Activists beg parties' commitment to wildlife

Environmentalists have criticized political parties and their legislative candidates for showing no political commitment to conserve deteriorating forests and endangered species, saying the government should bar political parties from abusing rare species during the upcoming campaign season.

ProFauna, an NGO focused on animal protection, warned that the campaign season was prone to social conflict and violence, not only against rival party supporters but also against rare species of animals.

Staging a campaign against trading in wildlife, at Malang Square on Wednesday, dozens of acti-vists - who wore costumes of endangered species such as orangutans, Javanese eagles and Javanese tigers - said that there were no political parties and legislative candidates that included a conservation program in their platform, signaling a death bell for certain endangered species in the coming five years.

The activists also said that political parties were involved in at least 50 cases of violence against protected species during the 2004 campaign and general election in the province.

"Amid intense forest degradation and rampant wildlife trade, no political parties or legislative candidates have proposed a concrete program for forest and wildlife conservation," Tri Prayudhi, who coordinated the protest, said.

"They should also propose concrete programs to save the earth and the Indonesian environment."

Purnawan D. Negara, an environment expert at Widya Gama University, regretted that most politicians did not posses any concern for the environment.