VZCZCXRO8418
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0760/01 1070418
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160418Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8708
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2341
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4944
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1828
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4527
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3386
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 000760 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, OES/ETC, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/PCI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TPHY TBIO TRGY ENRG ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA ESTH HIGHLIGHTS: MARCH 2008 
 
IN THIS ISSUE 
------------- 
 
-- UN Issues First Green Certificate for Indonesia 
-- New Bird Species Found on Togian 
-- Religious Groups Make an Impact With 
   Environmental Campaigns 
-- Mangrove Planting in Surabaya 
-- Surabaya Zoo Hatches Komodo Dragons 
-- UNEP Launches "Green Fins Indonesia" 
-- GOI Develops "Forest for Food" Program 
-- ASEAN-WEN Leads to Wildlife Trade Interdictions 
   in Indonesia 
-- Bill Gates to Visit Indonesia 
-- Construction Started on New Undersea Broadband 
   Cables 
-- Jakarta to Normalize Local Rivers 
-- Malnutrition in Surabaya 
-- Family Planning Efforts Slow Population Growth 
-- Dengue Cases Decrease in Depok 
-- Limited Access to Good Sanitation 
-- Indonesia Ranked Third in New Tuberculosis Cases 
 
 
ENVIRONMENT 
------------ 
 
UN ISSUES FIRST GREEN CERTIFICATE FOR INDONESIA 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶1.  The UN issued the first saleable "certificates of emissions 
reduction" (CERs) on March 14 to Indonesia's publicly listed cement 
maker, PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk, for its alternative fuel 
projects.  PT Indocement registered two projects that reduce 
emissions through alternative fuels such as biomass, rice husks, 
sawdust and used tires. 
 
NEW BIRD SPECIES FOUND ON TOGIAN 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Scientists from the University of Indonesia and Michigan State 
University officially discovered a new bird species in the Togian 
islands near central Sulawesi.  The "Togian white-eye", or Zosterops 
somadikartai, is a small, greenish-colored bird with white eye 
rings. Michigan State University staff said that the birds most 
likely fall under the International Union for Conservation of 
Nature's category of "endangered". 
 
RELIGIOUS GROUPS MAKE AN IMPACT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. The Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (LDII) and East Java 
Indonesian Muslim Council (MUI) kicked off a joint environmental 
campaign in March. The councils' annual program on the environment 
includes an education campaign for inexpensive organic fertilizer, a 
campaign to limit paper use, and tree planting in 26 hectares of 
land in Jombang, East Java. Dozens of religious associations also 
planted hundreds of trees in Surabaya in March 2008 under a campaign 
to protect the environment. 
 
MANGROVE PLANTING IN SURABAYA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The Mayor of Surabaya launched a mangrove planting campaign 
along the banks of the Jagir River in Surabaya on March 16.  Six 
hundred people participated planting over 10,400 mangrove seeds in 
roughly 5,000 square meters of riverbank.  The Surabaya Agriculture, 
Fishery, Marine, and Forestry Department provided 10,000 mangrove 
seeds; the remaining seeds were donated by individuals.  The NGO 
Environmental Forum is in charge of seeing that the mangroves reach 
maturity and take root. 
 
SURABAYA ZOO HATCHES KOMODO DRAGONS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  The Surabaya Zoo successfully hatched fourteen komodo dragon 
eggs March 8-9, bringing the total number of the species at the zoo 
to 41.  This is the second successful hatching of the endangered 
lizards at the zoo, outside of their natural habitats.  The zoo had 
previously succeeded in hatching 13 eggs in the 1990s. 
 
UNEP LAUNCHES "GREEN FINS INDONESIA" 
 
JAKARTA 00000760  002 OF 003 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  On March 29, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 
formally launched Green Fins Indonesia. The purpose of the 
initiative is to protect and conserve coral reefs by encouraging 
sustainable and environmentally friendly diving and snorkeling 
business practices. Assistant Deputy Minister for Coastal and Marine 
Degradation Control Wahyu Indraningsih opened the launch ceremony, 
which included government agencies, the Indonesian Diving Sport 
Association, the Maritime Tourism Association, local governments, 
universities, NGOs and students. 
 
GOI DEVELOPS "FOREST FOR FOOD" PROGRAM 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. In a national workshop on March 27, Minister of Forestry M.S. 
Kaban announced the planned development of a "Forest for Food" 
program.  The program, to be developed with the Ministry of 
Agriculture, will be designed to alleviate national food supply 
issues. Under the plan, the Ministry of Forestry would consider 
using 3 million hectares of state-owned concession lands for rice, 
cassava, corn, soybean and other food cultivation. The Ministry of 
Forestry will request Rp. 5 - 12 trillion ($541.9 million - $1.3 
billion) for the project. 
 
ASEAN-WEN LEADS TO WILDLIFE TRADE INTERDICTIONS IN INDONESIA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶8. On March 3, Indonesian law enforcement authorities intercepted an 
illegal shipment of 3,500 green turtle eggs in East Kalimantan, 
applying methods learned under USAID-funded ASEAN Wildlife 
Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) training.  On March 10, 2008, other 
trained Indonesian officials stopped the transport of 23,000 dried 
seahorses at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Customs en route 
to South Korea. 
 
