Friday, February 6, 2009

A license to kill

I refer to an article titled "Regions seek forest conversions," (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 2). How convenient it is for Forestry Minister Kaban, defender of illegal loggers, to blame others for wanting to cut down forests in Central Kalimantan.

He now tries to paint himself as someone between a rock and a hard place, when in reality he has been selling off Indonesia's rainforests with sensational enthusiasm for many years without any apparent concern for the law, the consequences to local people, the forest themselves and the millions of animals killed in the process. The only people he appears to show any sympathy toward are illegal loggers; one can only wonder why.

Could it be Kaban is now trying to deflect growing national as well as international condemnation of his decimation of Indonesia's national heritage?

Is it not time for the Ministry of Forestry to be stripped of its responsibility for protecting wildlife? The ministry clearly has a very obvious conflict of interest; its primary function is to sell forests in which the wildlife lives.

Would it not make more sense for the Ministry of Environment to be given responsibility for all environmental matters, including wildlife? It would save millions of animals as well as save forests Kaban will otherwise sell to the highest bidder.

Day after day the media is full of stories documenting deforestation and the decimation of wildlife. Only one person is responsible for both: Kaban. His ministry brings Indonesia the worst possible national as well as international publicity for environmental degradation. But will President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono step in and save Indonesia's rich natural heritage before it is too late? The world is waiting and watching.

Sean Whyte

Nature Alert

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/05/a-license-kill.html

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.