Freed Orangutans, Cleaner Beaches and Bottle-Apple Swaps on Earth Day

April 23, 2012

Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan. People across the country marked the annual Earth Day on Sunday with gatherings aimed at improving neighborhoods and pledges to preserve the environment.

In Samboja Lestari, scores of orangutans earlier placed in a rehabilitation center by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation were released into the forest.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that during the next five years, all orangutans must be released to the forest.

Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya called on people to save orangutans and support forest rehabilitation by planting more trees.

“While the world uses the polar bear as an icon in protecting biodiversity, we can save orangutans as our way to save biodiversity,” he said.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said the government was committed to maintaining a balance between economic development, preservation of the environment and fixing social problems.

“I am very proud to see the orangutans at last return to their habitat where they should live. I hope all stakeholders, including civil society groups and businesses, to continue to cooperate to conserve biodiversity,” he said.

In the city of Bengkulu, residents commemorated Earth Day by conducting a campaign urging people to dispose of their garbage thoughtfully.

At least 300 people joined an activity to clean the southwest Sumatran city’s beach.

“We just want to set an example to people on the importance of having our environment clean from garbage,” said Sofian, a coordinator of the Puspa Langka Community.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, dozens of activists worked together to clean the Banjaran River, which divides the city, to mark Earth Day.

Meanwhile, singer Tasya Kamila spoke in front of 1,000 residents in Padang, West Sumatra, on the importance of preserving the environment.

She said that if the Earth was destroyed, people would not have a place to live.

“In using perfume, for instance, we must ensure that it is safe. Make sure it is environmentally friendly,” Tasya said.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, environmentalists and students gave tree seeds to residents while hosting a performance demonstrating the importance of the environment.

The Pekanbaru administration also held a car-free day along the city’s main streets.

Students in Bandung commemorated Earth Day by offering residents a chance to exchange three plastic bottles for an apple. “We set up five posts along the main streets. So far we have provided 80 apples in exchange,” said Melisa, a volunteer.

In Makassar, several nongovernmental organizations and environmentalists staged a rally.

“The rally is a manifestation of our concern about the increasingly critical condition of the earth. Therefore, we must always be aware of the need to save the earth,” environment activist Zulkarnaen said. At the rally, the demonstrators called for efforts to save the earth.

( from the JG)

April 23, 2012

Earth Day commemorations in Indonesia were low-key, but those who marked the day were quick to warn of the worsening environmental situation.

An environmental group on Sunday called on the Aceh administration to stop issuing permits to convert forested areas for other uses.

“We also call for the government to immediately conduct an inspection of all forest conversion permits,” T.M. Zulfikar, the executive director of the Aceh office of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said in Banda Aceh on Sunday.

Zulfikar said the permits, which are issued to plantation, mining and other firms, should be reevaluated.

He added that the government should reestablish people’s customary rights to forest areas to ensure their preservation.

Zulfikar said 58 percent of Aceh’s 5.7 million hectares was covered by forests, but that this was shrinking under the pretext of investment, both in plantations and mines.

“The Aceh administration has not prioritized the issue of deforestation and a 2007 moratorium on logging has not been effective,” he said.

Deforestation has led to increasing damage from floods, while animals are endangered by encroaching human development.

“In 2011 there were 57 confrontations between animals and people, up from 19 the year before,” he said.

“The people are putting a lot of faith in the next governor of the province to address these issues,” Zulfikar said, referring to the gubernatorial elections earlier this month.

Walhi’s West Sumatra branch, meanwhile, warned that Indonesia’s forests were in a critical state given the rate of deforestation.

Growing investment in the country has resulted in more demand for land, threatening the survival of forests, Walhi West Sumatra executive director Abednego Tarigan said in Padang on Sunday.

He said there was a need to balance economic development with environmental protection, adding that Indonesia loses one million hectares of forests a year just to oil palm plantations.
He blamed the government for prioritizing the exploitation of natural resources over environmental protection.

These exploitative practices, he said, would lead to greater economic and social costs. Abednego said the worst affected areas were archipelagic provinces such as Bangka-Belitung and Jambi.

He added that reforestation efforts were not keeping pace with deforestation.

However, Abednego said public awareness of the issue was growing, as evidenced by numerous tree planting initiatives, but warned that this needed to move past ceremonial formalities and acquire government backing.


( also from the JG)