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)