Scientists receive UNESCO awards<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Five young Indonesian scientists were awarded with the Man and
\nBiosphere (MAB) Certificate from the United Nations Educational,
\nScientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday for
\ntheir work and contribution to the environment.<\/p>\n
They were also granted an incentive fund of US$1,000 and an
\nopportunity to publish their work through UNESCO.<\/p>\n
The five recipients were Muhammad Syukri Nur from West Java,
\nIin Purwati Handayani from Bengkulu, Nur Arafah from South East
\nSulawesi, and Mahendra Taher and Zainuddin from Jambi.<\/p>\n
They were chosen from nine finalists, who had been selected
\nfrom a total of 43 initial participants.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Syukri was awarded with the UNESCO award for his
\nsuccess in developing instruments and technics to monitor the
\ncondition of air and water in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu
\nNational Park in Central Sulawesi, setting a working example for
\nother parks in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Iin Purwati, a Yogyakarta-born researcher from the
\nUniversity of Bengkulu, conducted research on various plants used
\nby traditional farmers nearby the Kerinci Seblat National Park,
\nBengkulu, to restore their degraded farms.<\/p>\n
Her research showed that plants locally called wedelia,
\nkirinyu, and sendudu can be used to restore degraded land such as
\nopen-pit mines.<\/p>\n
Nur Arafah from the University of Halu Oleo, South East
\nSulawesi, also assessed traditional, environmentally friendly
\nknowledge from the local tribe of Moronene in his work.
\nInterestingly, many of these traditions were found to be in
\naccordance with modern rationale, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Take the sacrosanctity of forests, for example, with curses
\nbeing set upon those who violate this. In modern terms, forest
\ndestruction does mean `an unleashing of curses', in the form of
\ndroughts or floods,\" Nur said.<\/p>\n
Mahendra Taher and Zainuddin are both environmental activists
\nfrom the Indonesian Conservation Community called Warsi. They are
\nconcerned about the preservation of national parks in Jambi.<\/p>\n
Taher's years of lobbying, persuading, and reasoning with
\ncommunities living on the Batanghari riverbanks finally resulted
\nin a mutual agreement in March.<\/p>\n
With this agreement, and the true understanding of how
\nconserving national parks will benefit them, the communities now
\nvow to cooperate in developing the river's resources in an
\nenvironmentally friendly manner.<\/p>\n
Zainuddin, in the meantime, has managed to halt the illegal
\npractice of farming land that intrudes into the Bukit Dua Belas
\nNational Park in Jambi, by offering managed land cultivation
\ntechniques to villagers living adjacent to the park.<\/p>\n
The MAB Certificate is a yearly program held by the Indonesian
\nNational MAB Committee, in cooperation with the Indonesian
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI) and UNESCO's Jakarta Representative
\nOffice, to encourage young scientists to conduct work and
\nresearch in the field of sustainable environment management.<\/p>\n
The winners will be registered with UNESCO's international-
\nlevel Young Scientists Award Scheme.<\/p>\n
The MAB itself, as implied by its name, has been developed by
\nUNESCO since 1971, to promote a harmonious relationship between
\nman and his biosphere -- or living environment -- in the form of
\na sustainable, environmentally friendly development policy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/scientists-receive-unesco-awards-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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