Lessons on environmental awareness needed
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja urged teachers on Saturday to help improve the environmental awareness of the public by teaching their students to treat animals and plants with respect.
Sarwono said teachers should tell the students about the need for "civilized treatment of flora and fauna".
He told journalists after attending a ceremony in conjunction with National Flora and Fauna Day at Taman Mini park that education was vital to improving environmental awareness among the populace.
The efforts to save the environment would not work without the active participation of the people, the minister emphasized.
Citing an example, he said that people should report to the police any violation of the ban on bird hunting.
Sarwono referred to the Minister of Home Affairs's regulation banning the hunting of any kind of birds throughout the country, which was issued in April.
He said that the government also banned any contests involving captive birds.
In observance of National Flora and Fauna Day, several members of the Association of Indonesian Zoos are organizing various activities involving the public.
"There is an elephant riding contest at the zoo in Bukittinggi (West Sumatra) today," D. Ashari, president of the association, who also attended Saturday's ceremony, said.
The Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, will hold story telling and music contests, as well as quizzes, on Nov.20.
Bio-diversity
On Saturday, Sarwono again raised concerns over development activities which run counter to conserving the rich bio-diversity resources of the country.
"There are still development and human activities which are not in line with the conservation efforts towards sustainable use of bio-diversity resources," Sarwono said.
Activities which are harmful to the environment continue to occur due to the inadequate legal instruments, the minister said.
Research on bio-diversity done by various institutes and universities does not focus on conservation, Sarwono complained. He added that Indonesia also lacks professionals and is well behind other countries in the science and technology of bio- diversity.
President Soeharto, along with 156 other heads of state, signed the United Conventions on Biological Diversity, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. Sarwono said Indonesia ratified the convention through Law No.5/1994.
The ratification of the convention is expected to improve the cooperation among the government and the private sector, as well as the public, in conservation efforts for the betterment of social welfare.(sim)