Team set up to preserve rainforest

JAKARTA (JP): Two ministers agreed yesterday to form a special team to coordinate work on some important environmental issues which include genetic property rights, nature conservation, indigenous people and eco-tourism.

Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin Soeryohadikoesoemo said in a joint press conference with the State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja yesterday that they were going to help form the team.

Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Preservation Sutisna Wartaputra will cooperate with Assistant Minister of Coordination Surna Djajadiningrat to lead the new group.

Djamaloedin said that the team will conduct a number of activities, ranging from conducting research on rainforests and biodiversity to monitoring the reforestation program.

He added that the objective of the team is to prepare programs dealing with both national and international environmental issues.

"For instance, in promoting our timber products," he said, after having a 75-minute meeting with Sarwono in his office.

Both ministers shared the view that forestry and environmental issues in a country like Indonesia, which has the third largest forest reserves in the world, are related subjects.

"Foreigners abroad usually regard me as the Minister of Forestry. They always raise questions about rainforest," Sarwono said, telling his colleague that he cannot do anything but answer the questions.

Djamaloedin noted that a number of issues, such as the transformation of a wild life reserve into a national park, the right of indigenous people, land use, and mangrove preservation are also included in the tasks of the team.

He added that the team will work together with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the National Land Agency (BPN). He also said that, in certain cases, the team can also work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications as well as the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Indigenous

Prior to the formation of the team, Sarwono said that some ministers had regularly set up temporary commissions to deal with some important issues.

"But did not prove to be effective enough," he said, pointing out at the case of Dayak Bentian tribespeople in East Kalimantan, whose traditional forests were made into a timber concession in 1993.

The tribe had repeatedly protested and demanded the government to revoke the license of the timber firm, PT Hutan Mahligai, because it is destroying their habitat.

According to Sarwono, poor coordination between ministerial offices and local governments had hampered the solution of the problem to date. Both the tribe and the timber firm cannot work satisfactorily due to the ongoing conflict.

"We cannot always solve this kind of problem case by case," he said. He added that as long as the rights of indigenous people are not legally recognized such problems will always recur.

"Indonesia could learn from Costa Rica which had recognized the property rights of its indigenous people," he said.

Citing another example, Djamaloedin said that Indonesia, one of the world's richest countries in terms of biodiversity, had not even looked into taking advantage of its genetic property rights.

He said that foreign researchers could easily conduct investigations here and return home to produce modern and expensive drugs based on the research.

"The Indonesian people themselves have to pay for the drugs which are protected by intellectual property rights," he said. (09) Kalimantan --Page 8