Fifteen green years at Seloliman<\/p>\n
In May, conservationists worldwide celebrate the 15th anniversary
\nof Indonesia's first non-commercial, non-governmental,
\nenvironment center. Jakarta Post contributor based in Surabaya
\nDuncan Graham reports:<\/p>\n
When Kermit the TV cartoon frog sang It's not easy being green
\nenvironmentalists seized on the phrase with gusto.<\/p>\n
They knew all about battling bureaucracies and developers when
\nit came to the contest between profit and preservation. But few
\nhad to cope with an even greater obstacle: public apathy and
\nridicule.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, indifference to conservation ranges from large
\ncompanies felling rainforests to individuals dropping litter in
\nthe street because they cannot be bothered to find a rubbish bin.<\/p>\n
So when East Java student veterinary surgeon Suryo
\nPrawiroatmodjo started arguing that nature needed protection he
\nmet with some blank looks and crass comments.<\/p>\n
Even his colleagues at Surabaya's Airlangga University
\ncouldn't understand the young agitator's obsession, born through
\nchildhood visits to East Java's forests. "Are you going to
\norganize picnics?" they jeered.<\/p>\n
At the time, international non-governmental organization (NGO)
\nGreenpeace was vigorously challenging governments to stop whaling
\nand dumping nuclear waste. In the eyes of the conservatives then
\nexercising absolute power in Jakarta a young Indonesian
\nintellectual talking conservation was clearly in the same suspect
\ncategory.<\/p>\n
How it all began<\/p>\n
But Dr Suryo silver-tongued his way past intelligence
\ninterrogations and military scrutiny, and then into ministerial
\noffices and governor's mansions. Again and again he explained
\nthat the environment mattered and conservation should be a matter
\nof national concern.<\/p>\n
"They came back with the standard lines that every Indonesian
\nactivist knows well," he said. "Like: 'We haven't got the time or
\nmoney to worry about such things. We're all too busy trying to
\nsurvive from day-to-day'.<\/p>\n
"I replied that if they didn't start conserving the nation's
\nnatural resources these would soon vanish, and with them any
\nchance of future income.
\n "Then we'd all be really hungry. Slowly the message got
\nthrough."<\/p>\n
Suryo won over some powerful friends who gave his campaign
\ncredibility. In 1982 he quit castrating cats and started working
\nfull-time for the Jakarta-based foundation Yayasan Indonesia
\nHijau (YIH), or Green Indonesia. From there he won a research
\nscholarship to the U.S. to study conservation. Along the way he
\nencountered overseas donors impressed with YIH's dedication.<\/p>\n
The potential benefactors also had thick wads of skepticism
\namong their dollars. One philanthropic group included a former
\nDutch ambassador to Indonesia on its governing council. He told
\nhis board that Indonesians were unworthy of support: "If we give
\nthem funds, they'll be whittled away," he said.<\/p>\n
"That always happens. Conservationists will become corruptors
\nand parasites."<\/p>\n
Determination, despite skepticism<\/p>\n
Replied Suryo: "There's nothing certain in life; you can't
\nguarantee that Indonesia is 100 per cent corrupt. Not all follow
\nthat philosophy; some of us are genuinely concerned about the
\nfuture and we need your help to achieve our dream. The issue is
\nuniversal." He won, and the money started coming in.<\/p>\n
With cash from the Worldwide Fund for Nature almost 4 hectares
\nof poor-quality land was bought near the village of Seloliman.<\/p>\n
This is an hour's drive from Surabaya on the slopes of the
\nsacred volcano, Gunung Penanggungan, the center of the ancient
\nMajapahit kingdom.<\/p>\n
Cottages and a meeting hall were built. The area was
\nlandscaped and the Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup (PPLH, or
\nthe Environmental Education Center) was formed.<\/p>\n
Suryo says more than $US 1 million has flowed into the center
\nfrom Holland, the U.S., the UK, Germany, Australia and New
\nZealand. Although legally he remains the founding director he is
\nno longer involved in the day-to-day activities (for reasons
\nrevealed in the sidebar story).<\/p>\n
Apart from collecting influential support in Indonesia and
\nabroad (including German architect and academic Dr Ulli Fuhrke
\nwho became a partner in the enterprise) Suryo has some rare
\ngifts. He has benign tenacity and can tolerate fools and frauds
\nin authority without openly displaying contempt and losing their
\nbacking.<\/p>\n
On May 15, 1990, Indonesia's first non-commercial, non-
\ngovernmental environmental center was opened. Since then,
\nthousands of local and overseas people have been through its
\norganic gardens, marveled at the improved fertility and lived in
\nits cheerful little cottages. The slogan is "Reduce,
\nReuse, Recycle".<\/p>\n
PPLH has also spread to West Irian, South Sulawesi, West Java
\nand Bali.<\/p>\n
Although foreign funds are still used to support specific
\nprojects, the aim is to be self-supporting. PPLH Seloliman
\n(Javanese for "sleeping elephant", the shape of a nearby rock)
\ntakes paying guests, mostly from Australia.<\/p>\n
The center is seldom promoted by travel agents or government
\ntourist officers, who cannot understand why Westerners would wish
\nto stay in the countryside. Most visitors find their way there
\nthrough the Internet or word-of-mouth recommendation from
\nbackpackers who shy from packaged hedonism in the quest for a
\ndifferent experience.<\/p>\n
On the Net:
\nwww.pplh.org<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fifteen-green-years-at-seloliman-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}