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.