Nature Alert: RI, Japan enhancing ties through rare animal exchanges

Monday, 8 February 2010

RI, Japan enhancing ties through rare animal exchanges

Personal note:

Shady deals going on, often involve zoos. This kind of deal has nothing to do with conservation or breeding loans. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
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Sunday, February 7, 2010 08:41 WIB | International |

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Japan have been further enhancing their 51-years-old diplomatic ties by exchanging rare animals, Indonesia`s chief representative in Japan said.

"The Indonesian government has lent some rare animals to Japan as part of our diplomacy," Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Jusuf Anwar said here Saturday on the sidelines of a Foreign Ministry Working Conference.

He said in recent years the two countries had strengthened their diplomacy to support the biodiversity conservation of endangered species between the Indonesian Nature Conservation Institute (LKA-zoos, Safari parks and breeding centers) and Japanese counterparts.

The Indonesian embassy in Tokyo during 2006-2009 period had brought nine endangered species from Indonesia to Japan, namely three orangutans, one Sumatran tiger, two komodos and five proboscis monkeys under the status of conservation loan for a specified period to be introduced to Japanese society, the envoy said.

Under the conservation and breeding loan status, both countries and Japanese Nature Conservation Institute in cooparation with the

Yokohama Breeding Center had successfully bred 180 Bali Starling endangered species, about 70 of them have been restored to their natural habitat in the West Bali National Park.

On the other hand, the LKA Indonesia got conservation grants of 21 endangered species from Japan, namely five Macacas, 12 penguins and four sea lions that can be bred by the Indonesia LKA.
In 2008 Indonesian-Japan ties entered the age of 50 years, the envoy said.

The signing of the Strategic Partnership for Peaceful and Prosperous Future in 2006 and the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) in 2007 have strengthened the bilateral good relations.(*)

http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1265506891/ri-japan-enhancing-ties-through-rare-animal-exchanges

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.