RI hails rules on endangered species
RI hails rules on endangered species
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia welcomes the decisions made at the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) which ended Friday, giving individual
countries the authority to control exports of certain rare
species.
Purwadi Mangunwardoyo, secretary of the Directorate General of
Nature Preservation and Forest Protection, Forestry Ministry,
yesterday hailed the decision to protect endangered species
without depriving local people of their right to make money from
the business.
Indonesia was among 118 CITES members attending its ninth
meeting in Florida, the United States. The two-week, biennial
conference also involved eight non-member countries, 46
international organizations and 130 local organizations.
Purwadi, who represented the Indonesian government in the
gathering, told The Jakarta Post that one of the significant
decisions taken by the meeting was its approval to put dragon
fish (Scleropages formasus, locally well-known as arwana) in the
category of endangered species, allowing export only after proper
breeding. Indonesia stands to benefit from this as the breeding
of these fish, which are mainly found in Kalimantan, has been
practiced for quite a while, he said.
CITES has outlined the three categories of endangered species
which can be traded. Species in the first category, listed in
Appendix I, can be traded on the condition that they are from the
second generation of a breeding. Appendix II lists the endangered
species which can be traded based on the quota decided by the
international convention. Trade in the third category of
endangered species, which are listed in Appendix III, is entirely
up to the member countries.
Purwadi said that due to Indonesia's objection, the CITES
conference rejected the Switzerland's proposal to transfer Irian
Jaya crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) from the list in Appendix II
to Appendix I.
"We have not bred the crocodiles. If it was included in
Appendix I, a lot of people in Irian Jaya who make a living from
(hunting) the crocodiles would suffer," he said.
Denying that this would lead the species to the brink of
extinction, Purwadi said that there were at least 500,000 of
these crocodiles in Irian Jaya.
Indonesia applauded the conference's decision to turn down
Italy's earlier proposal to set an international quota for the
trade of swallows and a similar proposal from the Netherlands on
the trade of ramin wood (Gonystylus bancanus), he said.
Ramin is a white wood widely used for making furniture in
Indonesia.
"We don't want the world to control the trade (of swallow
nests and the wood)," he said.
He said that even though Indonesia exported a huge volume of
ramin wood, this would not jeopardize the species because the
country regulates exploitation of the wood.
CITES urged the Indonesian government to make greater efforts
to protect its rare species. Purwadi said that Indonesia had
become more cautious about the issue of trading in endangered
species after signing a convention in 1976.
He admitted that there still was a practice of illegal trade
of endangered species in the country largely due to the lack of
public awareness about preservation and weak law enforcement.
"As a matter of fact, we have adequate laws to protect
endangered species. It is the enforcement which must be
improved," he said.
He called on all involved government institutions to work
together to prevent the unlawful trade of protected species.(sim)