WWF manages people rather than nature: Betts

WWF manages people rather than nature: Betts

JAKARTA (JP): The idea that conservation efforts are
meaningful if the "stakeholders", the people directly affected,
are involved is an underlining principle of the activities of the
World Wide Fund for Nature in Indonesia.

Conservation is not really about "managing nature" as is
widely believed, it is about "managing people's interaction with
nature", said Russel Betts, who stepped down as chief executive
officer of the Indonesian Program of the World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF-IP) this month after seven years of dedication.

Conservation, after all, is not a "top down" issue, he told
The Jakarta Post. "Conservation requires cooperation by the
government, people, and all other stakeholders."

One of the programs now being carried out by the WWF-IP
promotes what is called the "conservation culture" among
Indonesians. It is designed to raise public awareness to the
point that conservation-related issues will be just as important
as development issues in determining the future of Indonesia.

WWF is also helping to develop an effectively managed
Indonesian Protected Areas System which will assure the
protection of the most important elements of Indonesia's vastly
rich biological heritage.

Its targets include assisting the government to place 10
percent of Indonesia's land area and 30 million hectares of sea
area under effective conservation management by the year 2000.

WWF is also helping Indonesia comply with the terms of the
global Biodiversity Convention Jakarta signed.

WWF, which was founded in 1962, has been in Indonesia since as
far back as 1963.

The current phase of its program, which was begun by Betts in
1989, focuses on the integration of conservation and development,
and people's participation in conservation and nature protection.

WWF-IP currently has 15 field projects in Bali, Irian Jaya,
Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi and Sumatra, run by
professional staff with relevant expertise.

Betts said WWF-IP has established respectful rapport with the
Indonesian government and has also gained popularity among the
public because of its wide range of activities.

"It is also because the importance of conservation and
protection of Indonesia's natural resources and of a clean and
healthy environment is increasingly recognized and accepted by
the public," Betts said.

Betts said WWF-IP is not free of problems.

"WWF-IP works within the Indonesian bureaucracy and socio-
economic system, and sometimes it is difficult to obtain needed
permits and authorization, especially when dealing with officials
or special interests who do not understand the goals and
objectives of WWF or who, for their own reasons, are more
interested in exploiting natural resources than in protecting and
conserving them," Betts said.

Many development and business activities are carried out in
ways which are extremely damaging to the environment, he said.

"Often, this does not need to be the case, but an
understanding of environmentally-friendly development is not yet
understood well enough by many people," Betts said.

Another problem is that much of the work of WWF-IP is carried
out in remote and difficult areas where traveling, living and
working can be difficult, he added.

The current WWF-IP program is more than 15 times larger than
it was seven years ago, Betts said, and less than 10 percent of
the costs are covered by the WWF International Secretariat.

Most of WWF-IP's funds are received as grants to specific
projects or program activities from the development assistance
agencies of donor countries. (31)