JP/18/SELO1
JP/18/SELO1
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Fifteen green years at Seloliman
In May, conservationists worldwide celebrate the 15th anniversary
of Indonesia's first non-commercial, non-governmental,
environment center. Jakarta Post contributor based in Surabaya
Duncan Graham reports:
When Kermit the TV cartoon frog sang It's not easy being green
environmentalists seized on the phrase with gusto.
They knew all about battling bureaucracies and developers when
it came to the contest between profit and preservation. But few
had to cope with an even greater obstacle: public apathy and
ridicule.
In Indonesia, indifference to conservation ranges from large
companies felling rainforests to individuals dropping litter in
the street because they cannot be bothered to find a rubbish bin.
So when East Java student veterinary surgeon Suryo
Prawiroatmodjo started arguing that nature needed protection he
met with some blank looks and crass comments.
Even his colleagues at Surabaya's Airlangga University
couldn't understand the young agitator's obsession, born through
childhood visits to East Java's forests. "Are you going to
organize picnics?" they jeered.
At the time, international non-governmental organization (NGO)
Greenpeace was vigorously challenging governments to stop whaling
and dumping nuclear waste. In the eyes of the conservatives then
exercising absolute power in Jakarta a young Indonesian
intellectual talking conservation was clearly in the same suspect
category.
How it all began
But Dr Suryo silver-tongued his way past intelligence
interrogations and military scrutiny, and then into ministerial
offices and governor's mansions. Again and again he explained
that the environment mattered and conservation should be a matter
of national concern.
"They came back with the standard lines that every Indonesian
activist knows well," he said. "Like: 'We haven't got the time or
money to worry about such things. We're all too busy trying to
survive from day-to-day'.
"I replied that if they didn't start conserving the nation's
natural resources these would soon vanish, and with them any
chance of future income.
"Then we'd all be really hungry. Slowly the message got
through."
Suryo won over some powerful friends who gave his campaign
credibility. In 1982 he quit castrating cats and started working
full-time for the Jakarta-based foundation Yayasan Indonesia
Hijau (YIH), or Green Indonesia. From there he won a research
scholarship to the U.S. to study conservation. Along the way he
encountered overseas donors impressed with YIH's dedication.
The potential benefactors also had thick wads of skepticism
among their dollars. One philanthropic group included a former
Dutch ambassador to Indonesia on its governing council. He told
his board that Indonesians were unworthy of support: "If we give
them funds, they'll be whittled away," he said.
"That always happens. Conservationists will become corruptors
and parasites."
Determination, despite skepticism
Replied Suryo: "There's nothing certain in life; you can't
guarantee that Indonesia is 100 per cent corrupt. Not all follow
that philosophy; some of us are genuinely concerned about the
future and we need your help to achieve our dream. The issue is
universal." He won, and the money started coming in.
With cash from the Worldwide Fund for Nature almost 4 hectares
of poor-quality land was bought near the village of Seloliman.
This is an hour's drive from Surabaya on the slopes of the
sacred volcano, Gunung Penanggungan, the center of the ancient
Majapahit kingdom.
Cottages and a meeting hall were built. The area was
landscaped and the Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup (PPLH, or
the Environmental Education Center) was formed.
Suryo says more than $US 1 million has flowed into the center
from Holland, the U.S., the UK, Germany, Australia and New
Zealand. Although legally he remains the founding director he is
no longer involved in the day-to-day activities (for reasons
revealed in the sidebar story).
Apart from collecting influential support in Indonesia and
abroad (including German architect and academic Dr Ulli Fuhrke
who became a partner in the enterprise) Suryo has some rare
gifts. He has benign tenacity and can tolerate fools and frauds
in authority without openly displaying contempt and losing their
backing.
On May 15, 1990, Indonesia's first non-commercial, non-
governmental environmental center was opened. Since then,
thousands of local and overseas people have been through its
organic gardens, marveled at the improved fertility and lived in
its cheerful little cottages. The slogan is "Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle".
PPLH has also spread to West Irian, South Sulawesi, West Java
and Bali.
Although foreign funds are still used to support specific
projects, the aim is to be self-supporting. PPLH Seloliman
(Javanese for "sleeping elephant", the shape of a nearby rock)
takes paying guests, mostly from Australia.
The center is seldom promoted by travel agents or government
tourist officers, who cannot understand why Westerners would wish
to stay in the countryside. Most visitors find their way there
through the Internet or word-of-mouth recommendation from
backpackers who shy from packaged hedonism in the quest for a
different experience.
On the Net:
www.pplh.org
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Photo-Environment
Photo caption
JP/18/CAPS
Photo caption A
JP/Duncan Graham
Suryo Prawiroatmodjo, the founder and driving force behind Pusat
Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup (Environmental Education Center) in
Seloliman, an hour's drive from Surabaya, shows visitors around
the center.
Photo caption B
JP/Duncan Graham
SURYO PRAWIROATMODJO