T

he participants of Canada World Youth – also known as the Indonesia-Canada Youth Exchange – held an Educational Acitivity Day on Feb. 22 by visiting the Sebangau National Park in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan.

Accompanied by WWF Indonesia staff in Central Kalimantan, the 16 youths consisted of nine Indonesians and seven Canadians aged 18-23 to discuss exploring environmental sustainability issues (the 7th of the Millennium Development Goals) in Kalimantan. The discussion went for an hour and various different topics were brought up during the discussion, including deforestation issues, the orangutan habitat preservation effort and other related information and updates on the Sebangau National Park.

Sebangau National Park was first established in 2004 as an initiative to save the last remaining virgin tropical forest in Kalimantan. Sizing 568,700 hectars, Sebangau is home to the largest population of orangutans in Kalimantan, estimated to be between 6,200 and 6,900 animals. It is also habitat for more than 35 species of other mammals; 13 of which are considered highly endangered, including owas, orangutans, honey bears and leopards. Consisting of original peat land, Sebangau National Park has a high biodiversity value with its 809 kinds of flora and 223 herbal plants. Given the perplexing challenges and complex social problems that lead to illegal logging and fires cause by human and industrial activities, Sebangau National Park has been chosen by the government for habitat preservation for animals and plants still living in the tropical forests of Kalimantan.

Central Kalimantan WWF Indonesia site manager Roshenda said in her speech that even though there has been some progress made in curbing the level of deforestation through the establishment of Sebangau National Park, there are still challenges because not all people in the community are aware of how important it is to preserve the habitat for orangutans. One of the challenges mentioned is that since the establishment of the National Park, people in the community have felt that they have had their rights restricted and access to money making activities limited, including cutting trees in the forest and selling them. To deal with these challenges, comprehensive measures by all the stakeholders are needed to forge a strong commitment to saving the natural habitat. Starting with the government, the community and the private sector, the three must coordinate their efforts to optimally prevent biodiversity loss.

WWF Indonesia itself has been working with the three parties to make sure that there is always a balance between their roles in preserving the habitat around the park. They have held partnerships with Malaysia to preserve the heart of Borneo and have made commitments to initiatives with private palm oil companies so that they will consider the ecological balance and socio-economic impacts of their policies and agreements. They also provided training for rattan and rubber plantations with the hope that they can be the future deposits for the community. On the education aspect, they have a program for the local community, especially for children, called Education for Sustainable Development. This program is aimed at educating and providing children with knowledge about their environment so that they can be the future generation guarding Sebangau National Park.

Leading children to choose the right way to save their environment is a very effective way in raising awareness about nature and how important it is to our living earth. Educational Activity Day will be one of those efforts whose purpose is to raise the awareness of the people towards the importance of their environment through the stories and best practices that the participants will share when they go back home after the program.

— Yesaya Hardyanto