REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By M Irfansyah Lubis
Centre for Environmental Research (PPLH), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)
A very contradictive headline indeed, since hunting is always associated with poaching that has been recognised as a wicked problem for wildlife conservation in the world. This challenging issue was being discussed by some conservationist and the governments of Indonesia in a workshop in order to accelerate hunting as part of conservation efforts in Indonesia on September 18th, 2014. This workshop is organised by The Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Foundation (IWCF), Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, and Centre for Environmental Research - Bogor Agricultural University (PPLh-IPB).
To begin with, General Director of Protection Forest and Nature Conservation (PHKA), Ministry of Forestry in the opening of the workshop presented the importance to accelerate hunting for conservation in Indonesia. The appreciation of hunting that has been done since ancient times underlies the spirit to incorporate this activity as part of conservation efforts in Indonesia. As one of mega diversity countries, Indonesia is seen as a prospective country for sport hunting. Even now, in some part of Indonesia, traditional hunting mainly for meat still becomes part of daily activities for people in remotes areas.
In the context of wildlife conservation, hunting which is different with poaching activities, has been perceived as one of conservation efforts that has been successfully done in many developed and developing countries worldwide. In The US, hunting activities contributed significant revenues that reached US$101 Billion or approximately 1.4% of national economic in 1996. Meanwhile, a professional hunter in Tanzania (Africa) spent AUD 500.000 each year for local economics in terms of hunting expenditures. For these countries, hunting becomes a luxury sport that helps generate state revenues and also enhance local economic.
Study finds that hunting for trophy helps sustaining and increasing population of endangered species through habitat expansion and better management. In South Africa, the legalization of white rhinoceros hunting motivated private landowners to introduce the species onto their lands. As a result, the country saw an increase in white rhinos from fewer than one hundred individuals to more than 11,000. Moreover, wildlife habitat and population In North America restored and conserved by these hunters. They also help to fund for conservation activities.
Some renowned huntsman from Indonesia such as DR. Rahmat Shah and Mr. Yapto from Perbakin (Indonesia Hunters Association) that have worldwide experienced of hunting claimed that this activity is not exterminating the wildlife population; rather it helps to sustain their population and habitat if it done properly. For them, hunting is not a cruel activity for animals, even hunter respects the animals which are expressed in the hunting rules. Huntsman typically hunt older, non-breeding males, or on younger males who have already contributed sufficient genetic material to their breeding group, about 2 to 5 percent of males population. These rules which are internationally recognized however allowed the population of animals to grow effectively and efficiently.
In addition, Prof. Dr. Yanto Santosa, DEA, a wildlife expert from Bogor Agricultural University emphasized that hunting is a must in order to control wildlife population. One of the reasons is because controlled hunting activities help population to be balanced in terms of sex ratio and decrease the percentage of inbreeding incident within the population. The unbalanced sext ratio where males are usually more than females in their natural habitat could slow the population grow while wasting the energy through fighting among males. In addition, over population leads to unhealthy inhabitants due to lower genetic diversity because of inbreeding result. Viewed this way, Prof. Yanto Santosa is emphasizing again that hunting through culling and harvesting schemes is a must in anyplace including protected forest.
However, peoples perceive conservation differently from one place to another. In Indonesia, the conservation practices are expressed and firstly done by protection and preservation, and lastly utilization if there is still left to be utilised. In contrast, in many developed countries, conservation is done mostly by utilizing it in order to protect it. When people understand about the high value of conservation, they will protect it, and then governments support it by creating better regulations.
The lacks of flexibility of regulations in Indonesia in combination with the insufficient of knowledge and experience in forest conservation management through hunting activities become major issue that inhibits the hunting for sport activities.
-Some regulations that have been established by the governments of Indonesia are not flexible, take a long time and high cost since many entities are involved. Hunting regulations In Indonesia are formulated by engaging many organizations such as Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Police Department, Indonesian Institute of Science, Local government and others. As consequences, this painfully long process in getting hunting permits has killing the spirit of hunter for conservation agenda.
Hoewever, the governments of Indonesia already established 13 hunting areas (Taman Buru and Kebun Buru) throughout the Indonesian Archipelago since 1963 to accommodate the high demands of this leisure sport. But none of these taman buru is work properly and even some of them already deforested due to lack of management and law enforcement. The limited governments' budget for managing massive of Indonesian forest is one of the main reasons of this malfunction. Even though, through this luxury sport is believed could help the government in managing terrestrial or marines conservation areas.
In regards to this issue, this workshop suggested two pilot projects to be further discussed in order to create a better management plan for hunting activities in Indonesia. Taman Buru Pulau Moyo and Masigit Karimbit in West Java are seen prospective sites for this sport activity. Hunting enthusiasts and organizations such as Perbakin are encouraged to be involved in the process to make this idea to be happened.
Furthermore, the uncertainties about the status of wildlife population in Indonesia due to insufficient data and research about wildlife has delayed the dreams of these hunters. Therefore, we still adopt the wildlife population status listed by International Union of Conservation and Nature (IUCN) or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) based on global data which seems impractical to use for certain localities. We even listed our species as vulnerable or endangered and protected it by national laws without knowing the real population of these species. Consequently, we are loosing our species trough illegal poaching before we get any benefit from it, Prof. Yanto further explained.
As conclusion, this workshop summarised some efforts that should be accomplished in order to achieve the dreams of the hunters as well as to fulfil conservation visions in Indonesia. Firstly by reviewing of the already established regulations and synchronise it with all the associated elements through developing one-stop licensing (peraturan satu atap). Secondly, by improving research activities in order to get better information related to wildlife population and the right season for hunting. Private organizations either national or international are encouraged to help on these long and pricey comprehensive efforts. Lastly, by designing a pilot project or two that is intended to allow hunting activities will push and accelerate hunting for sport and for conservation in Indonesia. Lessons learned from this pilot project will be useful to develop a better management for conservation areas in Indonesia.
Finally and most importantly, hopes are given to a new president-elect Joko Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla to support conservation in Indonesia by selecting professional persons for his cabinet in order to generate more and better regulations for people and environment.
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