Emil warns of impact from environmental damage<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The rolling out of regional autonomy in January
\nnext year could lead to widespread environmental damage due to
\nlocal governments' lack of vision and concern on biodiversity
\nmanagement, an expert warned on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Most local administration leaders, from governors to regents,
\nare busy thinking of exploiting their regions and environment by
\naltering rather than preserving it,\" chairman of Indonesia's
\nBiodiversity (Kehati) Foundation Emil Salim said at a media
\nbriefing about the Kehati Awards on Friday.<\/p>\n
Emil, a noted economist who has also served as minister of the
\nenvironment for three consecutive terms in the Soeharto era, said
\nthe danger lies in the fact that biodiversity is not positioned
\nas a central plank of the country's development.<\/p>\n
\"Most regions (in the autonomy era) will be busy garnering
\nlocal revenue. In West Kalimantan, there is a regent who does not
\nwant to preserve 75 percent of its forests as he says 'he'll get
\nnothing'.<\/p>\n
\"The local leaders always think that 'development' means
\nhaving a great mall or industrial estate. This is a mistaken and
\ndangerous concept,\" Emil said.<\/p>\n
Most parts of the national parks in the country's western
\nregion, such as Gunung Leuser and Kerinci in Sumatra, are already
\ndamaged, he said. \"In Java, the conditions are the worst.\"<\/p>\n
In an effort to cope with these problems, Kehati and the West
\nJava administration, along with local non-governmental
\norganizations (NGOs), have established a holistic biodiversity
\nboard that will issue guidelines for environmentally friendly
\ndevelopment programs to regency and mayoralty administrations.<\/p>\n
The board is a pilot project designed to coincide with the
\nimplementation of regional autonomy, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We'll start with the conservation of Ciremai mountain, whose
\nrivers have the shortest distance to flow to the sea. The
\nmountain's resources have been so severely exploited as to lead
\nto the destruction of mangrove forests on the coast and along its
\nrivers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The board will meet in November and discuss concrete problems
\nsuch as the river sedimentation that affects three regencies in
\nWest Java, namely Ciamis, Kuningan and Cirebon.<\/p>\n
\"We have no choice but to directly approach the regions and
\nopen their minds so as to conserve nature,\" he said.<\/p>\n
From the era of Soeharto, through that of Habibie right up to
\nthe present administration of Abdurrahman (President Abdurrahman
\nWahid), they all had their own excuses for not paying more
\nattention to the environment, he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is shameful that this country is home to the world's
\ngreatest biodiversity but that we don't have the brains to
\nutilize it. My dream is that we can survive globalization through
\navailing of our own natural resources,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Emil cited the example of how marginalized tribes such as the
\nBaduy in West Java and the Kubu people in Jambi (in Sumatra) must
\nstruggle to survive and defend their forests.<\/p>\n
\"We even have sharks in the open sea in Sikka regency, East
\nNusa Tenggara, that have oil in their livers that can be used as
\nan anti-aging or rejuvenation agent. People were unaware of this
\nand never used it as an economic resource,\" Emil said.<\/p>\n
As part of its environmental campaign and the effort to
\nheighten public awareness, Kehati will present its second \"Kehati
\nAwards\" which will be given in five categories, namely
\nindividuals, officials, companies, researchers (groups or
\nindividuals) and journalists for their outstanding contributions
\nto saving the environment.<\/p>\n
The public is welcome to submit the names of prospective
\ncandidates for these most prestigious biodiversity awards at the
\nPatra Jasa Building on Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 32-34, Tel. (021)
\n522-8031\/32.<\/p>\n
The deadline is Dec. 1, 2000 and the award will be presented
\nin January next year. A special jury and assessment team will
\nselect the candidates. The selectors include senior journalist
\nAtmakusumah Astraatmadja and management specialist Anugerah
\nPekerti.<\/p>\n
This year's winner was Tumenggung Tarib, chief of the Kubu
\npeople in Jambi who, together with his tribe, has been fighting
\nagainst forest exploitation in Jambi. He received a Rp 40 million
\n(US$4,705) grant, which will be used by the tribe to purchase
\nrubber tree plants to help build a \"bastion\" for his people
\nagainst timber looters. (edt)<\/p>",
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