Sleep better knowing you saved a life
Sleep better knowing you saved a life
By Danielle Bray
JAKARTA (JP): Concern over endangered species, the loss of habitat and illegal trading in wildlife have prompted partnership between the Bass Hotel & Resort group, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia.
A small crowd gathered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jakarta Thursday to learn more about the dangers of extinction facing Indonesian wildlife, and how the hotel patrons can support this cause.
A five-month campaign, from July 1 to Nov. 30, 2000, entitled Sleep Well, You Just Saved a Life, was launched among 33 Inter- continental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels & resorts in 10 Asia Pacific countries.
During this time, guests staying at participating hotels will receive information about this campaign located on tent cards, which are placed along with a WWF poster in each room.
Occupants are informed that an equivalent of US$1 will be added to their bill, which at their approval, will be donated directly to the WWF. All proceeds will go to the funding of their on-going wildlife conservation work in the Asia-Pacific region.
Since the 1960's, the WWF has become one of the world's leading private international conservation organizations. The preservation group has over five million supporters in five continents, and has played a major role in the evolution of the international conservation movement.
Hana Hoed, marketing services manager at the Crowne Plaza Jakarta said, "Since the launch of this campaign two weeks ago, we have collected Rp 4.9 million, which we are very happy about. The ideal goal is to raise Rp 50 million or more."
Stefan Voogel, the general manager of the hotel, kicked off the awareness campaign by discussing the positive partnership between the WWF and Bass Hotel & Resorts. He said there has been a very encouraging response from the guests."
WWF's communication and education awareness manager Desi Polla stated that in Indonesia there are two main problems which are causes for concern. "One is the loss of natural habitat, the other is illegal trading."
She stressed how important it is to educate the local society of the urgency to protect Indonesia's wildlife and natural surroundings. She added, "Conservation awareness is not high in Indonesia... there needs to be an understanding of the need to protect the wildlife for our children and the generations to come."
Agus Purnomo, executive director of WWF Indonesia said, "We are pleased to see the pivotal role Indonesian tourism can play in helping to secure the future of our endangered species and their habitats, subsequently extending our eco-tourism initiatives in selected major tourist destinations."
Participants of the discussion were silenced by a moving video that displayed the harsh reality behind Indonesia's endangered species, held captive in cages, waiting to be sold on the black market.
The audience also reacted strongly to the dim reality of the staggering amount of elephants that are killed in order to support the demand of the ivory trade. Ivory continues to be sold for large quantities of U.S. dollars.
Some of the world's most unique and threatened animal species are located in the Asia-Pacific region. These include the giant panda, the tiger, the Asian elephant, the Asian rhino, orangutans and marine turtles.