More commitment needed to save orangutan

More commitment needed to save orangutan

Herman Rijksen, Jakarta

The Orangutan Action Plan Workshop, which was held in
Brastagi, Tanah Karo in North Sumatra from Sept. 20 to Sept. 23
was a political move by an international non-government
organization (NGO) to further confuse conservation efforts in
relation to the orangutan.

Those who conducted the workshop seemed not to listen to
information on the existing situation. For instance, much of the
information on the Leuser Ecosystem (LE), and problems in
conserving it, were not considered in the final conclusion of the
workshop.

The Leuser Ecosystem covers over 70 percent of the
distribution range of the Sumatran Orangutan, and its management
is implemented, under a presidential decree, by the Leuser
International Foundation (LIF). The LIF is an officially
accredited foundation of Indonesians who have international
access to expertise in conservation.

The most important issue of the past ten years has been
insufficient leadership of the government agency Forest
Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA). By "leadership" I mean
support, guidance, and supervision of the management body
responsible for clear conservation duties. In the Leuser
Ecosystem this refers specifically to the LIF.

For more than a decade the LIF has undertaken integrated
management for conservation of the Leuser Ecosystem area and has
solved many problems concerning its conservation through its
excellent cooperation with the local government. Unfortunately
its work has been frequently hampered by lack of cooperation from
some powerful international NGOs and corrupt local politicians.

The workshop, which pledged support for conservation of the
orangutan, gave insufficient attention to this local initiative.

If there is widespread support from the likes of the
government and international NGOs then the chances of survival of
the orangutan in Sumatra are far higher than the chances of
survival of the orangutan in Kalimantan, where conservation is
under the leadership of international NGOs.

The best way for international NGOs like Conservation
International (CI), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) etc., is
to support local NGOs and influence the authorities to issue good
regulations and to provide proper supervision regarding the
conservation work undertaken by these local organizations. So the
role of the government is to support, to guide, to supervise and
to control the NGOs. The role of the international NGOs is to
promote good governance by the authorities with respect to
conservation and to provide resources where necessary.

It was a pleasure to see the minister of forestry --
representing the government of Indonesia in the recent
International Forum (GRASP) in Kinshasa -- pledge to support the
survival of the Sumatran Orangutan. It is in his power to stop
further habitat destruction on state forest land by timber
concessions and encroachment by local people as well as to stop
further planning and development of roads that endanger the
habitat of the orangutan. The world expects that the minister
will be supported in this task by the entire government structure
of Indonesia and in particular by the President.

My final remark is that the orangutan is one of the oldest and
most important stakeholders in the forests of Indonesia, and can
only be saved from extinction if there is the full commitment of
the Indonesian people even without foreign interference or
financial support.

The writer is a member of the Species Survival Commission,
Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN.