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Better eating, wearing habits help preserve biodiversity
Adopting the habit of eating food and wearing clothes made from natural materials can help preserve biodiversity, the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati) says
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Adopting the habit of eating food and wearing clothes made from natural materials can help preserve biodiversity, the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati) says.
Kehati program director Anida Haryatmo said Saturday that stimulating interest for traditional food and nature-based clothes could make people see that saving the environment and preserving biodiversity were not necessarily expensive.
“Kehati has done the same for preserving traditional plants used for dyes by creating demand for fabrics made from natural dyes,” Anida said after a tree planting event to celebrate International Biodiversity Day.
The foundation considers the stimulation strategy an alternative way to help preserving biodiversity in developing countries, where the level of awareness of environmental protection was still low.
Indonesia is one of the developing countries experiencing massive natural destruction as people choose to damage the planet for economic gains. People still consider efforts to save the environment expensive because it sometimes involves high-end technology.
Indonesia is home to 40,000 plant species and 1,531 bird species, 515 mammal species and 240 endangered species. The country is believed to host 17 percent of the world’s species and has the world’s richest biodiversity after Brazil.
This year has been declared the year of International Biodiversity by the UN in an attempt to fight global warming and destructive human activities that have put 30 percent of the world’s species on the brink of extinction.
The Green Wave, an annual global campaign involving youth around the world planting trees, is also celebrated on the same day this year.
A number of schools in Jakarta held tree planting events on Saturday as part of the Green Wave movement and to celebrate International Biodiversity Day.
“We can start preserving the environment by doing simple things such as planting a tree,” Adeline Tiffanie, the founder of environmental protection group Sahabat Alam, said.
Adeline attended the Green Wave program at her Jubilee school in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, which was hosted by Kehati and aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Kehati ran a similar event in a high school in Cibinong, Bogor, on the same day.
