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RI lacks taxonomists to preserve biodiversity
Indonesia is lacking well-trained taxonomists who have the knowledge and skills to identify and preserve its rich yet dwindling biodiversity, environmentalists and scientists say
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ndonesia is lacking well-trained taxonomists who have the knowledge and skills to identify and preserve its rich yet dwindling biodiversity, environmentalists and scientists say.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Oceanography Research Center chief Suharsono said there were only around 20 taxonomists in Indonesia, when it needed at least 100 to cover its biodiversity.
“The problem we are facing today is the fact that not enough people want to become taxonomists. Most people would rather take a more promising career path,” he said.
A taxonomist is still perceived as a nerdy profession; for someone who typically spends most of their time alone in damp laboratories or dusty libraries, Suharsono said.
The path to becoming a taxonomist is long and arduous, he added. They have to study for at least five years after graduating from university to memorize the names of existing species.
“To become a well-known taxonomist, one may need to spend hundreds of millions of rupiah [on research],” Suharsono said.
The institute is now looking for new talents in taxonomy through a selection program funded with money raised during the 2007 auction to name then newly discovered marine creatures in Raja Ampat regency, West Papua.
LIPI selected 160 people from five regions in the archipelago, including Makassar, South Sulawesi and Jakarta.
These people were from different backgrounds ranging from lecturers to activists.
A number of selection phases now have narrowed down the list to 20 possible taxonomists and para-taxonomists, who can identify species but not necessarily publicize their findings. Of the 20, only three are expected to become major taxonomists.
“We cannot conserve something if we are not acquainted with it,” said Jatna Supriatna, the vice president of Conservation International Indonesia.
In 2007, Conservation International, along with the Monaco-Asia Society, sponsored a charity auction conducted by Christie’s International in Monaco.
The auction gave numerous well-funded people and organizations an opportunity to bid on the naming rights to 11 newly found species, including the “walking shark” that “walks” with its fins along reefs.
The government claims Indonesia has a huge biodiversity, being home to 12 percent of the world’s mammal species (second only to Brazil) and 17 percent (1,531 species) of all bird species.
The country was also said to be home to 37 percent of the world’s species of fish.
However, most of those species are yet to be identified. Suharsono said the number of identified species could be around 30 percent, hence the urgent need for more taxonomists.
Jatna added that Indonesia’s marine population was under threat from human-bred species and species transported from other regions by humans.
“We must promote the country’s natural biodiversity … marine species could become extinct when we haven’t even named them yet,” he said.
Jatna said the rest of the US$2 million had been used for various purposes, including educating locals in the villages in the Bird’s Head area, about conserving marine species.
