Autonomy raises hope and fear on environment's fate

Autonomy raises hope and fear on environment's fate

Fitri Wulandari
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Environmental destruction in 2001 may not have exceeded
previous years but was unfortunately just as rapid with nature
continuing to vanish in a blink of an eye.

Overland, underwater and even our air were victims of man's
obtuse greed.

Citing a World Bank report, Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa
said that at its present rate, Sumatra's forest could vanished by
2005 while Kalimantan would be bare by 2010.

The Ministry of Environment estimates that deforestation
sustained at an annual level of nearly 2.4 million hectares. The
destruction was mainly caused by illegal-logging, forest fires
and mining activities.

Marine life also remained at peril.

Data from the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) shows that
only 6 percent of the 75,000 square kilometers of coral reef in
the country's oceans are in good condition.

The cause of the destructions were the same from previous
years.

Development proceeded without considering the effects on the
environment. Collusive practices between the government and
private sectors to plunder natural resources continued.

These were worsened with the prolonged economy crisis that
prompted people to squander environment for a living.

Worst still, weak law enforcement made irresponsible parties
thrive with impunity.

While old dangers lingered, new challenges, if not a threats,
to the environment in the shape of the introduction of regional
autonomy this year began to pop its ugly head.

State minister for the environment Nabiel Makarim probably
described it best when he said that the advent of regional
autonomy, which will see the environment's fate rely on local
administrations, raises both hope and fear.

"Regional autonomy gives hope to better environment
management. But regional autonomy also means that natural
resources are a source of regional income," Nabiel said.

While it may still be too early to prophetize doom, the early
signs are bleak as regions are already hastily issuing
controversial rulings on exploiting natural resources in a race
to boost their coffers.

The right of regions to exploit their natural resources is
clearly defined in Article 10 of Regional Autonomy Law No.
22/1999.

The article however also states that regions must preserve the
environment according to laws.

This open ended stipulation gives rise to several
interpretations as to the extent of permissible exploitation, and
to what degree the central government has to intervene for the
sake of the environment.

It is thus not surprising that the government recently stepped
in to stop the potential chaos be deciding to amend the law and
introduce stricter guidelines on the issue.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri recently declared that all
forest concession holders must obtain government approved
sustainable forest management certification by 2003 or lose their
licenses.

In a bid to stem the illegal logging and export of log,
Minister of Forestry and Minister of Industry and Trade issued a
joint decree, banning export of log starting from October.

People Consultative Assembly Decree No. 9/2001 on agrarian
reform and natural resources management, may gives way for a
better and sustainable natural resources management.

The decree will integrate the overlapping control and
management of natural resources, which often lead to
environmental destruction along with giving wider public
participation and recognizing the customary rights over natural
resources.

The long talked about debt-for-nature scheme, which would see
Indonesia receive debt relief in return for nature conservation,
saw progress this year with Germany being the first country to
signal its intent to participate in the program.

While negotiations will continue through next year, the
principle talks conducted this year have at least laid the foundation with potential creditors.

Once it materializes, the scheme could help ease pressure on
the country's huge foreign debt and at the same time benefit the
environment.

The introduction of unleaded gasoline in Jakarta this year and
nationwide by 2003 was a significant step to potentially reduce
air pollution.

However, it still needs to be followed up with other
strategies such as the use of clean energy or environmentally
friendly vehicles.

The legal battle to save the environment saw various twists
and turns which ended in a rather hollow victories for the
environment.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) received a
favorable court decision in its legal battle against U.S. based
mining company Freeport this year over pollution of Wanagon Lake
incident.

However there was little in the court decision to force the
company to remedy the overall health degradation caused by the
pollution.

The Ministry of Environment also won a legal battle against a
Malaysian based company PT Adei Plantation.

These might be just small victories, but they give hope that
in the future, crimes against nature may not escape from the law.

In seemingly a modest drive to address the weak law
enforcement, the Environmental Impact Controlling Agency (Bapedal) announced a plan this year to hire professional private
lawyers to help the prosecution of environmental cases. As a
followup the Ministry of Environment will also set up an in-house
team of lawyers

As 2001 ends, we still have to wait and see if progress will
continue next year particularly as regions begin taking a greater
role in the fate of the environment.