Protecting our natural wealth

Protecting our natural wealth

Indonesia is blessed with an exceedingly rich flora and fauna.
Its tropical forest cover, all 144 million hectares of it,
harbors about 25,000 species of plant -- 10 percent of all
species in the world. Indonesia also has 515 known mammal
species, or 12 percent of the world's total, inhabiting its
territory. Of the world's surviving species of reptile and
amphibian, 10 percent, or about 3,000 species are found in
Indonesia. This country's waters harbor over 8,500 species of
fish, or 25 percent of the global total. In addition, Indonesia
boasts 1,600 bird species, which is 17 percent of all species in
the world.

Amid this natural wealth live 202 millions Indonesians, with
different kinds of interests, aspirations and classes of greed.
The illegal hunting and trading in protected animal species is
but one expression of such greed in man's exploitation of the
natural world.

When the economic crisis was in its early stages last year,
Walhi (the Indonesian Environmental Forum) warned Indonesians to
beware of overexploiting these natural resources in their efforts
to escape the crisis. In their misfortune, they said, people
might be tempted to fell trees, mine for minerals or hunt
protected animal species on an excessive basis without giving
much thought to the consequences.

The reported hunting of protected species in the Way Kambas
National Park, however, cannot be described as merely an attempt
by some people to overcome the economic crisis. Rather, it is a
reflection of excessive greed.

It is to be hoped that the illegal trade in Sumatran tigers
and other protected species can be brought to a proper end
through court actions and that the smuggling network can be
uncovered and shattered. Only strict legal action will suffice to
ensure better protection of our natural environment.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta