A green policy for Aceh
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Thu, 06/14/2007 9:21 AM Opinion
Mohamad Rayan, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Aceh Governor Irwandi Jusuf declared a moratorium on logging on June 6 as part of efforts to develop a new long-term forest management strategy.
This is first installment for his environment policy -- and it's definitely a big chunk of it.
Furthermore, his environment policy is a part his economic policy.
The moratorium means logging will cease for a certain period of time in the province.
But can the policy be sustainable amid such high demands for woods and in light of the massive reconstruction project taking place in the province?
And what about community needs for wood?
Who is policing the moratorium?
Or what about the livelihoods of the community close to the forest?
On one hand, the moratorium is a brave, innovative and made with strong political will.
But on the other hand, the governor has not published his environment policy because the other side of the coin is the exploration and exploitation of natural resources outside the forest.
The reasons given for the long-term forest management policy include the disasters caused by unchecked forest exploitation.
Unchecked forest exploitation has caused flooding and land slides and has resulted in a spate of incidents involving angry animals.
Given these reasons, the moratorium is much-needed.
The moratorium can be divided into three strategic plans.
First is the redesign and evaluation of the forest areas and the logging permits.
This will need the revision of spatial management to be in line with projected needs around sustainable development.
And these needs should incorporate social, economic and ecological issues.
The permits will be reviewed for size and concession and this means there will be rationalization for the forest industry.
The industry needs to adjust to the availability of raw materials.
The industry also has to develop non-wood products.
The second strategic plan should involve reforestation to uplift the rehabilitation of the forest and its resources.
And to manage this reforestation, the government will need to find funds to carry out the tasks.
The third strategic plan is a reduction on the rate of deforestation.
The first step here is law enforcement. Then the government needs to put a system in place for the protection of the forest -- and that system must be efficient and effective.
These three strategic plans make up part the master plan for the management of Aceh's forests.
The governor however is yet to issue a more comprehensive environment policy.
Aceh has three percent of Indonesia's forests and water, where 55 percent are protected forests, 25 percent are conserved forests and 20 percent are production forests.
Aceh needs a system for environmental protection. But any policy should fully involve the people.
A policy without involving the local community will stop halfway.
For instance, the governor's moratorium on logging did make media headlines, but a couple months after the announcement, the logging will probably start again.
Without significant compensation, people will be tempted to take short cuts and they will practice illegal logging again -- especially if there is good money in it.
According to local conservation NGO Walhi Aceh, illegal logging destroyed an area four times the size of Singapore between 2005 and 2006.
This will continue without an environment policy that includes community participation and involvement.
The Aceh governor believes high economic growth can be achieved with direct foreign investment.
And there have been many countries such as Malaysia, Korea, United States, Thailand and Sweden who have expressed an interest in investing in the province.
In the exploration and the exploitation of mining, Walhi Aceh recorded 14 coal mining companies in the area of Nagan Raya, West Aceh and Aceh Jaya.
The area of exploration has been recorded at 92.034 ha, with 17 gold mining companies exploring the area of Nagan raya, South Aceh, West Aceh, Aceh Jaya and Pidie.
And with the opening of more palm oil plantations as well as other plantations and resources explorations, a comprehensive environment is urgently needed.
But how can conservation bring revenue to the government? The way to do it is to link the environment policy to the international environment issues and protocol.
Through its governor, Aceh can sell the conservation of the protected forest and other conserved forest in exchange for the global funds for the program.
So the moratorium of all logging is just the beginning.
The writer is Aceh specialist and Provincial Program Manager UNFPA-NAD.This is a private opinion
Sabtu, 20 Juni 2009
Jumat, 19 Juni 2009
Massacre of Orangutans.
MASSACRE OF THE APES
Daily Express U.K
Monday May 18,2009
By Nigel Blundell
DESPITE a new population of orang-utans being found in Indonesia recently conservationists believe these amazing creatures could be wiped out within a decade thanks to the £14bn palm oil industry .
We find it in bread, cereals and cakes, chocolates and frozen foods, even in soap powder. Soon we will be urged to run our cars on it. The ingredient is palm oil. it is the cheapest form of cooking oil and, since it is also being hailed as the biofuel of the future, it’s a worldwide growth industry beyond compare. But though the cost seems cheap the true price being paid is devastation on an unprecedented scale.
Such is the race to clear the land for palm oil plantations that entire rain forests are doomed – along with the animals that live in them. it is no longer scare-mongering to forecast that the orang-utan, one of man’s closest cousins, will be wiped out in the wild within a decade. “It’s not just cruel it’s criminal,” says Faith Doherty, a senior campaigner for the UK-based environmental investigation Agency (EIA).
“The last strong-holds of Asia’s only great ape are being devastated by loggers and plantation owners, many of whom are acting illegally and out of sheer greed. We as consumers bear some responsibility for that”.
‘They’re so much like us yet we’re wiping them out’
So in a supreme irony the drive to save the world from global warming by promoting palm oil is actually helping destroy it. The part of the globe that is moving most swiftly to supply us with the oil is indonesia and Malaysia. The result is that within 15 years only two per cent of the rainforests of those nations will be left.
Long before the rainforests vanish so will some of the world’s most important wildlife species. These include the Asian elephant, the Sumatran tiger and the orang-utan, which shares 97 per cent of human DNA. These red-haired “people of the forest”, as the natives call them, are under tremendous pressure through habitat loss because the lowland jungles where they live have been the first to go. Plantation owners kill them as pests
because they eat their plants and poachers hunt them for bush meat and sell the young as pets. And while last month’s discovery of 219 orang-utan nests in a remote corner of indonesia have given a rare boost to the endangered species, there is little hope of reversing the situation. “in reality it’s already over for the orang-utan,” says Willie Smits, who has fought to save the creatures for 20 years. “Their entire lowland forest habitat is gone and now the hunters have moved in we find their corpses decapitated or burned. Hunters are paid the equivalent of £8 for the right hand of an orang-utan to prove they’ve killed them.” Willie, founder of the largest primate rescue organisation in the world, Borneo Orang-utan Survival foundation, runs two centres housing 1,000 of the creatures, most rescued from palm oil plantations.
But once rehabilitated they cannot be released into the wild as it is not safe. Another orang-utan saviour, Lone droscher-nielsen, has been forced to relocate her centre’s creatures to a remote island to save them from annihilation. She says: “This is orang-utan genocide. They are among our closest relatives yet we humans are killing them by the thousand. If only people in the West could understand what is happening here in Borneo. The demand for palm oil is devastating the rainforests, which are being destroyed at the rate of one football field every 30 seconds.”
Rainforests are vital for the planet’s health. They curb global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide and, being an important part of the water cycle, prevent droughts. They shelter 420 species of bird, 210 species of mammal, 254 species of reptile and 368 species of freshwater fish. Lone, who quit her job as an air hostess to join Borneo Orang-utan Survival foundation, has 600 orang-utans in her care at the Nyaru Menteng centre. “Most of those we take in are orphans whose mothers have been slaughtered by palm oil planters,” she says. “Orang-utans are so much like us. They are highly intelligent, can solve simple problems and there is an immensely strong bond between mother and child that lasts for the first eight years of a baby’s life. Yet we are allowing them to be wiped out. A century ago there were 300,000 Bornean orang-utans. If nothing is done there will not be a single one left in the wild within five to 10 years. Yet demand for palm oil grows. Is nobody listening?” Lone’s dedication to the orang-utans began 14 years ago while she was a flight attendant with Swiss airline SAS. She only intended to be a short-term volunteer but became so fascinated with the animals that in 1993 she moved to Borneo permanently. “I fell in love with them,” she says. “So much so that I have abandoned any wish to have my own children.” Her centre in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) has rehabilitated hundreds of orphans. It is run like a kinder garten because newcomers need 24-hour care. Lone employs 80 Indonesians, women as “babysitters” for infants and men caring for the older orphans. The aim of the project is to hone the animals’ survival skills.
Butsince there are no longer safe areas of the forest in which to free them funds were raised to buy a 100-acre offshore sanctuary, to which the young are introduced at the age of eight in batches of about 25. Their first faltering steps, filmed for the recent Animal Planet TV series Orang-utan Island are a glimmer of hope for the creatures. But Lone concedes that their island existence is only “semi wild”. It is too small to be a full-scale sanctuary and the orang-utans there will have to be closely monitored. The fact that they can no longer roam freely is purely down to the palm oil boom. The tragedy in the view of conservationists is that the devastation of the jungle for the creation of the palm oil plantations is unnecessary. “There is no need for continual destruction of the rainforests,” says Lone.
“There is already open grass- land that can be used for this purpose. But we need pressure from the international community to tackle a problem that will ultimately affect every human being on earth. We must not give up the fight to protect the rainforests, the orang utans and, ultimately, ourselves. “Consumers can play their part by putting pressure on companies that use palm oil in their products and persuading them to source oil which has been produced by environmentally-friendly methods.” According to recent findings the UK is now Europe’s biggest importer of palm oil. Manufacturers use the ingredient (usually labelled as “vegetable oil”) to bind and bulk out chocolate, biscuits, bread and spreads. Palm oil is a £14billion global industry and an international organisation has been set up to try to ensure that manufacturers use oil that comes only from “sustainable” plantations.
Yet the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil certifies only four per cent of world production as being “sustainable”. The rest comes from the destruction of rainforests. More than 30million tons a year – about 85 per cent of the global supply – is exported from the vast islands of Borneo and Sumatra, which form parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. Conservationists believe the rush to create this “green fuel” is often an excuse for loggers to make a quick killing. The hardwood trees are felled, the timber sold and the palm oil is merely an after-thought. The corruption behind this land grab is rife and timber barons will go to any lengths to protect their illegal trade. The EIA’s Faith Doherty was kidnapped and beaten during a mission to expose them. She was seized at gunpoint nine years ago in Tanjung Puting National Park, central Kalimantan. It is supposed to be a safe haven for orang-utans but she discovered illegal logging in the park. “That shows the power of the timber barons,” she says. “It is incredibly dangerous to investigate them. I was on an undercover mission when I was kidnapped, held for four days and beaten up.
My fingers were broken and I had a gun to my head as they ordered me to retract an EIA report I had made about their activities. I refused and was lucky to be freed. It was no use looking to the police for help, they were in cahoots. That’s the problem: bad governments and corruption right down the chain. “The land turned over to palm oil plantation owners is supposed to be ‘degraded land’. They’re not even supposed to be in the rainforest at all. What they’re doing is quite simply illegal. It is a crime that the orang-utans are under serious threat and if we don’t act now we’ll lose them forever.” To learn about the orang-utans’ plight visit www.eia-international.com, www.savetheorangutan.org.uk and www.wspa.org.uk
Daily Express U.K
Monday May 18,2009
By Nigel Blundell
DESPITE a new population of orang-utans being found in Indonesia recently conservationists believe these amazing creatures could be wiped out within a decade thanks to the £14bn palm oil industry .
We find it in bread, cereals and cakes, chocolates and frozen foods, even in soap powder. Soon we will be urged to run our cars on it. The ingredient is palm oil. it is the cheapest form of cooking oil and, since it is also being hailed as the biofuel of the future, it’s a worldwide growth industry beyond compare. But though the cost seems cheap the true price being paid is devastation on an unprecedented scale.
Such is the race to clear the land for palm oil plantations that entire rain forests are doomed – along with the animals that live in them. it is no longer scare-mongering to forecast that the orang-utan, one of man’s closest cousins, will be wiped out in the wild within a decade. “It’s not just cruel it’s criminal,” says Faith Doherty, a senior campaigner for the UK-based environmental investigation Agency (EIA).
“The last strong-holds of Asia’s only great ape are being devastated by loggers and plantation owners, many of whom are acting illegally and out of sheer greed. We as consumers bear some responsibility for that”.
‘They’re so much like us yet we’re wiping them out’
So in a supreme irony the drive to save the world from global warming by promoting palm oil is actually helping destroy it. The part of the globe that is moving most swiftly to supply us with the oil is indonesia and Malaysia. The result is that within 15 years only two per cent of the rainforests of those nations will be left.
Long before the rainforests vanish so will some of the world’s most important wildlife species. These include the Asian elephant, the Sumatran tiger and the orang-utan, which shares 97 per cent of human DNA. These red-haired “people of the forest”, as the natives call them, are under tremendous pressure through habitat loss because the lowland jungles where they live have been the first to go. Plantation owners kill them as pests
because they eat their plants and poachers hunt them for bush meat and sell the young as pets. And while last month’s discovery of 219 orang-utan nests in a remote corner of indonesia have given a rare boost to the endangered species, there is little hope of reversing the situation. “in reality it’s already over for the orang-utan,” says Willie Smits, who has fought to save the creatures for 20 years. “Their entire lowland forest habitat is gone and now the hunters have moved in we find their corpses decapitated or burned. Hunters are paid the equivalent of £8 for the right hand of an orang-utan to prove they’ve killed them.” Willie, founder of the largest primate rescue organisation in the world, Borneo Orang-utan Survival foundation, runs two centres housing 1,000 of the creatures, most rescued from palm oil plantations.
But once rehabilitated they cannot be released into the wild as it is not safe. Another orang-utan saviour, Lone droscher-nielsen, has been forced to relocate her centre’s creatures to a remote island to save them from annihilation. She says: “This is orang-utan genocide. They are among our closest relatives yet we humans are killing them by the thousand. If only people in the West could understand what is happening here in Borneo. The demand for palm oil is devastating the rainforests, which are being destroyed at the rate of one football field every 30 seconds.”
Rainforests are vital for the planet’s health. They curb global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide and, being an important part of the water cycle, prevent droughts. They shelter 420 species of bird, 210 species of mammal, 254 species of reptile and 368 species of freshwater fish. Lone, who quit her job as an air hostess to join Borneo Orang-utan Survival foundation, has 600 orang-utans in her care at the Nyaru Menteng centre. “Most of those we take in are orphans whose mothers have been slaughtered by palm oil planters,” she says. “Orang-utans are so much like us. They are highly intelligent, can solve simple problems and there is an immensely strong bond between mother and child that lasts for the first eight years of a baby’s life. Yet we are allowing them to be wiped out. A century ago there were 300,000 Bornean orang-utans. If nothing is done there will not be a single one left in the wild within five to 10 years. Yet demand for palm oil grows. Is nobody listening?” Lone’s dedication to the orang-utans began 14 years ago while she was a flight attendant with Swiss airline SAS. She only intended to be a short-term volunteer but became so fascinated with the animals that in 1993 she moved to Borneo permanently. “I fell in love with them,” she says. “So much so that I have abandoned any wish to have my own children.” Her centre in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) has rehabilitated hundreds of orphans. It is run like a kinder garten because newcomers need 24-hour care. Lone employs 80 Indonesians, women as “babysitters” for infants and men caring for the older orphans. The aim of the project is to hone the animals’ survival skills.
Butsince there are no longer safe areas of the forest in which to free them funds were raised to buy a 100-acre offshore sanctuary, to which the young are introduced at the age of eight in batches of about 25. Their first faltering steps, filmed for the recent Animal Planet TV series Orang-utan Island are a glimmer of hope for the creatures. But Lone concedes that their island existence is only “semi wild”. It is too small to be a full-scale sanctuary and the orang-utans there will have to be closely monitored. The fact that they can no longer roam freely is purely down to the palm oil boom. The tragedy in the view of conservationists is that the devastation of the jungle for the creation of the palm oil plantations is unnecessary. “There is no need for continual destruction of the rainforests,” says Lone.
“There is already open grass- land that can be used for this purpose. But we need pressure from the international community to tackle a problem that will ultimately affect every human being on earth. We must not give up the fight to protect the rainforests, the orang utans and, ultimately, ourselves. “Consumers can play their part by putting pressure on companies that use palm oil in their products and persuading them to source oil which has been produced by environmentally-friendly methods.” According to recent findings the UK is now Europe’s biggest importer of palm oil. Manufacturers use the ingredient (usually labelled as “vegetable oil”) to bind and bulk out chocolate, biscuits, bread and spreads. Palm oil is a £14billion global industry and an international organisation has been set up to try to ensure that manufacturers use oil that comes only from “sustainable” plantations.
Yet the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil certifies only four per cent of world production as being “sustainable”. The rest comes from the destruction of rainforests. More than 30million tons a year – about 85 per cent of the global supply – is exported from the vast islands of Borneo and Sumatra, which form parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. Conservationists believe the rush to create this “green fuel” is often an excuse for loggers to make a quick killing. The hardwood trees are felled, the timber sold and the palm oil is merely an after-thought. The corruption behind this land grab is rife and timber barons will go to any lengths to protect their illegal trade. The EIA’s Faith Doherty was kidnapped and beaten during a mission to expose them. She was seized at gunpoint nine years ago in Tanjung Puting National Park, central Kalimantan. It is supposed to be a safe haven for orang-utans but she discovered illegal logging in the park. “That shows the power of the timber barons,” she says. “It is incredibly dangerous to investigate them. I was on an undercover mission when I was kidnapped, held for four days and beaten up.
My fingers were broken and I had a gun to my head as they ordered me to retract an EIA report I had made about their activities. I refused and was lucky to be freed. It was no use looking to the police for help, they were in cahoots. That’s the problem: bad governments and corruption right down the chain. “The land turned over to palm oil plantation owners is supposed to be ‘degraded land’. They’re not even supposed to be in the rainforest at all. What they’re doing is quite simply illegal. It is a crime that the orang-utans are under serious threat and if we don’t act now we’ll lose them forever.” To learn about the orang-utans’ plight visit www.eia-international.com, www.savetheorangutan.org.uk and www.wspa.org.uk
Kamis, 18 Juni 2009
Dayak Diet Caused Orangutan Extinct in Malinau
Mohamad Rayan. Malinau.
Dayak eats orangutan! Sure, who said that i questioned him. He answered i tell you the story.
Marcus and i had been in the field in Malinau for nearly 6 weeks. This is the first time we heard that Dayak eats orangutan. Our catch phrase before was "Punan eats everything". Dayak Punan stated to us that they eat every animals in their forest near Bintang mountain in Malinau. And we realized that there was no orangutan near Malinau city even Malinau district.
When we asked the questions what do they hunt for? The Punan Dayak in Punan Setarap village answered: bores, deer, bear, anteaters, porcupine etc. And then we asked do you eat monkeys. The answer yes, we eats monkeys. Wow, we said, interesting. It tasted ok. Yes.
Well, questioning Dayak community on the issue of what they hunt, how they gets their protein, it was always a suprise coming from the answers. The Punan Dayak is the most extreme on this habit of consuming animals. Kenyah people also revealed they enjoyed most of the animals in the forest, but the Kenyah are now more connected to the community and the development symbolized with the regent is from Dayak Kenyah line.
Kenyah, Lun Dayeh, Brusu, Long Alango etc consume most of the animals in the forest. They also do a lot fishing inside the forest in the creeks inside the forest with crystal clear water. With the clear water, it is easier for them to catch and fish the fish in the river.
This topic does have a big question to be answered, why was the orangutan disappeared from Malinau. Well, according to reports and ground check in community they have known, may be some of them tasted the meat of orangutan. So is it the dayak diet cauased the extinction of orangutan in Malinau? Or is it the disappearing forest of malinau? Or is it the topography of Malinau, which is hilly and mountainous.
The current orangutan population according to the directorate general for forest protection and nature conservation is believed to be 61,234, according to data from the directorate general. Most are found in the forests of Borneo (54,567), with the remainder in Sumatra (6,667). In Borneo, orangutans are found in East Kalimantan (4,825), Central Kalimantan (31,300), West Kalimantan including the neighboring Malaysian state of Sarawak (7,425) and the Malaysian state of Sabah (11,017). In Sumatra, orangutans are found in Seulawah (43), West Central Aceh (103), East Central Aceh (337), West Leuser (2,508), Sidiangkat (134), East Leyser (1,042), Tripa Swamp (280), Trumon-Singkil (1,500), East Rawa Singkil (160), West Batang Toru (400) and East Sarulla (150).
Kalimantan has been studied, surveyed and travelled by local scientists or international expert since 1800s. However, there was no study or firmed answer why there is no orangutan in Malinau. However, it was reported that a study suggested in Serawak, 10.000 years ago, it was found in the cave in Serawak bones of orangutan had been consumed by the human. It was also reported that the pigs is the most frequent animals eaten by homo sapiens. The book was written by Leobert E M De Boer in 1982. The title is The Orangutan, Its Biology and Conservation.
So in the question of is it the diet of Dayak caused the extinction of Orangutan, the answer could be yes. Iban tribe in Serawak, had the culture that is taboo to eat orangutan, then they still have the population of orangutan. So it could be the culture of eating orangutan causing the extinction of orangutan in Malinau.
In Aceh conflicts, there were a lot of orangutans are got shot intentionally or unintentionally, yet they still survived. So human conflicts or conflicts human and primate did not caused the extinction.
Climate is not possible causing the extinction of orangutan as proved by the finding of Black Orangutan in Sangkurilang in East Kalimantan."So yes, finding a population that science did not know about is significant, especially one of this size," Birute Mary Galdikas, a Canadian scientist said, noting that those found on the eastern part of the island represent a rare subspecies, the black Borneon orangutan, or Pongo pygmaeus morio.
The 700-square mile (2,500-square kilometer) jungle escaped the massive fires that devastated almost all of the surrounding forests in the late 1990s. The blazes were set by plantation owners and small-scale farmers and exacerbated by the El Nino droughts.Nardiyono, who headed The Nature Conservancy's weeklong survey in December, said "it could be the density is very high because after the fires, the orangutans all flocked to one small area" as reported in The Jakarta Post 14 April 2009. The area is high in the mountain near Sangkurilang, East Kalimantan. The finding also approved that temperature and topography of the area do not caused the extinction.
The post also reported that there are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 90 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in neighboring Malaysia.The countries are the world's top producers of palm oil, used in food, cosmetics and to meet growing demands for "clean-burning" fuels in the U.S. and Europe. Rain forests, where the solitary animals spend almost all of their time, have been clear-cut and burned at alarming rates to make way for lucrative palm oil plantations.
The explanation of vegetation in Malinau caused the disappering of orangutan. It could not be used because the existence of orangutan in Kutai where they have same lowland as in Malinau lowland, there exists orangutan. However this opinion is being rejected by Toni Suhartono, director of biological diversity conservation at the Forestry Ministry. According to him that the habitat loss due to forest destruction was the main cause of the reduction in the numbers of orangutans, compounded by less significant factors such as human-animal conflicts as reported on The Jakarta Post 13 April 2009.
For orangutan experts, the cause of the extinction in the past, present and future is clear cut. “The last strong-holds of Asia’s only great ape are being devastated by loggers and plantation owners, many of whom are acting illegally and out of sheer greed. We as consumers bear some responsibility for that”says Faith Doherty, a senior campaigner for the UK-based environmental investigation Agency (EIA) in Daily Express on 28 May 2009.
So back to the beginning of the story, the statement "Dayak eats orangutan" was made by one of the officer working in Kayan Mentarang National Park (KMNP). He told us that they had a program of moving back orangutan to Malinau. The two places targeted was Rian Tubu, South West of Malinau city and in Long Alango, in the west of Malinau City.
After further study and discussion, they choosed Long Alango forest inside Kayan Mentarang National Park. However, to double check, the team from KMNP asked the community in Long Alango village for their opinion. And during that discussion, some of the community disagreed with the program by saying that they used to be orangutan in the area, then they were extinct becaused most of them were hunted and consumed. It became well sought and people competed hunting for them. At the end it can caused the conflict inside the community.
Based on that, they rejected the program of re-introduction of orangutan in Long Alango. The community beleives that the reintroduction of orangutan will make people competed again for the meat of orangutan. This will cause conflict and disharmony in the community. At the end the KMNP team decided to drop the program. That was the story told by Pak Bisnu, an official in KMNP. I beleive this is the reason why the animal extinct in Malinau. Dayak's diet caused the extinction of orangutan in Malinau or in Kalimantan in the future as one of the main factor.
On the brighter note the govenment had prepared programs to save the fate of orangutan. They include conservation education, research on sustainable orangutan conservation, improving cooperation with environmental groups, setting up a forum to monitor enforcement of regulations, arranging a logging schedule in orangutan habitat, issuing a law against mining in habitat areas, law enforcement and patrols against poachers as reported by The Jakarta Post 13 June 2008. All will be completed in 2017. It sounds good. We also hope it turns out to be good.
Dayak eats orangutan! Sure, who said that i questioned him. He answered i tell you the story.
Marcus and i had been in the field in Malinau for nearly 6 weeks. This is the first time we heard that Dayak eats orangutan. Our catch phrase before was "Punan eats everything". Dayak Punan stated to us that they eat every animals in their forest near Bintang mountain in Malinau. And we realized that there was no orangutan near Malinau city even Malinau district.
When we asked the questions what do they hunt for? The Punan Dayak in Punan Setarap village answered: bores, deer, bear, anteaters, porcupine etc. And then we asked do you eat monkeys. The answer yes, we eats monkeys. Wow, we said, interesting. It tasted ok. Yes.
Well, questioning Dayak community on the issue of what they hunt, how they gets their protein, it was always a suprise coming from the answers. The Punan Dayak is the most extreme on this habit of consuming animals. Kenyah people also revealed they enjoyed most of the animals in the forest, but the Kenyah are now more connected to the community and the development symbolized with the regent is from Dayak Kenyah line.
Kenyah, Lun Dayeh, Brusu, Long Alango etc consume most of the animals in the forest. They also do a lot fishing inside the forest in the creeks inside the forest with crystal clear water. With the clear water, it is easier for them to catch and fish the fish in the river.
This topic does have a big question to be answered, why was the orangutan disappeared from Malinau. Well, according to reports and ground check in community they have known, may be some of them tasted the meat of orangutan. So is it the dayak diet cauased the extinction of orangutan in Malinau? Or is it the disappearing forest of malinau? Or is it the topography of Malinau, which is hilly and mountainous.
The current orangutan population according to the directorate general for forest protection and nature conservation is believed to be 61,234, according to data from the directorate general. Most are found in the forests of Borneo (54,567), with the remainder in Sumatra (6,667). In Borneo, orangutans are found in East Kalimantan (4,825), Central Kalimantan (31,300), West Kalimantan including the neighboring Malaysian state of Sarawak (7,425) and the Malaysian state of Sabah (11,017). In Sumatra, orangutans are found in Seulawah (43), West Central Aceh (103), East Central Aceh (337), West Leuser (2,508), Sidiangkat (134), East Leyser (1,042), Tripa Swamp (280), Trumon-Singkil (1,500), East Rawa Singkil (160), West Batang Toru (400) and East Sarulla (150).
Kalimantan has been studied, surveyed and travelled by local scientists or international expert since 1800s. However, there was no study or firmed answer why there is no orangutan in Malinau. However, it was reported that a study suggested in Serawak, 10.000 years ago, it was found in the cave in Serawak bones of orangutan had been consumed by the human. It was also reported that the pigs is the most frequent animals eaten by homo sapiens. The book was written by Leobert E M De Boer in 1982. The title is The Orangutan, Its Biology and Conservation.
So in the question of is it the diet of Dayak caused the extinction of Orangutan, the answer could be yes. Iban tribe in Serawak, had the culture that is taboo to eat orangutan, then they still have the population of orangutan. So it could be the culture of eating orangutan causing the extinction of orangutan in Malinau.
In Aceh conflicts, there were a lot of orangutans are got shot intentionally or unintentionally, yet they still survived. So human conflicts or conflicts human and primate did not caused the extinction.
Climate is not possible causing the extinction of orangutan as proved by the finding of Black Orangutan in Sangkurilang in East Kalimantan."So yes, finding a population that science did not know about is significant, especially one of this size," Birute Mary Galdikas, a Canadian scientist said, noting that those found on the eastern part of the island represent a rare subspecies, the black Borneon orangutan, or Pongo pygmaeus morio.
The 700-square mile (2,500-square kilometer) jungle escaped the massive fires that devastated almost all of the surrounding forests in the late 1990s. The blazes were set by plantation owners and small-scale farmers and exacerbated by the El Nino droughts.Nardiyono, who headed The Nature Conservancy's weeklong survey in December, said "it could be the density is very high because after the fires, the orangutans all flocked to one small area" as reported in The Jakarta Post 14 April 2009. The area is high in the mountain near Sangkurilang, East Kalimantan. The finding also approved that temperature and topography of the area do not caused the extinction.
The post also reported that there are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 90 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in neighboring Malaysia.The countries are the world's top producers of palm oil, used in food, cosmetics and to meet growing demands for "clean-burning" fuels in the U.S. and Europe. Rain forests, where the solitary animals spend almost all of their time, have been clear-cut and burned at alarming rates to make way for lucrative palm oil plantations.
The explanation of vegetation in Malinau caused the disappering of orangutan. It could not be used because the existence of orangutan in Kutai where they have same lowland as in Malinau lowland, there exists orangutan. However this opinion is being rejected by Toni Suhartono, director of biological diversity conservation at the Forestry Ministry. According to him that the habitat loss due to forest destruction was the main cause of the reduction in the numbers of orangutans, compounded by less significant factors such as human-animal conflicts as reported on The Jakarta Post 13 April 2009.
For orangutan experts, the cause of the extinction in the past, present and future is clear cut. “The last strong-holds of Asia’s only great ape are being devastated by loggers and plantation owners, many of whom are acting illegally and out of sheer greed. We as consumers bear some responsibility for that”says Faith Doherty, a senior campaigner for the UK-based environmental investigation Agency (EIA) in Daily Express on 28 May 2009.
So back to the beginning of the story, the statement "Dayak eats orangutan" was made by one of the officer working in Kayan Mentarang National Park (KMNP). He told us that they had a program of moving back orangutan to Malinau. The two places targeted was Rian Tubu, South West of Malinau city and in Long Alango, in the west of Malinau City.
After further study and discussion, they choosed Long Alango forest inside Kayan Mentarang National Park. However, to double check, the team from KMNP asked the community in Long Alango village for their opinion. And during that discussion, some of the community disagreed with the program by saying that they used to be orangutan in the area, then they were extinct becaused most of them were hunted and consumed. It became well sought and people competed hunting for them. At the end it can caused the conflict inside the community.
Based on that, they rejected the program of re-introduction of orangutan in Long Alango. The community beleives that the reintroduction of orangutan will make people competed again for the meat of orangutan. This will cause conflict and disharmony in the community. At the end the KMNP team decided to drop the program. That was the story told by Pak Bisnu, an official in KMNP. I beleive this is the reason why the animal extinct in Malinau. Dayak's diet caused the extinction of orangutan in Malinau or in Kalimantan in the future as one of the main factor.
On the brighter note the govenment had prepared programs to save the fate of orangutan. They include conservation education, research on sustainable orangutan conservation, improving cooperation with environmental groups, setting up a forum to monitor enforcement of regulations, arranging a logging schedule in orangutan habitat, issuing a law against mining in habitat areas, law enforcement and patrols against poachers as reported by The Jakarta Post 13 June 2008. All will be completed in 2017. It sounds good. We also hope it turns out to be good.
Rabu, 17 Juni 2009
Forest Carbon
Rich countries have ‘double duty’: Oxfam
Klipping: Mohamad Rayan
Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Wed, 06/17/2009 9:11 AM National
With climate talks on financing methods remaining unsettled, Oxfam International proposed a non-market-based mechanism requiring rich nations to perform a “double duty”: Pay developing countries to mitigate climate change and cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Under Oxfam’s Global Mitigation and Finance Mechanism, recipient countries with a per capita purchasing power of less than US$1,000 a year have no binding targets to cut their emissions.
Oxfam predicted that rich nations should allocate at least $150 billion per year to fund climate change mitigation in developing countries, the main victims of the effects of global warming.
“It is a fair deal that when rich countries keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, they can also deliver resources to help the poor avoid the impact of climate change,” Rully Prayoga, Oxfam International climate campaigner for the East Asian region told reporters on Tuesday.
“Indonesia, with a per capita purchasing power of about $661 a year, should get full support from Global Mitigation and Finance Mechanism.”
Oxfam proposed the mechanism after climate negotiators remained in a deadlock on financial mechanism issues to fund the mitigation during the recent Bonn climate conference.
Rully said that the rich nations disagreed on whether a mitigation fund would also be allocated to rich oil countries in the Middle East.
“We offer a win-win solution to bridge the expected negotiation deadlock in the upcoming Copenhagen meeting in December. Hopefully, the Indonesian government can take the lead to push the concept to the negotiation table,” Rully said.
“An agreement struck at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in just six months could pave way for a post-2012 climate regime that staves off catastrophic climate change.”
Under the Oxfam mechanism, the wealthier countries like Singapore and Qatar are not eligible to receive the fund.
But, China and India with its huge population living in poverty, should benefit from the Oxfam mechanism.
The rich nations, including the United States have repeatedly asked emerging nations like China, India and Brazil to have legally binding targets for emission cuts.
Under Oxfam’s mechanism, rich nations would need to reduce their emissions to at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The rich nations are currently required to cut about 5 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions from their 1990 levels to deal with climate change, as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol however, allows developing countries to host green projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM) to help rich nations meet their binding targets.
Indonesia has about 100 CDM projects but only three of them can receive financing from rich nations.
The international community is currently discussing the forestry mechanism to deal with greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme, Indonesia, as the world’s third-largest forest nation, is set to benefit greatly from carbon trading.
Oxfam’s analysis showed that more than 95 percent of industrialized countries failed to reach their emissions cut target.Under Oxfam’s mechanism, rich nations would need to reduce their emissions to at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Klipping: Mohamad Rayan
Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Wed, 06/17/2009 9:11 AM National
With climate talks on financing methods remaining unsettled, Oxfam International proposed a non-market-based mechanism requiring rich nations to perform a “double duty”: Pay developing countries to mitigate climate change and cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Under Oxfam’s Global Mitigation and Finance Mechanism, recipient countries with a per capita purchasing power of less than US$1,000 a year have no binding targets to cut their emissions.
Oxfam predicted that rich nations should allocate at least $150 billion per year to fund climate change mitigation in developing countries, the main victims of the effects of global warming.
“It is a fair deal that when rich countries keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, they can also deliver resources to help the poor avoid the impact of climate change,” Rully Prayoga, Oxfam International climate campaigner for the East Asian region told reporters on Tuesday.
“Indonesia, with a per capita purchasing power of about $661 a year, should get full support from Global Mitigation and Finance Mechanism.”
Oxfam proposed the mechanism after climate negotiators remained in a deadlock on financial mechanism issues to fund the mitigation during the recent Bonn climate conference.
Rully said that the rich nations disagreed on whether a mitigation fund would also be allocated to rich oil countries in the Middle East.
“We offer a win-win solution to bridge the expected negotiation deadlock in the upcoming Copenhagen meeting in December. Hopefully, the Indonesian government can take the lead to push the concept to the negotiation table,” Rully said.
“An agreement struck at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in just six months could pave way for a post-2012 climate regime that staves off catastrophic climate change.”
Under the Oxfam mechanism, the wealthier countries like Singapore and Qatar are not eligible to receive the fund.
But, China and India with its huge population living in poverty, should benefit from the Oxfam mechanism.
The rich nations, including the United States have repeatedly asked emerging nations like China, India and Brazil to have legally binding targets for emission cuts.
Under Oxfam’s mechanism, rich nations would need to reduce their emissions to at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The rich nations are currently required to cut about 5 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions from their 1990 levels to deal with climate change, as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol however, allows developing countries to host green projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM) to help rich nations meet their binding targets.
Indonesia has about 100 CDM projects but only three of them can receive financing from rich nations.
The international community is currently discussing the forestry mechanism to deal with greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme, Indonesia, as the world’s third-largest forest nation, is set to benefit greatly from carbon trading.
Oxfam’s analysis showed that more than 95 percent of industrialized countries failed to reach their emissions cut target.Under Oxfam’s mechanism, rich nations would need to reduce their emissions to at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Selasa, 16 Juni 2009
Kondisi Gunung Leuser
Perambah Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser Makin Banyak
Kliping: Mohamad Rayan
/
Selasa, 19 Mei 2009 17:44 WIB
Laporan wartawan KOMPAS Khaerudin
MEDAN, KOMPAS.com — Belum segera dilakukannya relokasi pengungsi di dalam Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser, membuat semakin banyak perambah yang mendatangi kawasan ini. Para perambah berlindung di balik keberadaan pengungsi yang mestinya sudah harus direlokasi ke Solok, Sumatera Barat.
Menurut Kepala Bidang Pengelolaan Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser (TNGL) Wilayah III Stabat Ari Subiantoro, pemerintah pusat dalam hal ini Departemen Kehutanan dan Kantor Kementerian Koordinator Kesejahteraan Rakyat masih belum memutuskan kapan pengungsi TNGL harus direlokasi.
Di sisi lain, menurut Ari, Pemerintah Kabupaten Solok, Sumatera Barat, sudah menyatakan kesediaannya menerima kedatangan 554 keluarga pengungsi yang sejak masa konflik Aceh menetap di dalam kawasan TNGL.
