Indonesia partakes in commemoration of Int'l Biodiversity Day

Indonesia took part in the commemoration of International Biodiversity Day that falls on May 22 each year with the forestry and environment minister called on all parties in the country to wisely take the advantage from the nation's rich biodiversity to support the development.

"The control on economy potential, protection and institution empowerment need to be reorganized, based on international conventions of Nagoya Protocol and Cartagena Protocol so as to prevent biopiracy and infiltration of genetically-engineered products that might harm biodiversity in the country," Indonesia's Forestry and Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya said in her address to welcome the commemoration.

Indonesia has developed mechanism to take the leverage from the nation's biodiversity through profit-sharing scheme between those involved in the preservation efforts and the users. The profit sharing would be based on mutual agreement between those two parties.

Indonesia has also built a Clearing House in the easternmost province of Papua which has been regarded as the center of the nation's biodiversity for its vast and diverse cultivation and ecosystem.

Establishment of the Clearing House was aimed at preventing biopiracy activities.

This year, the International Biodiversity Day was themed " Biodiversity for Sustainable Development." The United Nations (UN) has initially declared 2015 as International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB).

The theme was chosen to remind the importance of efforts and contribution of all levels in the society to address the Sustainable Development Goals as part the UN's Post 2015 Development Goals for the period of 2015-2030. Endi