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.