Good communities always takes care of the environment

Agus Pakpahan, Executive Chairman, The Union of Associations of Indonesian Estate Crops Farmers (GAPPERINDO), Jakarta

Man cannot farm without land; without farming man cannot eat; and without food man cannot survive. A logical sequence as such is life. One may ask, however, why this common knowledge isn't implemented through conservation. What is logical about the failure to protect suitable land for farming?

This only reflects upon our ignorance or lack of reasoning.

Data show that we have been converting our fertile rice fields (sawah) -- mostly in Java, and by an annual rate of around 40,000 hectares -- into housing and industrial estates, and for other uses.

With the loss of rice fields, irrigation networks and other farming infrastructure also disappear. We lose the capital that was invested by our predecessors.

We then try to farm rice in other places. One example is the one-million-hectare rice project on peat land in Central Kalimantan, which failed.

One of the most important reasons why such a grave mistake was made is that we do not appreciate what nature has given to us -- a conducive climate and good soil. Nor do we take care of what was provided by our ancestors -- culture, traditions and values.

The annual loss of 40,000 hectares of rice fields means that we have forfeited approximately 340,000 tons of rice since at least over the past two decades (25 percent of rice imports in 2000), which could have been made available to consumers.

We also stand by while upland areas are subject to soil erosion. Soil erosion has reached a critical rate and safety standards are of the bare minimum. Such erosion is not merely the geological process of soil renewal. We don't need a sophisticated survey to determine how much erosion has occurred. We need only observe the rivers to imagine the rate at which our natural environment is being destroyed.

There is almost no clean water in most of the country's rivers. The water is brown, in some rivers a very dark shade of brown indeed. Millions of metric tons of soil has been transported from the uplands to the sea via the rivers. This kills freshwater fish and marine life, increases the cost of drinking water, destroys infrastructure such as dams and irrigation networks, and caused other environmental damage.

We are destroying lives, perhaps even our own.

During the dry season, we have no water. Rivers are no longer ever-flowing. We cry out for clean water; diseases spread.

Erosion is responsible for many hardships. At the end of the dry season, the rain falls. Rain creates floods, which destroy property and often cause material and human losses.

The cycle of life is constant. Erosion and environmental destruction that is caused by man must be stopped.

This is just one problem among many that our community faces. It is also a good example of the trap that we have made for ourselves. This trap is formed from our acute lack of capacity and willingness to harmonize self-interest with social good. It originates in our preoccupation with today, and our lack of foresight to perceive the potential problems of the next generation. It stems from our preoccupation with internal interests and our blindness to external ones.

We cannot control our own greed. We do not take care of the legacy from our ancestors. Once, men protected forests and wildlife, planted trees and took care of one another.

It is said that we live in the era of globalization. We are taught that we must produce world-class goods and services to be competitive.

Does world class imply that we must manufacture vehicles?

More important is that we produce good quality and competitively priced products that there is an international and domestic demand for.

However, companies or households can produce good-quality goods or services with competitive prices only if they live and work in a "good" community, which cares about the environment and its natural resources.

The economy and the community should coexist like fish and water. Clean water means healthy fish.

Caring for the environment, and taking an interest in social welfare, is vital for a "good" community. Farming is symbolic of the way in which we can care for each other and the environment -- seeds are sown, crops are tended, new life is possible.

We must consider future generations, we must look forward with both compassion and logic.