LIPI embarks on biodiversity project
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has embarked on an ambitious project to exploit, develop and conserve Indonesia's huge biodiversity resources.
Dedy Darnaedi, a scientist in LIPI's Research and Development Center for Biology, told reporters on Tuesday that the biodiversity collections project will be financed with a $7.2 million grant from the World Bank.
The project will emphasize preparations of the necessary human resources to handle Indonesia's biodiversity programs. Dedy continued, "We need qualified people in biodiversity management, for research and to help build a database."
As part of the project, LIPI plans to build the Life Science Center on a 180-hectare site in Cibinong just outside Jakarta for biology, biotechnology, applied chemistry, applied physics and oceanology.
Arie Budiman, a scientist at the same research center, said that every species has a unique role and function in the ecosystem and therefore must be conserved before being exploited for commercial use.
The study of biodiversity is not only studying the species' diversity but also their genetic properties and the characteristics of their community and ecosystem, he said.
Indonesia, the country with the second largest number of species in the world after Brazil, has yet to take inventory of all of its biodiversity species.
About 90 percent of all animal species and 30 percent of all plant species in Indonesia have not been documented or given their scientific Latin names.
It has been estimated that there are between 515 and 800 mammal species in Indonesia, between 7,000 and 8,500 bird species and 2,000 to 6,000 mollusks. Indonesia has 25 percent of all fish species found in the world, 17 percent of all birds, 16 percent of all reptiles and amphibious animals, 12 percent of the world's mammals and 10 percent of all plants.
"Basic knowledge of the diversity of the species in Indonesia can be said to be minimal and spread out among various agencies," states the research center.
"Pressures from economic development, which often ignore ecological balance, is one of the prime causes for the pressures on the existence of biodiversity resources in Indonesia."
The center also underlined that biodiversity resources can contribute significantly to the country's economy. In the United States, for example, biodiversity contributes to 4.5 percent of its gross domestic product.
The 100 species of wood found in Indonesia's forest contributed $4.5 billion to Indonesia's export trade in 1988, making it the second largest contributor after oil and gas. Rattan exports contributed another $200 million, mangrove $194 million, and shrimp $482 million in 1988.
Arie stressed the need for the various agencies in the country involved in biodiversity development and exploitation to communicate with one another.
LIPI, he said, is proposing the establishment of a National Committee on Biodiversity, which would comprise government agencies, universities, non-governmental organizations, private companies and scholars.
The institute also plans to establish a national biodiversity information network.
One biodiversity program already underway at LIPI is the conservation, rehabilitation and management of Indonesia's huge coral reef resources.
Mohammad Kasim Moosa, of LIPI's Oceanology Institute, said that from 324 coral reef barriers found in Indonesia, only 6.48 percent were found to be in very good condition.
Another 43 percent are in bad condition, either because of such "human" activities as pollution, tourism and destructive fishing methods, or the result of natural climatic changes, disasters and diseases. (05)