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Why transboundary conservation matters
Declared in 2007, the Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative is a transboundary collaboration among Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Looking for something: A woman examines gaharu (agarwood) leaves for worms at Ulu Menyang village of Batang Ai. The village is part of the Heart of Borneo (HoB), an initiative of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia. (The Jakarta Post/Severianus Endi)
G
eorge Lucas’s cult classic Star Wars often depicts Master Yoda as a Jedi master who always teaches his padawan (Jedi in training) to keep the balance of the Force between the light and the dark side; essentially good versus evil.
The potential power of the Force is strong but easily misused and lures people to the dark side of the Force. In the real world, economic development can be illustrated as the light side with virtuous impacts as an instrument to improve people’s welfare and eradicate poverty. But when those efforts are implemented unsustainably, development risks crossing to the dark side and become a driving force of natural resources degradation. Unsustainable practices of development are transforming the industry, just like when Anakin Skywalker transformed into Darth Vader.
Although Star Wars is a science fiction story of a galaxy far far away, there are lessons that we can learn as to how we need to address the challenges of balancing development without imparting negative repercussions to achieve human empowerment that sustainably respects nature. To achieve this, joint efforts are key to ensuring that human development stays within sustainable or green corridors.
The Jedi always work collectively, as they can harness and unlock limitless potential of when three or more countries combine forces for the sake of transboundary conservation and low carbon development.
