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House passes long-awaited nature conservation law revision

The revision of the 1990 Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Law has finally been passed after eight years of work, following several hindrances and postponements of the bill's deliberation.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, July 10, 2024

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House passes long-awaited nature conservation law revision Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar (left) hands over a document containing the government's response to the revision of the 1990 Natural Resources Conservation Law to House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar (right) on July 9, 2024, during a House plenary session at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. During the session, the House decided to pass the revision of the 1990 law. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)

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awmakers passed the long-awaited revision to the 1990 Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Law; a change the policymakers claim will ensure better legal protection for wildlife and the environment.

The passage of the revision was formalized at a House of Representatives plenary session led by deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB) on Tuesday morning, with all nine House party factions approving the bill.

House Commission IV overseeing environment and forestry deputy chair Budisatrio Djiwandono of Gerindra Party said that the revision of the 1990 law was necessary amid changes in global and national conservation paradigms and international environmental laws.

“It is necessary to make an adjustment to nature conservation, [including] to the government’s role and authority,” Budisatrio said at the Tuesday plenary session, as quoted by Antara.

He added that the new law would also clear up the role of public and indigenous communities as well as funding for environment conservation activities.

Also attending the plenary session was Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, who called the revision of the 1990 Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Law essential to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources while still supporting the people’s welfare.

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“This revision is important so that our conservation principles can be implemented based on the current situations in the field,” she said.

Read also: Indonesia calls for fair share from developed countries to preserve biodiversity 

The plan to revise the 1990 law has been on the table since 2016, following increasing deaths of protected animals – such as the critically endangered Sumatran elephant – caused by hunters and illegal traders. 

At that time, the government felt it was urgent to revise the law as most cases of animal trading and hunting only resulted in less than a year of imprisonment and fines of less than Rp 100 million (US$6,145).

In December 2017, the House’s Legislation Body (Baleg) announced that the revision of the 1990 Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Law was included in the 2018 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list as a House initiative. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a presidential letter in March 2018 to greenlight the deliberation of the bill.

But the deliberation stalled several times, including in May 2018 when President Jokowi decided in a cabinet meeting to halt the process for revising the law.

At that time, the government argued that the prevailing law was still able to support the country’s efforts to conserve the ecosystem and natural resources. The administration also argued that the bill included several articles that were not in line with principles of nature conservation and ecology. (nal/kuk)

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