be based on vision. Pragmatism, such as
world ranking should not be the primary agenda of tertiary
education institutions. Instead, post secondary education
institutions should start working on sustainable development
issues.
In particular, academic communities should
start working on issues regarding traits that enable us as a
nation to develop sustainability. This means that this nation
could develop significantly with some guarantee that this
development is sustainable. Research and education works should
converge on managing both the environment and social conditions
intelligently. The community services provided by the
universities should directly contribute to the society.
In particular, at this moment, the need
for quality teachers is crucial and urgent. Therefore, the next
government should design some affirmative and strategic actions
for promoting the teaching profession and teacher preparation
education. This is another challenge for our next government.
The writer is associate professor at
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
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Hot Spots Spreading Over
Land Belonging To 77 Firms In Riau
The Jakarta Post, 12
August 2009
Adianto P. Simamora -
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A government investigating
team has found fire hot spots spread across concessions belonging to 77
companies operating in Riau during the first-seven months that forced
the closure of thousands of schools due to thick haze.
A team from the environment
ministry is still investigating the sources of forest fires on land
owned by the forest concession holders and industrial timber and
plantation firms.
"We want to find out for
sure if the fires were lit by the respective firms or by local
residents," Hilmar Sirait, an assistant to the ministry's deputy for law
enforcement, said Tuesday.
"There's also the
possibility these companies are hiring local people to burn the land."
Nine hundred hot spots have
been recorded in the province in the period from January to July,
ministry data shows. A hot spot is defined as a fire covering at least 1
hectare of land.
Hilmar said the ministry
would focus on forest fires raging on land owned by the four companies
with the most hot spots.
The environment ministry
has pledged to submit findings on forest fires in Riau to police, for
legal action against perpetrators showing a disdain for the
environmental law.
Those found guilty of
breaching any of the articles in the law can face up to 10 years in
prison and/or Rp 500 million (US$50,000) in fines.
Environment minister
Rachmat Witoelar said the government would rope off all the burned land
as evidence.
"We'll forbid the companies
from expanding their business into areas where fire hot spots have been
detected," he said.
In July, WWF Indonesia
detected 9,841 hot spots in Riau, West Kalimantan, Jambi and South
Sumatra.
By comparison, the WWF
detected 31,648 hotspots in the whole of 2007 and 32,838 in 2008.
However, Jambi Forestry
Agency head Budidaya said as quoted by Antara that there were no more
hot spots in Jambi as of Tuesday, due to rains.
He said the agency had
detected only 110 hot spots in Riau and 75 in South Sumatra.
Forest fires are an annual
occurrence across the vastly forested country during the dry season. In
2006, 145,000 hot spots were detected, making it the second-worst season
since 1997.
The El Ni*o weather
phenomenon is expected to worsen the situation this year.
Indonesian Employers
Association (Apindo) chairman Sofyan Wanandi urged the government to
take stern action against companies engaging in slash-and-burn clearing
of land, as a deterrent to prevent future fires.
"The violators must be
taken to jail for damaging the environment," he said Tuesday as quoted
by Antara, during a visit to Palangkaraya.
"It's wrong of the
companies to burn forests as a low-cost way to expand business. If no
action is taken, more forest fires will break out in coming years."
He said slash-and-burn
methods would damage the ecology and worsen the climate.
In response, Central
Kalimantan Governor Agustin Teras Narang said he would revoke the
business permits of companies clearing land through burning.
"I'll revoke the permits of the
companies if there is strong evidence, because we've long prohibited
them from burning land for whatever reason," he said.
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Regent Blames Flash Floods On Illegal Logging
The Jakarta Post, 18 September 2009
Apriadi Gunawan - The Jakarta
Post/Medan
Rampant illegal logging has
been blamed for recent flash floods that hit six villages in North
Sumatra, killing dozens of people, Regent Amru Daulay has said.
Amru blamed deforestation
after inspecting the baron area that was once a forest not far from
the disaster areas, adding the area was previously part of a forest
concession area (HPH).
He said the HPH license had
been revoked 10 years ago and since then illegal logging had been
rampant because of a lack of supervision from authorized agencies.
"The flash floods in Muara
Batang Gadis district, Mandailing Natal regency, are attributed to
illegal logging, which has prevailed unabated. We have no authority
to supervise logging because it is the responsibility of the
Forestry Ministry," Amru told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday evening.
Amru said his relief workers
were facing difficulties in reaching the affected areas because
their limited facilities made the rough terrain difficult to access.
"We face difficulties reaching
the area due to rough terrain. We have only one rubber dinghy and
can not reach the location because there are many logs clogging the
river," Amru said.
Amru added that due to the
setback, relief workers had only distributed part of the relief aid
available, the rest of which is stranded at a border area located
about 7.5 hours away from the affected area.
"We were informed by a council
member living in the disaster area that many evacuees are going
hungry because of food shortages. Hopefully, the team bringing food
aid will arrive tonight," Amru said.
