Indonesia has become a country with the second-largest biodiversity in the world. Unluckily, Indonesia has not had a national indicator to measure its biodiversity conservation activities up to this moment.
In fact, according to Prof. Dr. Budi S. Daryono., M. Agr., Sc., as the Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM and Chair of the Indonesian Biology Consortium (KOBI), it is necessary for the Indonesian Biodiversity Index (IBI) to measure the inclination of national biodiversity. IBI data is necessary to encourage central and local governments. This action is also important to support improving the activity in conserving biodiversity in Indonesia.
Although previously, Indonesia applied the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the foundation for biological conservation action. However, the population decline of status and trend remains and is increasingly troubling. This condition occurred because of population growth and increased consumption and trade in various wild plants and animals.
Budi also supported that the declining trend in biodiversity does not only exist in Indonesia. The decline in biodiversity has also happened at the global level. Living Planet Index (LPI) data from 1970 - 2016 reveals that the average percentage of population deterioration in mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish reaches up to 68 percent in the world.
"Therefore, it is crucial to commence the Indonesian Biodiversity Index (IBI) to measure the trend of national biodiversity," he said on Tuesday (24/11).
The biodiversity index of a species diversity index is a kind of index that affirms the composition of an ecosystem and its constituent communities and the ecosystem's stability. This index is not only a meaning but contains values and the concept of preserving biodiversity in the world. The international association calls it a global living index, which results from the collaboration between international biodiversity researchers and global conservation organizations.
Regarding the importance of collecting national biodiversity data, KOBI, through the Indonesian Biodiversity Index Committee (IBI), initiated IBI. This effort proposes to coincide with the National Animal and Puspa Love Day commemoration on November 5, 2020.
Budi also mentioned that apart from IBI, it is necessary to develop a Bioeconomy, a biological economic system based on renewable biological resources. Besides, the conversion of natural resources and their production waste merged into a high-value product by implementing the circular economic principle to minimize resources and energy to get optimal results and reduce environmental damage.
Author: Ika
Photo: Shutterstock.com
Translator: Natasa A