Ramadan and Ecological Introspection
In the midst of the bustle of our lives, the month of Ramadan provides a pause for people. The busyness of the world often sweeps us away in ceaseless hubbub. Ramadan invites us to stop briefly for contemplation, to reframe our relationships with God, with fellow human beings, and especially with the natural environment in which we live.
Ramadan becomes a space for learning to cultivate patience, self-control, and a space for muhasabah (introspection and evaluation) that is more profound regarding how humans use the power at their disposal, and about how we treat nature as a trust that must be safeguarded together. The Qur’an has given bright cues and warnings in Surah Ar-Rum, verse 41:
“It has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned. Allah lets them taste a portion of the consequences of their deeds so that they may return to the right path.”
The important message of this verse is fundamentally a critique from God to all of us, and should be reflected upon as a form of self-criticism. The ‘hands’ in this verse carry meanings far broader than just the physical human hands. Hands are symbols of power, decisions, and authority. Every decision born of the wrong hands will have real consequences for the environment created as a result of abuse of power.
Forest Governance
Indonesia has witnessed a number of disasters that serve as a hard alarm for this. The natural disasters in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, for example, reflect how human habitats must be managed. What has happened becomes our shared record to restrain ourselves, to repair swiftly, and to commit to creating governance of policies that are more just for our ecological spaces. Ramadan, therefore, is a golden moment to strengthen our ecological awareness.
For me personally, those events have become a moral nudge to work harder to repair what we call forest governance. Hence the importance of strengthening the governance of our forests. Forest governance is not only about what decisions are taken, but more deeply about how those decisions are made and whether they can improve the condition of our forests.
As a tactical step in responding to these problems, the government has taken a number of firm policies. One of these is the revocation of forest utilisation business licences (PBPH) for 28 companies proven to have violated and contributed to forest damage that affected floods and landslides. In addition, the government has taken several other policy steps, including imposing a moratorium on logging and timber transport in areas prone to damage, tightening investigations of corporations and landholders proven to have violated forestry and environmental rules, and other strategic policies aimed at mitigating disasters in the future.
This policy will continue to be refined for one main purpose: to safeguard the sustainability and future of our forests. Nevertheless, this effort cannot progress without support from other parties. The World Resources Institute, through its Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI) approach, asserts that forest governance relates to decision-making processes that involve cross-sector and multi-actor collaboration. Decisions about forests are formed by interactions among government, private sector, academia, media, and local communities. All parties need to work in synergy to collaborate and commit to creating good forest governance.
Good forest governance requires transparency, public participation, accountability in policy implementation, inter-agency coordination, and capacity building for institutions. These principles form the foundation, and the very spirit, of advancing sustainable forestry policies that we are pursuing.
Protecting the ‘Hands’
Therefore, muhasabah during Ramadan is important for individuals and for institutions to reflect. I urge myself, and all authorities, especially under the Ministry of Forestry, to safeguard our ‘hands’. As a result, every policy we sign should pass a basic moral and ethical question: does this decision make our forests better, or could it damage them?
To safeguard hands means guarding every decision we make. From those hands, rules are born that determine the direction of natural resource management in this country. If those hands are not careful, the policies that emerge can cause fresh damage and wound Mother Earth. Conversely, if those hands are on the side of nature, the policies that emerge can become instruments for protecting forests and the ecological spaces for our shared future.
However, the responsibility to safeguard nature is not solely in the hands of the government. There are many other hands that touch nature. The hands of business actors, the hands of the community, and our own hands as citizens all touch nature. Every pair of hands bears the same responsibility to ensure that nature is not harmed.
Ramadan should be a turning point and a fresh spirit to exercise power as a trust. The trust to ensure that every decision we make does not worsen the state of the Earth we leave to future generations.
Deep within us, a single message must be etched: ‘do not cause corruption on earth after Allah has restored it (Q.S. 7:56)’. The Earth was created in a good, balanced, and orderly state. Therefore humans must not ruin it through actions that ignore ecological balance. The future of our environment is therefore determined by the integrity of