Amru said his office had yet
to ascertain the number of dead and missing persons as communication
lines have been cut.
However, based on reports from
the local council member, the bodies of eight victims have already
been recovered.
At least 15 people were
reportedly killed and 25 others missing in the flash floods, which
happened before dawn on Tuesday.
The six villages swept by the
floods were Rantau Panjang, Lubuk Kapodang I and II, Tagilang, Saleh
Baru and Manuncang.
North Sumatra Governor Syamsul
Arifin said his office had sent a joint team made up of members from
the health and social service offices to assist survivors. He added
he had also instructed Regent Amru to immediately take the necessary
steps to help survivors. Syamsul said around 2,200 of the affected
families had evacuated.
"We must be responsible for
the survivors. They need relief aid immediately, especially because
they will celebrate Idul Fitri in a short while," said Syamsul,
adding relief aid includes rubber dinghies, instant noodles and
clothing.
Syamsul said the provincial administration had also 50 tons of rice
stored at the provincial logistics agency, which will be made
available to the survivors as soon as possible.
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Deforestation Threatens Acehnese Tradition
The Jakarta Post, 18 September 2009
Hotli Simanjuntak - The
Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh
Widespread deforestation in
the Islamic province of Aceh is threatening some of its rich
traditions, including one ancient custom practiced to celebrate the
holy month of Ramadan.
Muslims in Aceh have been
preparing Ie Bu Peudah porridge during Ramadan for generations as a
way of bringing the community together during the fasting month, but
a lack of spices as a result of deforestation is threaten the annual
tradition.
"Long ago, almost all the
villages in Aceh prepared the Ie Bu peudah porridge, but now less
and less people carry out this traditional custom," Sukran, a
resident of the Bung Bak Jok village in the Aceh Besar regency, said
recently.
"Every member of the community
is usually involved in the process of cooking the porridge, but due
to the large number of younger people in the village, the elderly
are normally not involved," said Sukran.
The village head of Bung Bak
Jok, Abdul Muthalib, said the tradition of preparing the porridge
and sitting down together to eat is unique to Ramadan. With
everybody taking part in the cooking process, and coming together to
break the fast in the evening, ties between the community are
strengthened.
"Every member of the community
is involved in some aspect of the process, from collecting the herbs
and spices, to preparing the ingredients, to eating the final
product," said Muthalib.
The porridge is handed out to
villagers a few moments before the fast is broken, and children come
with containers to take some porridge home to those who cannot make
it themselves.
"Traditionally, the porridge
would have been eaten to break the fast together at the village
mosque. But now people have their own personal activities, so they
take the porridge back to their own homes," Muthalib said.
Ie Bu Peudah literally means
hot or spicy porridge. Its basic ingredients are rice and an
assortment of spices believed to be capable of curing illnesses and
assisting those carrying out their fasts.
"One of our beliefs from the
days of our ancestors that breaking the fast with the porridge can
revive the lost stamina during the fast," Sukran told The Jakarta
Post.
The vast array of spices
necessary for the recipe are sourced from around the forest areas
around the villages.
Long before the arrival of
Ramadan, villagers seek out the herbs and spices required for the
recipe and allocate a particular plot in the local rice fields for
the grain required for the porridge.
"Our village has a special
rice field set aside so there is not shortage of rice for the
porridge Ramadan. That way residents do not have to pay for rice
during the holy month," said Muthalib.
However, Muthalib said he was
concerned about the tradition surviving in the future, as several
key spices required for the dish have become scarce in the region
due to widespread logging, deforestation and unethical clearing
practices.
Muthalib said his parents
recipe for the porridge, which has been handed down for generations,
required 44 varieties of plants to make a truly authentic Ie Bu
Peudah porridge.
Of these herbs, today only a
handful can be found in the jungle areas around the village.
Muthalib said the plants were scarce or even extinct as a result of
deforestation and the conversion of forest land for commercial
purposes.
"Each plant has a specific
purpose. They are believed to contain ingredients to cure various
illnesses. Each plant has a different function for curing disease,"
said Muthalib.
Although no comprehensive
studies on the properties of these herbs has been carried out,
Muthalib said he had no doubts that the porridge was greatly
beneficial to his health. If he misses the traditional meal in the
evening, he said, something feels amiss.
"We will still have the Ie Bu Peudah porridge every Ramadan, but it
will never be the same as that prepared by our ancestors long ago,"
said Muthalib.
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Incredible
Foreign Help
The Jakarta Post,
9 October 2009
Opinion
Every school child knows that this country is rich
and beautiful. Less known to them is the country’s vulnerability to
disasters as this has been less emphasized in the classroom. When
schoolchildren become adults, this lack of awareness sticks.
This is part of the reason why we tend to be slow in
tackling disasters like the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked
West Sumatra on Sept. 30 killing more than 1,000 people, destroying
thousands of buildings and devastating scores of towns and villages.
It took the President two days before he let foreign
help come in. During that time-lapse, victims had been buried under
tons of rubbles breathing dusty air in scorching heat and very cold
at night.
Relatives of the victims stood helplessly nearby as
their loved ones fought fear, hunger and thirst. For them, one
second was hell and one minute could make the difference between
life and death.
Fortunately, help from the international community
soon poured in after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave the
green light.
They promptly reinforced our search and rescue teams
who had toiled into the night and who had to work without adequate
equipment.
Hence, it is comforting for Indonesia and the people
of West Sumatra in particular to learn that helping others is still
strong valued among the international community.
Instant help has come from virtually every corner of
the globe including China, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Australia,
Germany, the Netherlands and others.
And not only from governments but also from
groupings like the United Nations, the European Union, ASEAN as well
as various local and foreign non-government organizations.
Even an ongoing festival in the city of Ohio in the
US decided to raise disaster relief donations for Indonesia.
It was reminiscent of the help we received in the
2004 Aceh tsunami. The Aceh and Nias rehabilitation agency (BRR)
recorded this help in a series of books launched recently, wrapping
up its four-year work.
One of those books noted that “individuals of every
race, religion, culture and political persuasion across each and
every continent worldwide, along with governments, the private
sector, non-government organizations and other national and
international bodies, reacted in an unprecedented show of human
concern and compassion.”
Help from more than 15 countries, 50 NGOs and
thousands of social workers poured into Aceh after the Boxing-day
tsunami. The agency noted that most of the US$7.2 billion pledged
was converted into real commitments, an unprecedented achievement in
disaster management.
This wave of human compassion is repeating itself in
West Sumatra and in Jambi, which was rocked by no less violent an
earthquake a day after the one that hit Padang. Apart from reducing
the pain on the ground, the work of our foreign friends has helped
reinforce our trust in humanity.
For all their generous assistance, it is appropriate
for us to say a big thank you. Our thanks will never be enough to
repay our indebtedness.
It is best if we could help ourselves more. For this
reason we urge the government to streamline its disaster mitigation
body to face future disasters, including raising awareness among our
people that ours is a disaster prone country.
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Maintaining RI’s Biodiversity
The Jakarta Post,
30 December 2009
Iqbal
Alan Abdullah - Jakarta
A case for
maintaining biological diversity by Prof. Muhammad Hatta and Dr.
Ahmed Djoghlaf can, and should, be reinforced with clearer
priorities and indicators.
The teeming
species in Indonesia is just the beginning.
Indonesia
has a diverse ecosystem including coral reef, and tropical forests.
The extent and nature of its peat swamp forests, sea grasses, and
mangroves are among the most significant in the world.
Valuing
these less popular ecosystems, and services they provide, is needed
to reverse the trend.
Biodiversity
should also recognize “bio-culture” as important element, especially
concerning traditional way of life of diminishing stewards of
Indonesian forests. For instance, in Papua, where about 260
indigenous communities maintain ecosystem dialogue, and have solid
knowledge about how to live in balance with nature.
Whereas the
establishment of protected areas is to be applauded, a more critical
approach must be adopted.
For
instance, while establishment of protected areas proliferated,
Indonesia is losing many of its forests, with experts saying that
only 5 percent of forested land remains. The notion that biosphere
reserves in Indonesia are effective is yet to be proven.
A wonderful
achievement for the country should not rest in how much land and
water it is protecting on paper. Priorities should outline how much
degradation of ecosystems is halted, and how much restoration takes
place.
It is good
news that the Environment Ministry has also increased the number of
flora and fauna bred in captivity, from 171 species in 2006 to 416
species in 2008. However, in terms of conserving the species, it is
more important to take on board how many species are being released
into the wild. And more importantly, how much habitat is preserved
to conserve as many species as possible. Conservation in natural
habitats is the so-called diversification of stock.
It is
misleading to attribute the loss of Indonesian forests to global
trends, because clearly deforestation and degradation is ultimately
related to multiple-sector governance of the state. The government
needs to be more proactive and responsible for Indonesian
biodiversity. This means that the Environment Ministry should be
able to convince other ministries and agencies about the benefits of
protecting biodiversity, especially in economic terms.
Sustainable
consumption and production is important for biodiversity. Standard
practice, including environmentally sustainable and socially ethical
practice by setting shared standards, is also important. And yet,
many scientists, let alone policy makers, failed to recognize that
poverty reduction is a key driver of biodiversity reduction. A whole
economic approach needs to be adopted to halt biodiversity loss.
The ministry
should be able to formulate priority targets and sound
knowledge. Eventually, it should realize that the environment should
not only be a sector, but an integral part of development.
Sound
targets and indicators are only part of the sound knowledge needed
to establish good governance.
The writer is a member of Commission
VII of the House of Representatives.
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