Nature Alert: Policy against environmental damage needs to be firm: NGO

Monday, 7 June 2010

Policy against environmental damage needs to be firm: NGO

Policy against environmental damage needs to be firm: NGO

Sunday, June 6, 2010 20:58 WIB Environment

Banjarbaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The local government policy on environmental vandalism must be forceful, said an NGO activist.

"Measures taken by the local government on environmental vandalism committed by an individual or company were still not firm enough," South Kalimantan Walhi (Indonesian Environmental Forum) Executive Director Hegar Wahyu Hidayat said here Sunday.

He said that firmness of the local government and relevant bodies was needed to uphold policies against those who damaged the environment.

Environmental pollution was caused by mining activities in Tapin district and iron ore mining in Kotabaru district.

"Environmental pollution which has been continuing in those districts remain untouched by the law," he said.

Those who are proven to have damaged and polluted the environment must receive legal sanctions, he said.

On the other hand, the government`s stance on the environment which benefits the society must take precedence over providing benefits for individuals and companies in their environmental damaging and ecosystem disruption activities.

"We see that the local government still provides land clearing permits for coal mining and oil palm plantation expansion that show the fact that the society and the environment alignment is still low," he said.

Hopefully, under the newly elected South Kalimantan governor and deputy governor, who asked for partisanship in the society, the people`s welfare would be raised without fearing natural disasters.

"As long as the environment is damaged and not maintained, natural disasters such as floods and landslides might occur, and by the new leader`s policy on the environment the disasters would still increase," he said. (A050/S012)

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http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1275832731/policy-against-environmental-damage-needs-to-be-firm-ngo

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.