Nature's gift

"Unforgivable!" Such was the remark of Heart of Borneo national coordinator Bambang Supriyanto on the destruction of pristine forest on the world's third largest island.

No expression could be more apt to describe the annihilation of some of the most unique creatures on earth as a result of man's reckless ways.

As if we needed further reminding of the wondrous bounty God has left in our care, a conference in Leiden, the Netherlands, last week announced the discovery of hundreds of new species in Kalimantan (Borneo).

During the conference a new report titled Borneo's Lost World: Newly Discovered Species was released, highlighting the findings of an international project under the aegis of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) at a 22 million-hectare highland plateau known as the Heart of Borneo.

According to the report, among the discoveries were 260 new insect species, 50 new plants, 30 kinds of freshwater fish, seven types of frog, six types of lizard, two newly discovered snakes and one previously unknown species of toad. Various other scientific information was also gathered during the project, such as genetic information concerning the orangutan.

About three-quarters of the island of Borneo is Indonesian territory, and we can only express our gratitude for the efforts of the WWF, the international scientific community and sponsors of the project to detail how blessed we are with nature's wonders. It is a task that Indonesia by itself could not accomplish.

Due to a lack of funding, limited know-how and the plain absence of the political will to accomplish such endeavors, many of our natural marvels remain undiscovered.

Be that as it may, there is a more lasting and no less important obligation that we must perform as a follow-up to the WWF project. Our task now is to protect and preserve nature against our own destructive egos and greed.

One cannot say enough about the worrying rate of deforestation in this country. Satellite photos show that between 1985 and 2001 over 55 percent of lowland forest in Kalimantan was destroyed. This destruction continues at an accelerated pace with illegal logging and the conversion of forests into plantations.

For now, most of the highland forest in the Heart of Borneo remains untouched. But there is no guarantee it will remain safe from human disturbance unless we persistently recommit ourselves to protecting our natural heritage.

We take so much from the earth, while all that it really asks of us is to ensure its preservation. As generations of agrarian families have come to understand, the more one cares for the land the more nature will yield its bounty for our benefit.

Throughout Indonesia we find natural products that are said to contain wondrous medicinal benefits. If only we could properly catalog, research and cultivate these products, one could only imagine the alternatives available to high-priced medicines.

One such craze at the moment is the popular Red Fruit (pandanus conoideus) found in Papua. The fruit itself is found throughout the island, but the fruit grown in the Wamena highlands is said to be the best for curing various maladies.

While the WWF project in Borneo found hundreds of new species, let us think for a moment about the dozens of species (and perhaps more) that have perished over the decades as a result of our negligence.

Environmental awareness should no longer be an extracurricular subject for our young; it must become a core subject as important as the arts and science.

Negligence toward the environment also has immediate political and economic consequences. An increasing number of our natural products that have medicinal qualities are being patented by foreigners. Traditional home cures using herbal concoctions are being analyzed and synthesized.

While we support the use of these natural remedies to cure and soothe ailments worldwide, we should also be wary lest we one day arrive at the point where we could be economically liable if we, without permission, used natural products that originated in Indonesia.

It is time to remind ourselves once again of our obligation to nature and to our grandchildren, who will inherit a bounteous earth or suffer from our present deeds.