Ari mengungkapkan, nantinya pengungsi direncanakan menetap di areal hutan lindung yang akan diubah menjadi Areal Penggunaan Lain (APL), semacam enclave untuk pengungsi di dalam kawasan hutan lindung tersebut. Pihak Balai Besar TNGL, kata Ari, telah mengirimkan surat ke Menteri Kehutanan agar melepaskan status hutan lindung yang bakal ditempati pengungsi tersebut.
"Jika masing-masing keluarga mendapatkan sekitar 2 hektar lahan, berarti yang harus dilepaskan sekitar 1.000 hektar lebih," ujar Ari di Medan, Selasa (19/5).
Belum adanya kepastian waktu kapan pengungsi di dalam kawasan TNGL ini direlokasi ke Solok, menurut Ari, membuat perambah non-pengungsi banyak berdatangan. Bahkan, kata dia, beberapa perambah ada yang mengadakan transaksi jual beli lahan di areal yang didiami pengungsi.
"Perambah ini berlindung di balik keberadaan pengungsi yang masih mendiami kawasan TNGL," katanya. Padahal sejak tiga tahun terakhir, Balai Besar TNGL beserta aparat penegak hukum dari Kepolisian Resor Langkat memaksa perambah untuk tak lagi mendiami kawasan TNGL. Perkebunan sawit milik perambah maupun orang-orang di luar pengungsi yang berada di dalam kawasan TNGL dihancurkan.
"Kalau dari Balai Besar TNGL jelas kami menginginkan relokasi ini bisa dilakukan secepatnya, sebab jika ditunda-tunda terus, akan semakin banyak perambah yang mendatangi kawasan dan sulit bagi kita menertibkan mereka kembali," ujar Ari.
Pengecualian diberikan kepada pengungsi asal Aceh yang masih mendiami beberapa kawasan di dalam TNGL, seperti Barak Induk, Sei Minyak, dan Damar Hitam. Ketiga wilayah ini berada di Kabupaten Langkat. Pengungsi diperbolehkan mendiami kawasan TNGL meski undang-undang tentang kawasan konservasi melarang kawasan taman nasional didiami masyarakat, apalagi dimanfaatkan sebagai areal perkebunan. Namun, pengungsi hanya diperbolehkan menempati kawasan TNGL hingga mendapatkan areal baru untuk relokasi mereka.
Menurut Petugas Seksi Pengelolaan TNGL Wilayah VI Besitang Ujang Wisnu Barata, meski secara prinsip Departemen Kehutanan menyetujui pelepasan areal hutan lindung di Kabupaten Solok untuk menjadi lokasi baru pengungsi TNGL, tetapi penetapan batas APL dengan kawasan hutan lindung belum dikukuhkan.
"Kami masih menunggu kabar lebih lanjut dari Departemen Kehutanan untuk pengukuhan tapal batas wilayah untuk pengungsi dengan kawasan hutan lindungnya," kata Ujang.
Kliping: Mohamad Rayan
/
Selasa, 19 Mei 2009 17:44 WIB
Laporan wartawan KOMPAS Khaerudin
MEDAN, KOMPAS.com — Belum segera dilakukannya relokasi pengungsi di dalam Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser, membuat semakin banyak perambah yang mendatangi kawasan ini. Para perambah berlindung di balik keberadaan pengungsi yang mestinya sudah harus direlokasi ke Solok, Sumatera Barat.
Menurut Kepala Bidang Pengelolaan Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser (TNGL) Wilayah III Stabat Ari Subiantoro, pemerintah pusat dalam hal ini Departemen Kehutanan dan Kantor Kementerian Koordinator Kesejahteraan Rakyat masih belum memutuskan kapan pengungsi TNGL harus direlokasi.
Di sisi lain, menurut Ari, Pemerintah Kabupaten Solok, Sumatera Barat, sudah menyatakan kesediaannya menerima kedatangan 554 keluarga pengungsi yang sejak masa konflik Aceh menetap di dalam kawasan TNGL.
Ari mengungkapkan, nantinya pengungsi direncanakan menetap di areal hutan lindung yang akan diubah menjadi Areal Penggunaan Lain (APL), semacam enclave untuk pengungsi di dalam kawasan hutan lindung tersebut. Pihak Balai Besar TNGL, kata Ari, telah mengirimkan surat ke Menteri Kehutanan agar melepaskan status hutan lindung yang bakal ditempati pengungsi tersebut.
"Jika masing-masing keluarga mendapatkan sekitar 2 hektar lahan, berarti yang harus dilepaskan sekitar 1.000 hektar lebih," ujar Ari di Medan, Selasa (19/5).
Belum adanya kepastian waktu kapan pengungsi di dalam kawasan TNGL ini direlokasi ke Solok, menurut Ari, membuat perambah non-pengungsi banyak berdatangan. Bahkan, kata dia, beberapa perambah ada yang mengadakan transaksi jual beli lahan di areal yang didiami pengungsi.
"Perambah ini berlindung di balik keberadaan pengungsi yang masih mendiami kawasan TNGL," katanya. Padahal sejak tiga tahun terakhir, Balai Besar TNGL beserta aparat penegak hukum dari Kepolisian Resor Langkat memaksa perambah untuk tak lagi mendiami kawasan TNGL. Perkebunan sawit milik perambah maupun orang-orang di luar pengungsi yang berada di dalam kawasan TNGL dihancurkan.
"Kalau dari Balai Besar TNGL jelas kami menginginkan relokasi ini bisa dilakukan secepatnya, sebab jika ditunda-tunda terus, akan semakin banyak perambah yang mendatangi kawasan dan sulit bagi kita menertibkan mereka kembali," ujar Ari.
Pengecualian diberikan kepada pengungsi asal Aceh yang masih mendiami beberapa kawasan di dalam TNGL, seperti Barak Induk, Sei Minyak, dan Damar Hitam. Ketiga wilayah ini berada di Kabupaten Langkat. Pengungsi diperbolehkan mendiami kawasan TNGL meski undang-undang tentang kawasan konservasi melarang kawasan taman nasional didiami masyarakat, apalagi dimanfaatkan sebagai areal perkebunan. Namun, pengungsi hanya diperbolehkan menempati kawasan TNGL hingga mendapatkan areal baru untuk relokasi mereka.
Menurut Petugas Seksi Pengelolaan TNGL Wilayah VI Besitang Ujang Wisnu Barata, meski secara prinsip Departemen Kehutanan menyetujui pelepasan areal hutan lindung di Kabupaten Solok untuk menjadi lokasi baru pengungsi TNGL, tetapi penetapan batas APL dengan kawasan hutan lindung belum dikukuhkan.
