07 July 2021
JAKARTA – Research and exploration activities to expose the bio-diversity of nature in Papua needs to be increased to prevent the extinction of flora and fauna species. This can only be achieved with full support of corporate policy makers, environmental and philanthropic organizations including the surrounding communities. This topic was brought up in the program Kompas Talks under the theme To Restore the Ecosystem to Sustain the Continuity of Bio-diversity which was held on Tuesday (7/6/21) in the presence of members of the Advisory Council of Yayasan Kehati, Erna Witoelar; Head of the Institute of Research and Regional Development for West Papua, Charlie D. Teatubun; President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Tony Wenas and public figure cum environmental activist Nugie.
Charlie Heatubun stated that the condition of West Papua’s biodiversity is in general very concerning due to minimal knowledge and research being executed to bring to light the wealth of bio-diversity in that region. This is happening because the biodiversity in Papua as well as other regions are under durable stress as consequence of development, population growth and the climate crisis.
The most recent number of vascular plants published is 13,634 species most of which were revealed through research executed by our neighboring country, Papua New Guinea. Many other areas of Papua have never been explored in the name of science, he said. According to Charlie the reason that research in Papua is minimal is attributed to the limited availability of researchers, the inaccessibility to infrastructure and inter-tribal conflicts. On the other hand, to carry out research in Papua is an extremely costly enterprise because of the land’s diverse physical natural environment such as mountainous regions, extensive natural forests, lakes, estuaries and archipelagos.
To unravel the flora of Papua even in a time span of a century would not be enough even more so with the minimal number of floral researchers available. In contrast to technological research, researchers in biodiversity need to go on exploratory missions which consume huge energy. Charlie explains that the role of a researcher is very important because it involves the maintenance and preservation of biodiversity. At the moment, the Regional and Development Agency of West Papua has identified priorities to conserve 1,500 endemic plant species.
Era Witoelar asserts that Indonesia’s endeavours to support the preservation of biodiversity is far from optimal in order to comply with global expectations. The efforts pursued up to this point are not only limited to conservation but also restoration considering that damage inflicted has been done over a long period of time and on a broad scale. In spite of that Erna also realized that today many areas and philanthropic organizations have become actively involved in extensive restoration efforts of the ecosystem since they have become aware that to preserve the environment and its biodiversity is very essential, although initially restoration activities had to be carried out under pressure. The United Nations has called out loudly that now is the decade of ecosystem restoration because it is a solution to mitigate the degradation of biodiversity, said Erna.
Corporate efforts
Tony Wenas said Freeport has been committing itself to maintain the environment and to preserve biodiversity at the same time improving the economy especially of the surrounding communities. Our commitment is part of the Seven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among our commitments are developing a center to research biodiversity and to reclaim and rehabilitate land. Since 1999-2020 we have reclaimed 2,800 hectares of land. In the first semester of 2021 we also have planted 1 million trees across an area of 400 hectares. Our tree planting target is 2.7 million trees on an area of 2,000 hectares.
His party also conducted researches on vegetation, mammals, birds, amphibians, freshwater fisheries, as well as aquatic and terrestrial insects. As the results, many new species were found, ranging from aquatic biota to terrestrial plants and fauna, such as 16 crab species, 17 unidentified mammal species, and the potential of 20-30 frog species. He also said that biodiversity education is no less important. "We have published books and educated students from elementary to high school to visit our conservation areas so that they understand Papua's biodiversity and learn to conserve it," he said. In order to generate public interest, Nugie stated that balanced information is needed to be received by the public regarding environmental and biodiversity issues. This is because he considered that so far the issue of environmental damage has been conveyed more than conservation or the discovery of new flora and fauna species. Flora is needed and becomes an indicator of a good living environment if the habitat is maintained, he said.
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