PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS ON ENVIRONMENT DAY by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 10, 2013 (Antara) - It has been Indonesia's tradition that in celebrating the World Environment Day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono every year bestows Kalpataru (Tree of Life) awards to environmental heroes and Adipura awards to municipalities and districts for cleanliness.

         This year, during the award presentation which was held at the State Palace, Jakarta, on June 10, President Yudhoyono in his remarks emphasized the importance of environmental issues to be integrated into school curriculum for nine-year basic education.

         In Indonesia, basic education which is compulsory for children aged between seven and 15 years, is conducted in elementary and junior high schools.

           "I have instructed the education and culture minister to incorporate environmental issues, climate change and global warming in our basic education to build environmental awareness of children from their early age," the president said.

         "Children's character and habit can still be shaped. If teachers teach elementary school students to love the environment, plant trees and preserve the nature, God Willing, they will grow up as adults that love the environment," the head of state said.

          According to Unicef, children are powerful agents of change. When empowered and educated on climate change by child-friendly schools, children can reduce the vulnerability of themselves and their  communities to risk and contribute to sustainable development.

        While children are among the most vulnerable to climate change, they need not be considered passive or helpless victims.  Through education, projects and action, children can contribute to every aspect of  climate change policy-making, mitigation and adaptation, Unicef said on its website.

        Indonesian Environmental Affairs Minister Balthasar Kambuaya in his report said the theme of the national commemoration of the World Environment Day this year is "Change Consumption Behavior To Save the Environment".

         He cited his ministry's survey in 2012 that Indonesia's environmental care behavior index was around 0.57, while the absolute figure is 1.  "It indicates that the public awareness of the environmental issues is still low," he said.

   
                                         Kalpataru awards
     The Kalpataru awards, as usual, are presented to individuals and groups in four categories, namely  environmental pioneer, environmental devotee, environmental savior, and environmental patron categories.

          This year, President Yudhoyono presented the awards for the environmental pioneer category to Suratimin of Semoyo Village (Yogyakarta), Nazirudin of Nagari Malintang (West Sumatra), Chareudin of Lebak Bulus (Jakarta), Syahdan of Sentosa Barat (North Sumatra), and Herman Malolende of Walia Ate Village (East Nusa Tenggara).

          The award recipients of the environmental devotee category are
Darpius Indra of Kenagarian Cerocok Anau Ampang Pulai (West Sumatra), Koderi of Kebonsari (East Java), and Sofia Seven of  Rejosari (Riau).

           Environmental groups winning the awards for the environmental savior category are "Mabes Desobis" of Aisau (Papua) for protecting sea turtles, "Usaha Bina Usaha Maju II" farmers' group of Bendrong (East Java), PT Krakatau Tirta Industri of Kebonsari (Banten), NGO ECOTON of Bambe (East Java), and Atas Air resettlement relocation team of  Marga Sari (East Kalimantan).

          Yudhoyono gave the awards for the environmental patron category to Amran Nur of Sawahlunto (West Sumatra), Vincensius Nurak of South Kefa (East Nusa Tenggara), and Efi Saefudin of Menes Village (Banten).

   
                                        Adipura awards
    For the Adipura awards this year, 149 cities/municipalities and districts won the awards, out of the total 374 entries. Last year, only 125 municipalities and districts received  Adipura awards.

         This year, 33 municipalities and districts received the awards for the first time. The Adipura awards for municipalities are categorized into four, namely the categories for metropolitan cities, big cities, moderate cities and small cities.

         The Adipura awardees for the metropolitan city category are Palembang (South Sumatra), South Jakarta, West Jakarta, Surabaya (East Java), North  Jakarta, and Central Jakarta.

         Pekanbaru ( Riau Province),  Batam (Riau Island Province),  and Padang (West  Sumatera Province) are winners for the big city category.

          Seven municipalities and districts won the Adipura Kencana awards for being successful not only in maintaining the cleanliness but also in addressing air and water pollution, the climate change, and in preserving biological diversity.

        The seven municipalities and districts are Surabaya (East Java), Tangerang (Banten), Malang (East Java), Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Tulungagung (East Java), Bontang (East Kalimantan) and Lamongan (East Java).   
    After presenting the Adipura awards, President Yudhoyono called on the Indonesian people to vote only for governors, district heads and mayors who love the environment.

        "Choose regional heads who love the environment. The true love of the environment is not merely demonstrated during election campaigns,"  he said.

         The head of state said the country has enacted law number 32 of 2009 on environment protection and management to preserve the environment.

         To implement the law, the government has issued presidential regulation number 61 of 2011 on national action plan for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, government regulation number 27 of 2012 on environmental permits and presidential instruction number 6 of 2013 on moratorium on the issuance of new forestry permits, he said.   Therefore, he added that all regional heads must abide by the law and regulations.

           President Yudhoyono in 2009 pledged to cut Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020, and by 41 percent with international assistance.

          In May 2011 the government issued a two-year moratorium on new forestry concessions. The moratorium was extended for another two years in May this year.

           Indonesia follows the mechanism of sustainable development, and therefore development that destroys the environment is not an option to the nation, he said.

         Globally, the theme for this year's World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, is "Think.Eat.Save", which is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages every one to reduce his or her foodprint.

          According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. At the same time, one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger. 
    UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner at the World Environment Day 2013 celebration hosted by Mongolia last week cited the UNEP-hosted International Resource Panel estimation saying that consumption of natural resource use will triple by 2050.

         "At the heart of this challenge is how to growth economies and generate employment but in a way that keeps humanity's footprint within planetary boundaries. How does a country and how does a community of over 190 nations decouple the growth needed to lift people into prosperity from that natural resource use?" Stenier asked.

         That is the challenge of the  current generation and that success or failure will be handed on as the legacy to the next generation, he warned.

    (f001/a014)

(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/A/A. Abdussalam) 10-06-2013 22:19:38