Govt should heed 'lessons' from landslides, floods<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Landslides and floods, which frequently hit the country, should
\nbe reason enough for the government to pay more attention to
\nenvironmental issues as those disasters are due to environmental
\ndestruction including logging, legal or otherwise, said an
\nenvironmental expert.<\/p>\n
Ridha Saleh of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
\n(Walhi) said that if the government failed to pay serious
\nattention to environmental issues such as illegal logging or
\nillegal farming, the country's forests would be completely
\ndestroyed within a very short time.<\/p>\n
Since forests function to absorb groundwater that in turn
\nprevents floods and landslides, they play an important role in
\nthe ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\"The natural environment in Indonesia has been so damaged due
\nto over-exploitation such as logging. Our government treats
\nnatural resources as an object, not as a resource that can
\nprotect and support human lives,\" Ridha told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He added that the government has considered environmental
\nissues unimportant and has not listed them on its main agenda.<\/p>\n
\"The destruction of forests, through illegal logging or
\nconversion into farmland, has become a human rights violation
\nbecause it leads to natural disasters which ultimately destroy
\nhuman lives,\" Ridha said.<\/p>\n
He mentioned as an example that in Java, 400,000 hectares of
\nland had been converted into housing projects, hence the land had
\nlost its original function to absorb water.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to imagine what's going to happen to Indonesia
\nnext if the government fails to prevent further damage to the
\nnatural environment. Java island might be submerged in a few
\nyears time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Data from Walhi shows that the degradation rate of Indonesian
\nforests has kept climbing from 1.5 million hectares per year in
\nthe 1980s to 2.7 million per year in 1990s to 3.5 million
\nhectares per year currently.<\/p>\n
A similar comment was made by Elfian Effendi from Greenomics,
\na non-governmental organization (NGO) dealing with environmental
\nissues as well as economic issues.<\/p>\n
Elfian said that the government had not realized that the
\nenvironment cost of felling trees outweighed the financial
\nbenefits gained, whether in the case of illegal or legal logging.<\/p>\n
He added that Indonesia's forests have been exploited for more
\nthan 30 years and it might be the time to rest and wait around 10
\nyears before the forests can renew themselves.<\/p>\n
\"The government should call on the businessmen to stop
\nexploiting our forests because there is no equilibrium between
\nthe people and environment anymore,\" Elfian said.<\/p>\n
\"The decision might make those businessmen suffer huge
\nfinancial losses but the government should also think that it's
\nalways the small people who suffer in natural disasters. Surely
\nsacrificing money is better than sacrificing human lives?\" Elfian
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-should-heed-lessons-from-landslides-floods-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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