"Kami masih menunggu kabar lebih lanjut dari Departemen Kehutanan untuk pengukuhan tapal batas wilayah untuk pengungsi dengan kawasan hutan lindungnya," kata Ujang.
Senin, 15 Juni 2009
Alfred Russel Wallace and Ternate
TWF to promote Wallace to foreign communities
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Thu, 06/11/2009 1:13 PM National
The Wallacea Foundation (TWF) is campaigning throughout the Wallacea area to global communities as an effort to realise its plan to set up a biodiversity research center in Ternate, North Maluku.
The maiden campaign is to be held in Beijing during the Indonesian Week on June 17 to 21 followed by an event in Geneva later this year.
"We also aim to build a monument to honor Alfred Russel Wallace," foundation chairman Sangkot Marzuki told reporters Wednesday.
The British naturalist explored the area between 1854 and 1862.
Sangkot said the foundation, set up in 2005 as a merger of the Wallace Development Institute and TWF would promote the area's rich biodiversity, including about 10,000 species of plants, 222 of animals and 647 of birds.
A study by the Conservation International said there were currently about 1,500 endemic species of plants, 49 of threatened birds, 44 of mammals and seven of threatened amphibians in the area due to forest clearing for a government-sponsored transmigration program.
The Ternate city administration announced it would reconstruct the former home of Wallace and designate it as a monument.
In 1858, Wallace inspired Charles Darwin's natural selection theory after he sent Darwin a letter detailing his findings in Ternate.
The letter, attached to his essay On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type, outlined the mechanics of the evolutionary divergence of certain species due to environmental pressures.
While Darwin achieved fame as "the father of evolution", Wallace has remained largely unknown.
Director of public diplomacy at the foreign affairs ministry, Umar Hadi, said his office would support efforts to promote the Wallace area in the international arena.
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Thu, 06/11/2009 1:13 PM National
The Wallacea Foundation (TWF) is campaigning throughout the Wallacea area to global communities as an effort to realise its plan to set up a biodiversity research center in Ternate, North Maluku.
The maiden campaign is to be held in Beijing during the Indonesian Week on June 17 to 21 followed by an event in Geneva later this year.
"We also aim to build a monument to honor Alfred Russel Wallace," foundation chairman Sangkot Marzuki told reporters Wednesday.
The British naturalist explored the area between 1854 and 1862.
Sangkot said the foundation, set up in 2005 as a merger of the Wallace Development Institute and TWF would promote the area's rich biodiversity, including about 10,000 species of plants, 222 of animals and 647 of birds.
A study by the Conservation International said there were currently about 1,500 endemic species of plants, 49 of threatened birds, 44 of mammals and seven of threatened amphibians in the area due to forest clearing for a government-sponsored transmigration program.
The Ternate city administration announced it would reconstruct the former home of Wallace and designate it as a monument.
In 1858, Wallace inspired Charles Darwin's natural selection theory after he sent Darwin a letter detailing his findings in Ternate.
The letter, attached to his essay On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type, outlined the mechanics of the evolutionary divergence of certain species due to environmental pressures.
While Darwin achieved fame as "the father of evolution", Wallace has remained largely unknown.
Director of public diplomacy at the foreign affairs ministry, Umar Hadi, said his office would support efforts to promote the Wallace area in the international arena.
Orangutan Extinction
Orangutans could face extinction over next 10 years
Apriadi Gunawan , The Jakarta Post , Medan Fri, 06/13/2008 10:03 AM The Archipelago
The number of orangutans could fall by nearly 50 percent over the next decade due to habitat destruction and human-animal conflicts, according to estimates by the directorate general for forest protection and nature conservation.
The current orangutan population is believed to be 61,234, according to data from the directorate general. Most are found in the forests of Borneo (54,567), with the remainder in Sumatra (6,667).
In Borneo, orangutans are found in East Kalimantan (4,825), Central Kalimantan (31,300), West Kalimantan including the neighboring Malaysian state of Sarawak (7,425) and the Malaysian state of Sabah (11,017).
In Sumatra, orangutans are found in Seulawah (43), West Central Aceh (103), East Central Aceh (337), West Leuser (2,508), Sidiangkat (134), East Leyser (1,042), Tripa Swamp (280), Trumon-Singkil (1,500), East Rawa Singkil (160), West Batang Toru (400) and East Sarulla (150).
The orangutan population in Borneo is facing the greatest risk of decline over the next 10 years, said director of biological diversity conservation at the Forestry Ministry, Toni Suhartono.
He said the rapid pace of forest destruction had attributed to habitat loss each year of between 1.5 and 2 percent in Borneo and between 1 and 1.5 percent in Sumatra.
Toni said habitat loss due to forest destruction was the main cause of the reduction in the numbers of orangutans, compounded by less significant factors such as human-animal conflicts.
The government is very concerned about the reduction in the orangutan population, said Toni.
The government has prepared an action plan to preserve habitat in order to keep the orangutan population and habitat in a stable, or even improved, condition.
Toni said the government would focus on a number of efforts in a bid to save orangutans from the threat of extinction.
The programs, due to be completed by 2017, include conservation education, research on sustainable orangutan conservation, improving cooperation with environmental groups, setting up a forum to monitor enforcement of regulations, arranging a logging schedule in orangutan habitat, issuing a law against mining in habitat areas, law enforcement and patrols against poachers.
"The government aims to have all the conservation programs realized by 2017 so as to ensure a sustainable orangutan population and the protection of its habitat," Toni said during a recent workshop organized at the North Sumatra Natural Resources Center in Medan.
About 100 participants from various agencies, higher learning institutes, NGOs and businesses attended the two-day closed-door seminar.
Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Program director, Ian Singleton, who took part in the workshop, expressed doubt the action plans would be achieved by 2017 without effective law enforcement.
According to Singleton, it is essential the Indonesian government include law enforcement in the action plan.
Also necessary, he said, were public awareness campaigns on orangutan conservation and its habitat because many people were still unaware that keeping orangutans as pets was illegal.
"Based on my observations, many orangutans are being kept as pets by certain people, including individuals from the police and military, ironically," Singleton said, adding that of the 120 orangutan confiscations made by authorities, up to 70 percent had involved individuals from the security forces.
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