Police, military told to curb animal smuggling<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Forestry is calling on the police and military to
\ntake firm action against their officers involved in the illegal
\ntrade of protected animals.<\/p>\n
\"So far, our efforts to stop the smuggling of protected
\nspecies have come up against a brick wall, as we have found out
\nthat police and military personnel are behind the rampant
\nsmuggling of protected animals,\" the director for biodiversity,
\nAdi Susmianto, told the Jakarta Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"I think the commanders of the National Police and Indonesian
\nMilitary need to publicly declare that their institutions are
\nfighting against the illegal trade of protected animals.\"<\/p>\n
He said he hoped that the fight against the trade of protected
\nspecies would find its way onto the national agenda, such as the
\ncampaign against illegal logging.<\/p>\n
The animal trade has reached a whopping US$1.5 billion a year,
\nor half of the state's annual losses due to illegal logging, with
\nJakarta topping the list at $547 million per year, according to a
\nsurvey by the Gibbons Foundation.<\/p>\n
The foundation said smuggling was rampant as the practice was
\nbacked by government officials, police and military officers, and
\nlaw enforcement was poor.<\/p>\n
Under Law No. 5\/1990 on conserving biological diversity and
\nits ecosystem, the trade of protected animals is illegal.<\/p>\n
Adi said that the ministry would also plan to brief law
\nenforcers and military personnel about laws related to the
\nenvironment and protected animals to make them realize that these
\nspecies were prohibited from being traded.<\/p>\n
\"For prosecutors, the briefing will show them the right
\narticles for charging the perpetrators, and for judges, it will
\nhelp them understand why criminals have to be severely punished,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The ministry will also ask the Jakarta Police, the Jakarta
\nProsecutor's Office and other provincial institutions to hold
\njoint operations to crack down on animal smuggling this year, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"I am hoping that if joint operations were realized, they
\ncould drastically reduce the involvement of at least police
\nofficers in the illicit practice, particularly in Jakarta,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Adi said that if the operations were only carried out by the
\nministry, police investigators and prosecutors might stop the
\ncampaign just to save their own people.<\/p>\n
Two non-governmental organizations, ProFauna Indonesia and the
\nGibbons Foundation, agreed that law enforcement had to be the top
\npriority in combating the illegal trade of protected animals.<\/p>\n
As an example, ProFauna director Rosek Nursahid said that
\nafter an operation to stop the smuggling of protected turtles was
\nlaunched in Bali and several perpetrators were punished in 2001,
\nthe number of smuggled turtles dropped from 27,000 to 2,000.<\/p>\n
\"There is no other way to combat smuggling but to strictly
\nenforce the law. It has been proven effective in reducing
\nsmuggling,\" he said during a three-day seminar on wildlife that
\nstarted on Thursday.<\/p>\n
ProFauna said it would continue to assist the government to
\ninvestigate and monitor the trade of any protected animals, he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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