The Straits Times
OCT 30 1998
Hunger triggers ecology crisis
Indonesia is at a historical turning point with a record
number of species being pushed towards extinction by hungry masses,
reports newspaper
BITUNG (Indonesia) -- The economic crisis is breeding an
ecological one as hungry Indonesians ravage the forests and kill
protected species for food.
This, together with a lack of funds for government initiatives to protect
the environment and wildlife, is threatening many unique
ecosystems, according to The Asian Wall Street Journal.
In many places, people have overrun government-protected
forests, decimated the wildlife, clear-cut ancient hardwoods and
other native plants, and planted crops harmful to the ecology.
Long-term government reforms in Jakarta, particularly
efforts to root out corruption, are critical to better resource
management. For now, however, chaos rules.
"We're about to lose a lot more species, no doubt about
it," said Mr Tony Sumampau, a leading conservationist.
"It's worse than losing money -- animals we can't get back."
Conservationists are especially concerned as Indonesia is
home to more plant and animal species than any other country
except Brazil.
Of Indonesia's 515 mammal species, 36 per cent are
indigenous; of its 1,519 bird species, 28 per cent are native.
Some scientists have said the threat to Indonesia's
biodiversity would be a threat to that of the globe.
"The destruction of Indonesia's ecosystems is a
biological tragedy without parallel in human history," said Mr Timothy
Jessup, a scientist with the World Wide Fund for Nature in Jakarta.
"In terms of species extinction, nothing on this scale
has happened since an asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs 60 million
years ago," he said.
Even in good times, this huge archipelago, ever-pressed
to feed its 200 million people -- the world's fourth-largest population
-- paid little heed to environmental protection.
But there had been progress in recent years,
environmentalists said, as a growing middle class learnt about Indonesia's
biodiversity and took steps to save it.
Said former Environment Minister Emil Salim: "Now, it's
back to every species for itself."
Sumatran elephants and rhinoceroses -- both among the
last wild pachyderms in Asia -- are on their last legs.
A government reform school to "train" wild elephants
caught pillaging farm crops is broke; malnourishment and disease are
spreading among its 120 inmates.
At sea, fishermen are ravaging coral reefs that encircle
Indonesia's 17,000 islands -- the richest marine resource in the
world, scientists say.
Dynamite fishing is becoming rampant, a practice that
destroys coral colonies.
The depletion of North Sulawesi's forests is particularly
alarming because of their extraordinary range of unique species.
Of this region's 127 mammal species, 62 per cent live nowhere else.
Yet North Sulawesi's food markets offer a smorgasbord of
endangered species, dead and alive.
Outside a market in Manado, the provincial capital, three
macaques were being sold at 100,000 rupiah (S$15) per monkey.
Meat of the anoa or dwarf buffalo is back on sale at
other small-town markets.
Its return proves that hunters are penetrating remote
parts of the forests -- and that extinction of this species could be imminent.
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