Fifth Indonesian enters Global 500 Roll of Honor

JAKARTA (JP): Bahuddin Hi Pabbite has spent more than 50 years nurturing maleo, a beautiful Indonesian-bird species which is in danger of extinction. He received international recognition on Monday for his efforts.

The 84-year-old resident of Sausu village, Palu, Central Sulawesi, is the fifth Indonesian to receive the prestigious Global 500 Roll of Honor award from the United Nations Development Program. Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja presented the award in Palu on Monday.

Sarwono said Bahuddin should have received the award at the UN Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II, in Istanbul, Turkey, in June, but the villager was too ill to attend.

Sarwono called on other people to emulate Bahuddin by helping save endangered animals, especially those unique to Sulawesi, Antara said.

Sarwono stressed that people should help save the deer-hog and the dwarf buffalo, known locally as anoa.

The Global 500 awards are presented every year to organizations and individuals considered to have played an important role in protecting the environment.

The award program was set up by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1987, and was conceived to honor 500 individuals or organizations.

The first 500 awards were granted in 1992 at the 20th Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. The first Earth Summit was held in Stockholm in 1962.

Bahuddin has received other awards for his work, including the 1994 Kalpataru (Tree of Life) environmental award.

Gatot Sumaryoto, an ecologist researcher, was the first Indonesian to get a Global 500 award. Environmentalist and folk singer Ully Sigar Rusady, environmentalist Suryo Prawiroatmodjo and consumer rights campaigner Erna Witoelar have also received Global 500 awards.

The awards are given to "people who can make a difference". Since the awards' inception, UNEP has been building up a network of environmental activists and leaders.

According to Antara, Bahuddin collected the bird's eggs and tended their hatching, increasing the population of the endangered Maleo.

During hatching season, from January to August, Bahuddin walked around the 2,000-square-meter shore of Tomini Bay, gathering up to 20 eggs a day before taking them to his hut.

He had to compete with poachers who wanted to breed the province's mascot game bird for its meat and liver. (14)