 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
----------------------- 
 
BILL GATES TO VISIT INDONESIA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9. The Minister of Communication and Information, Muhammad Nu, 
confirmed that Microsoft founder Bill Gates would visit Indonesia in 
May to participate in the Government Leader Forum in Jakarta. 
President Yudhoyono personally invited Gates to attend.  President 
Director of PT Microsoft Indonesia Tony Chen said that the forum 
would "discuss the roles of technology in development, including 
education, health and economic sector". 
 
CONSTRUCTION STARTED ON NEW UNDERSEA BROADBAND CABLES 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶10.  On March 11, PT NAP Info Lintas Nusa announced the start of 
construction on a new "Matrix Cable System".  The underwater cable 
system, over 1,000 km in length, will provide additional 
high-bandwidth connectivity to the growing Indonesian market.  "The 
completed system will not only bring affordable communication to 
residents, but will also boost our e-commerce business 
capabilities", explained NAP Info Lintas Nusa's Senior Vice 
President, Patrick Adhiatmadja.  The system is scheduled to be 
complete in June 2008. 
 
JAKARTA TO NORMALIZE LOCAL RIVERS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶11. On March 30, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Wibowo announced that the 
Jakarta provincial government will use Dutch technology to normalize 
13 rivers in the area. The Jakarta Administration will borrow Rp. 
1.2 trillion ($150 million) from the World Bank to fund the project, 
which will run from 2008-2012.  The project includes acceleration of 
East Canal Flood (BKT) development, drainage renovation, water 
pumps, dam rehabilitation, and river and reservoir digging. 
 
HEALTH 
------- 
 
MALNUTRITION IN SURABAYA 
-------------------------- 
 
¶12.  Members of Surabaya Parliament told Congen Surabaya that they 
 
JAKARTA 00000760  003 OF 003 
 
 
were surprised to learn that the number of malnourished children in 
Surabaya as of March 2008 had reached 10,071.  Malnutrition has 
spread throughout all 31 districts in Surabaya.  According to 
Surabaya parliament sources, the figure is surprising since the 
Surabaya government allocates around $ 980,000 to fight 
malnutrition. 
 
¶13.  Experts have told local media that, in addition to poverty 
itself, a key factor in malnutrition has been parents' apparent 
reluctance to bring their children to village level integrated 
health service centers in order to receive supplements and treatment 
if needed. 
 
¶14.  In light of these failures, the Surabaya Planning and 
Development Board plans to change the way city government tackles 
malnutrition. Citing an overburdened Health Department, oversight of 
the food program will be shifted from the Health Department to the 
People's Empowerment Body.  City government will also involve NGOs 
in providing assistance to malnourished children. 
 
FAMILY PLANNING EFFORTS SLOW POPULATION GROWTH 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶15.  The National Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) announced that the 
government had successfully slowed the country's rate of population 
growth through its family planning initiatives.  BKKBN's Youth 
Director said that the population growth rate has lowered from 2.32 
percent in the 1970s to 1.3 percent at present.  Recently the 
government has pushed more initiatives to encourage male 
contraception. 
 
DENGUE CASES DECREASE IN DEPOK 
------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  The number of dengue cases year to date in Depok has gone down 
from the same timeframe last year, according to the city's Health 
Agency.  Since the beginning of 2008, 368 people in Depok have 
contracted dengue hemorrhagic fever, with two fatalities.  The 
number of patients is down from the January-March 2007 timeframe, 
which logged 1,289 cases.  The Head of the city's Health Agency 
attributed the drop in numbers to the implementation of routine 
mosquito fogging in residential areas. 
 
LIMITED ACCESS TO GOOD SANITATION 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶17.  On March 27, the UNICEF Country Representative for Indonesia 
reported that almost 69 millions Indonesians do not have access to 
basic sanitation facilities, and 55 million do not have access to 
safe drinking water.  The situation is especially serious for more 
vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly.  The 
Government of Indonesia launched an "International Year of 
Sanitation" campaign in response to the issue.  The program seeks to 
raise awareness of sanitation, clean water and environmental issues 
for the public, local governments and civil society. 
 
INDONESIA RANKED THIRD IN NEW TUBERCULOSIS CASES 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶18. On March 24, the Director General for Communicable Disease 
Control (CDC), Dr. Nyoman Kandun, stated that Indonesia had the 
third highest number of people with tuberculosis in the world, with 
500,000 new cases each year or 300 new cases per day.  Most of cases 
occurred in Java and Bali.  He attributed the high number of cases 
to a lack of awareness among the public to schedule regular health 
checks and seek medical aid when they become sick.  To commemorate 
World TB Day, the GOI allocated Rp. 266 billion ($28.8 million) for 
a national "Combat TB Completely" campaign. 
 
 
 
HUME