Preserving natural biodiversity means promoting resources

JAKARTA (JP): The current campaign to preserve Indonesia's rich and diverse biodiversity in resources should not be taken to mean stopping their exploitation for the benefit of its people.

Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin Soeryohadikoesoemo said Saturday that proper policies would make it possible to preserve and exploit resources at the same time.

"Preservation in this respect does not mean that we have to stop using the natural resources," he told a seminar on biodiversity. "Instead, we should intensify efforts to cultivate the plants and breed the wild animals bearing high economic value."

Through this approach, all plants and wild animals to be used for commercial purposes in the future should be the products of breeding and cultivation programs, he said. "This way, the biodiversity in the wild can be preserved."

Djamaloedin was keynote speaker at the one-day seminar on "Biodiversity for People's Welfare" organized by the Directorate General of Forest and Nature Preservation, an agency of the Ministry of Forestry.

Other speakers included researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Indonesia branch of the ASEAN Wetland Bureau (AWB) and the Indonesia Program of BirdLife International.

Indonesia is home to one of the world's largest concentration of tropical forests. Its location between the Asian and Australian continents also makes it unique in terms of biodiversity.

There are no less than 25,000 species of plants and one million kinds of animals found across the archipelago. Thirty percent of the plants and 90 percent of the animals have yet to be well identified and recorded.

Indonesia tops other countries in the world in term of mammals diversity, third in terms of reptiles, fourth in birds, and fifth in amphibious animals. For plant-life diversity, it ranks seventh.

Djamaloedin said that up to one percent of any forest area could be designated as a "supporting zone" in which the local people could be allowed to tap and exploit the flora and fauna there to ensure they can make a living.

"We realize that one of the problems we face in organizing biodiversity is how to match the three strategies in conservation: protection and preservation in addition to the efforts to make use of the forests for the benefit of the surrounding people."

Djamaloedin said that 30 percent of the 25.9 million Indonesian people living below the poverty line live in areas surrounding forests and depended on their resources.

It is logical for the authorities to grant the people the right to make use of the forest resources to make ends meet, he added.

These people should be encouraged to participate in conserving the forests to retain the natural biodiversity, while exploiting them.

Djamaloedin told reporters afterwards that the term "production forests" should not always be equated with logging.

Forests that could potentially attract tourism could also be termed productive because they generate income.

The local people could have more income by becoming guides for tourists who intended to witness the forests' unique diversity, he said. (10/par)