Indonesia’s Biodiversity

We are thankful issues involving the environment and its protection have rightfully come to the mainstream debate.

However, we feel that these issues are still confined to the realm of rhetoric than that of genuine concern or action, both among policy makers and the general public.

Natural disasters are a stark reminder what happens when we mistreat our most irreplaceable treasures.

It seems that we have forgotten much of the celebrated talk during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, The Jakarta Mandate on conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity, and the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, which Indonesia ratified in 1994.

There is no shortage of agencies and networks established here to oversee biodiversity. Indonesia has a long established and dedicated ministry specifically tasked to supervise the protection of the environment. There is also the Indonesian Biodiversity Information System, the Biodiversity Information Center and Nature Conservation Information Center and the National Biodiversity Information Network. All of which serve as databases and information exchange hubs to flag hazardous developments and promulgate best practices.

Despite all this, there has been a persistent failure to integrate the practice of sustainable biodiversity conservation. The objectives of conservation, sustainable utilization and the equitable distribution of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources remain pipe dreams.

This is aggravated by the greed by those of have the ability to exploit nature.

Natural resources are extracted beyond the carrying capacity of the environment based on a development paradigm that regards natural resources as an asset to be hastily liquidated as capital for economic development.

Too often we are presented with classic excuses — lack of resources, limited capacity — instead of a determined policy effort. When there is a declared action it often resembles an ill-conceived white elephant that in the long run may do more harm than good.

Recently we have heard how the government is re-introducing the infamous one million hectares peatland project initially launched in the early 1990s during the Soeharto presidency.

While the objectives are praiseworthy, we question whether the current administration has truly undertaken a comprehensive study to examine and correct the problems that doomed the initial project. The original peatland project was launched without a proper environmental impact assessment and in the end seemed to cause more negative outcomes than positive ones.

Though sometimes a necessity, we should continue to be prudent in the conversion of natural habitats for development purposes. Let us not forget the common picture found on the coasts of northern Java, eastern Sumatra and southern Sulawesi, where mangrove forests are degraded to make way for settlement areas and commercial fish ponds.

A greater promotion of integrated conservation and development that links biodiversity management with the local community’s socio-economic development should be encouraged. Hence tangible resources must be allocated to provide incentives to change attitudes toward exploitation and the encroachment of forest areas.

The general public should also scrutinize private companies further to ensure they engage in earnest initiatives in biodiversity management.

Corporate social responsibility may be a popular buzzphrase in the private sector, but sadly we cannot help but still be suspicious about whether it truly represents a shift in the paradigm or is just a new outlay companies are creating for themselves to appease local concerns and subdue potential discontent.

We long for the day when the private sector engages in a strategies and action plans for biodiversity management in their operation areas with the same kind of appetite as they would exploitation and business plans.

In the meantime more should also be done to enlighten those who will inherit this planet: our children.

We continue to fail to fully appreciate biodiversity’s value as an asset of national development and in the sustainability of life. We must teach our young the practical implications of failing to protect biodiversity. Explain that the environment needs to be loved as much their favorite teddy bear and respected as much as their elders.