PONTIANAK- West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) and WWF-Indonesia signed an operational cooperation agreement related to the protection and management of conservation areas and wild plants and animals (TSL), Wednesday (02/03/2016). This operational cooperation is intended to strengthen support for the conservation program of biological natural resources and ecosystems.

Head of the West Kalimantan KSDA Center, Sustyo Iriyono, said that this step is important as a means of working collaboratively. "Of course there must be progress made. This cooperation can strengthen efforts to manage plant and wildlife conservation inside and outside conservation areas more effectively, sustainably, and involve all interested parties," Sustyo said in Pontianak.

This cooperation is carried out in order to optimize the management of plant and wildlife conservation in the work area of the West Kalimantan KSDA Hall with related strategic partners, in order to support and encourage the effectiveness of the implementation of conservation of natural resources and ecosystems.

Sustyo further explained that in the last five to six years, cases of poaching, trade, smuggling, by catch (accidental bycatch) and maintenance of protected wildlife are very rampant in West Kalimantan.

These include the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), ivory hornbill (Buceros vigil), pangolin (Manis javanica), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), slow loris (Nycticeboussp.), turtles (Cheloniidae family), porpoises (Orcaella brevirostris), shark fins and babies, and some plants such as black orchids (Coelogyne pandurata) and pouch semar (Nepenthes sp.).

To minimize this, Sustyo said, collaborative management is needed that emphasizes case handling and law enforcement. "Through this collaboration, it is hoped that the number of cases related to threats to protected TSL in West Kalimantan will decrease."

Meanwhile, WWF-Indonesia's West Kalimantan Program Manager, Albertus Tjiu, said that support from the West Kalimantan BKSDA as the management authority that has the authority to handle cases is very much needed. "This is a form of socialization and education to the people in West Kalimantan about the conservation of protected TSL," he said.

The basis for law enforcement of protected TSL is regulated in Indonesian legislation through Law Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Ecosystems and Government Regulation Number 7 of 1999 concerning Preservation of Plant and Animal Species. There are sanctions, both in the form of fines and criminal law, which are regulated against violations committed, in this case for example related to the maintenance or trade of protected TSLs.

Species Officer WWF-Indonesia West Kalimantan Program, Dewi Puspita Sari hopes that with this collaboration, conservation work, especially in West Kalimantan, will be even better. "With this collaboration, we hope to find a joint solution to the cases of wildlife that are increasingly out of their habitat, as well as how to provide understanding to the community to avoid conflicts between wildlife and humans. One of them is through socialization activities as a form of conservation education as contained in the scope of activities of this cooperation," said Dewi.

The cooperation is carried out during the period 2016 - 2107 covering several collaborative activities that include area protection (studies and workshops), preservation of flora and fauna (investigations), institutional strengthening, community empowerment, and conservation education (socialization and campaigns).

For more information, please contact:
Hayunieta
Forestry Extension Cooperation Division
West Kalimantan BKSDA
PHONE: +62 812 28080811
Email: hayunieta@gmail.com

Albertus Tjiu
West Kalimantan Program Manager
WWF Indonesia Foundation
PHONE: +62 812 5624019
Email: Albertus@wwfid.onmicrosoft.com