RI praised for conserving species in peril

RI praised for conserving species in peril

CISARUA, Bogor (JP): Indonesia has made significant progress
in meeting its international commitments regarding trade in
endangered species, says a secretariat official of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and
Fauna (CITES).

"At last Indonesia has made significant progress, although
there are still many things to be done," Switzerland-based Deputy
Secretary-General Jaques Berney said yesterday.

"The management and scientific authorities (which issue
permits for trade) are now consulting each other," Berney told
The Jakarta Post and the Kompas daily.

He was referring to the Directorate General of Forest
Protection and Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry
and the Biology Research Center of the Indonesian Institute for
Sciences (LIPI).

LIPI, among others, must be consulted regarding the remaining
population of a species before the Ministry of Forestry may issue
a trade permit under the regulations on trade in endangered
plants and animals.

Berney also hailed the new agreement between the directorate
general and the Indonesian Flora Fauna Trade Association,
stipulating sanctions against violators of the regulations. The
sanctions include temporary withdrawal of trade licenses.
However, specific government regulations have yet to be
formulated.

Berney was speaking during a break during a workshop on the
implementation of CITES which is being held here between July 3
and July 8, a follow-up to Indonesia's participation in the ninth
CITES meeting last November in Florida in the United States.

The workshop aims to train all parties involved in the trade
of endangered species in necessary basic skills, such as
identifying which species may not be traded.

Tonny Suhartono of the directorate general of forest
conservation said that lack of awareness of the need for
conservation was a major problem in the implementation of the
Convention in Indonesia.

The country's vast area is another constraint, said Steven
Broad, assistant director of Traffic International, an
independent organization, based in the United Kingdom, which has
conducted studies on trade in wild flora and fauna.

Indonesia, Broad said, was not only a producer and exporter of
products of endangered species, but also was increasingly also
becoming a major consumer market. "Like the rest of Southeast
Asia, Indonesia is getting richer," he said.

Endangered songbirds and orchids were, he said, in high demand
for private collections.

Trade in endangered species in Southeast Asia is estimated to
be worth between $5 billion to $8 billion annually. Twenty
percent of that trade is illegal. Indonesia accounts for a large
chunk of the trade.

Problems also arise from trade which is domestically legal but
internationally banned, such as trade in green sea turtle meat in
Bali, which is justified here on the basis that the meat is
consumed in rituals.

"The steps to reduce the quota of legally-traded turtle meat
by authorities in Bali is realistic," said Broad. Banning the
trade altogether, he said, would be more difficult as the food
has cultural significance.

Another constraint in implementing CITES is a lack of funds
for surveys, which Berney said should be requested from the
Global Environmental Facilities which provide funds to support
conservation. (anr)