JP/18/SELO2

checked -- JSR A cruel irony of nature

After the fall of Soeharto the petty surveillance of green activists vanished.

Suryo Prawiroatmodjo won a prestigious Swiss award for his work, was nominated to join Caretakers of the Environment International and became a world figure in the conservation movement.

Within the decade PPLH Seloliman had about 50 workers and was functioning beyond his most ambitious dreams. Here was sustainable agriculture thriving in the soil, not books.

Then tragedy struck. In 1999 Suryo was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a chronic, incurable and debilitating inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

He has undergone three operations and lost a major part of his bowel. Sometimes he has to use crutches. The cause of the disease is unknown. It may be genetic but, ironically, it can also be caused by chemicals in the environment.

It crippled him physically and spiritually as he had to withdraw from PPLH Seloliman.

"At the time I was very angry with God," said Suryo, a follower of Kebatinan, the traditional religion of Java. "I was caring for nature -- but why had nature made me ill? I tend to be superstitious and always believed I was being guided in my work for the environment.

"Crohn's disease altered everything, but I reflected on the change in my life. I began meditation. Control of PPLH passed on to a new generation of young conservationists. That might not have happened had I stayed well.

"Now I'm almost 50. I write and run workshops when the disease is in remission. I grow trees, but the environment is more than planting trees.

"I want people to understand the importance and interconnectedness of wildlife, nature, clean air and water, and unpolluted soil. We must understand and care for the land."

Savagely underscoring his message was the death of almost 50 villagers near Seloliman in landslides following flash floods last year. Trees on the upper slopes of the mountain had been felled; there was nothing to break the rush of mud that exhumed boulders and ripped out roots to crash on houses in the valleys below.

In a weird twist, the deforestation only came about after the end of the New Order government. "Before that time, people were afraid to cut trees down," said Suryo. "They never knew when the military might come and start shooting if they entered the forest.

"With democracy they reasoned that it the government could give large companies licences to plunder the timber, then it was now the turn of 'little people' to get their share of the wealth."

Suryo's fears appear to be well-based; about 40 per cent of the exports through Surabaya's container terminal are timber products, yet there are few forest replanting programs under way.

Spin-offs from Suryo's unending campaign include a postgraduate program in environmental education at Surabaya State University, which is said to be the first of its kind in Indonesia.

Widespread land rehabilitation programs and the establishment of the national Environmental Educators' Network are also among his credits.

When he's fit enough he shows government officials, teachers and developers how to preserve the environment, recycle rubbish and make compost fertiliser. Unlike many educated Indonesians, he is not afraid to get his hands dirty.

Yet, despite the real successes Suryo has been damaged, and not just by the physical pain. "It is difficult to persuade people that they can have a better quality of life through changing their traditional way of doing things," he said.

"New problems are now arising for Indonesia. Water quality has to be addressed. Apart from pollution we have rising salt levels in groundwater.

"Then there's the human factor, which takes its toll. It has not always been easy for some people to overcome their jealousy. I still believe, though, in education as the source for a better future." -- Duncan Graham