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.