Scientists receive UNESCO awards
Scientists receive UNESCO awards
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Five young Indonesian scientists were awarded with the Man and
Biosphere (MAB) Certificate from the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday for
their work and contribution to the environment.
They were also granted an incentive fund of US$1,000 and an
opportunity to publish their work through UNESCO.
The five recipients were Muhammad Syukri Nur from West Java,
Iin Purwati Handayani from Bengkulu, Nur Arafah from South East
Sulawesi, and Mahendra Taher and Zainuddin from Jambi.
They were chosen from nine finalists, who had been selected
from a total of 43 initial participants.
Muhammad Syukri was awarded with the UNESCO award for his
success in developing instruments and technics to monitor the
condition of air and water in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu
National Park in Central Sulawesi, setting a working example for
other parks in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Iin Purwati, a Yogyakarta-born researcher from the
University of Bengkulu, conducted research on various plants used
by traditional farmers nearby the Kerinci Seblat National Park,
Bengkulu, to restore their degraded farms.
Her research showed that plants locally called wedelia,
kirinyu, and sendudu can be used to restore degraded land such as
open-pit mines.
Nur Arafah from the University of Halu Oleo, South East
Sulawesi, also assessed traditional, environmentally friendly
knowledge from the local tribe of Moronene in his work.
Interestingly, many of these traditions were found to be in
accordance with modern rationale, he said.
"Take the sacrosanctity of forests, for example, with curses
being set upon those who violate this. In modern terms, forest
destruction does mean `an unleashing of curses', in the form of
droughts or floods," Nur said.
Mahendra Taher and Zainuddin are both environmental activists
from the Indonesian Conservation Community called Warsi. They are
concerned about the preservation of national parks in Jambi.
Taher's years of lobbying, persuading, and reasoning with
communities living on the Batanghari riverbanks finally resulted
in a mutual agreement in March.
With this agreement, and the true understanding of how
conserving national parks will benefit them, the communities now
vow to cooperate in developing the river's resources in an
environmentally friendly manner.
Zainuddin, in the meantime, has managed to halt the illegal
practice of farming land that intrudes into the Bukit Dua Belas
National Park in Jambi, by offering managed land cultivation
techniques to villagers living adjacent to the park.
The MAB Certificate is a yearly program held by the Indonesian
National MAB Committee, in cooperation with the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and UNESCO's Jakarta Representative
Office, to encourage young scientists to conduct work and
research in the field of sustainable environment management.
The winners will be registered with UNESCO's international-
level Young Scientists Award Scheme.
The MAB itself, as implied by its name, has been developed by
UNESCO since 1971, to promote a harmonious relationship between
man and his biosphere -- or living environment -- in the form of
a sustainable, environmentally friendly development policy.