Indonesia urged to act on green crisis<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post,Jakarta<\/p>\n
Amid the daily headaches of how to pay the bills and what to eat,
\nenvironmental issues may seem unimportant or merely something to
\nworry about -- in the future.<\/p>\n
However, this environmental future has increasingly encroached
\nupon the present, and a senior official said on Wednesday that it
\nhad arrived.<\/p>\n
\"We have a very fragile state of environment now, with so many
\nproblems ... Don't talk about its negative impacts on future
\ngenerations, because we're already facing them now,\" Deputy for
\nEnvironmental Conservation Sudariyono at the office of the State
\nMinister of the Environment told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Ismid Hadad of the Kehati Foundation, an environmental
\norganization founded by former environment minister Emil Salim,
\nshared Sudariyono's concern and said that unless Indonesia made
\namends for its poor handling of the environment, the country
\nmight cease to exist.<\/p>\n
\"This archipelago may sink one day; we're looting our forests,
\noverexploiting our coral reefs. All this will lead to the global
\nwarming, which will raise the sea level and we can say goodbye to
\nour country,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Annually compiled data at the conservation office shows that
\nvarious pollutants affect at least 5.2 million people in the
\ncountry, most of them children, who suffer from respiratory
\ndiseases, dysentery, cholera and dengue fever as a result,
\nsometimes fatally.<\/p>\n
This is comparatively insignificant in light of the many
\ndeaths and great financial loss caused by natural disasters such
\nas floods, landslides, drought and famine, as well as global
\nwarming.<\/p>\n
Many simply blame these tragedies on the deteriorating
\ncondition of the environment, without taking into account the
\n\"who\" factor -- as in who was responsible, Sudariyono said.<\/p>\n
According to the state environment office's estimate, illegal
\nlogging, clear-cutting, open-pit mining, forest fires and
\nrotating cultivation have damaged at least 57 million hectares of
\nthe country's 120.35 million hectares of forest. The annual
\ndeforestation rate has reached 3.8 million hectares over the past
\nfew years.<\/p>\n
In addition, the construction of shrimp farms and fish
\nhatcheries, as well as residential and commercial buildings, has
\nresulted in the loss of 31 percent of Indonesia's 4.25 million
\nhectares of mangrove forests.<\/p>\n
Largely triggered by this unchecked environmental degradation,
\nthe natural disasters in 2002 almost paralyzed the country. At
\nleast 112,000 hectares of agricultural fields dried up and
\nfarmers experienced crop failures spanning 10,181 hectares, which
\ninflicted whopping losses of Rp 407.52 billion (US$47.94
\nmillion).<\/p>\n
That year also witnessed most parts of the country submerged
\nby massive flooding, with water surging at a depth of five meters
\nin some areas. The floods were followed by landslides that
\nclaimed dozens of lives and destroyed hundreds of homes.<\/p>\n
Not only does massive deforestation reduce the absorption
\ncapability of soil, it also reduces the supply of fresh
\ngroundwater and its fitness for consumption.<\/p>\n
The negative impact of a low water supply is compounded by the
\nfact that, in most homes, septic tanks are located too close to
\ngroundwater sources.<\/p>\n
\"The water is heavily contaminated with bacteria; talk about
\nhealth issues. Besides this, buildings are everywhere, leaving
\nlittle space for water catchment areas in many major cities,\"
\nsaid Sudariyono.<\/p>\n
Of equal concern is man's impact on the country's marine and
\naerial environment. The depletion of coral reefs across the
\ncountry damages the marine ecosystem and may interrupt the food
\nchain, as this means lesser habitats for marine animals.<\/p>\n
In this vast archipelagic country surrounded on all sides by
\nthe sea, fish and other maritime products are chief food sources
\nfor its citizens.<\/p>\n
Sudariyono reminded that 60 percent of Indonesia's coral reefs
\nare in dire condition. Coral reefs are being destroyed daily by
\nillegal fish bombing and quarrying for construction materials.<\/p>\n
\"What's important is to change the mind-set of the public,
\nespecially the top leaders. As long as the government doesn't
\nchange its stance on environmental issues, these horrible things
\nwill continue,\" Sudariyono stressed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-urged-to-act-on-green-crisis-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}