How to Get Indonesia’s Leaders to Accept Some Inconvenient Truths | The Jakarta Globe 6/20/14 10:36 PM Search HOME NEWS BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL 6,00/11.856,00) Regional » AGRI 2,340.12 IndexIndex & Stocks OPINION SPORTS -13.84 BASIC-IND 522.55 Editorial: Agricultural Sector Needs Urgent Action LIFE & STYLE COUNT ME IN -3.90 COMPOSITE 4,847.70 Ceritalah: Propaganda of Polls BLOGS MULTIMEDIA -16.57 CONSUMER 2,013.34 Military Theory: The Value of Defense Science How to Get Indonesiaʼs Leaders to Accept Some Inconvenient Truths By Erik Meijaard on 08:00 pm May 25, 2014 Category Commentary, Opinion Tags: Indonesia sustainability, land use, science ENVIRONMENT 11.48 DBX 710.82 Latest Comments HEALTH -3.12 FINANCE Most Popular Joko, If Elected, Would Build 100 Fish Centers, Set Up Maritime Bank 1 Indonesia Starts Korean Exchange Badminton Training Program 2 Indonesian Pairs Keep Hostʼs Hopes Alive 3 Prabowo, If Elected, Would Pursue Plan to Cut Fuel Subsidy by Half in 3 Years 4 Prabowo Has ʻNo Need to Respondʼ to Wirantoʼs Claims 5 Ahok Says Religion Has No Place on Identity Card 6 Alleged Megawati-AGO TransJakarta Conversation Transcript is a Fraud: Police 7 Mahfud MD Gives ʼ56%ʼ Chance Prabowo Gets Back Together With Ex-Wife 8 Japan to Unveil Review of Wartime Sex Slave Apology 9 W. Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan to Run for President in 2019 10 Debate Poll (JG Graphics/Modina Rimolfa) Presidential hopefuls Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo will face off again on Sunday night, June 22, in the third of five debates with the focus on international affairs and national defense. Some polls suggest that Prabowo is narrowing the gap over Joko, who had been leading by a significant margin just a few weeks ago. Who do you believe is leading? Prabowo The essence of science is a willingness to question assumed truths by objectively and transparently testing them. Joko As a scientist I would never claim to know the truth — how arrogant would that be? — but I am happy to give it my best shot, based on the best available data and analysis, and stick to that “truth” until someone else proves me wrong. No drama, no hard feelings. What has baffled me, however, is that many decisions and policies made in Indonesia regarding land use seem to ignore credible research and science — acting as if these simply do not exist. As a result of this, a number of environmental disasters have occurred across the archipelago, which could have been prevented with better science-based planning. Both are about even Vote View Results Total Votes 146 I specifically refer to the apparently random way that land-use decisions are made. Many people, including myself, are really not sure what informs whether or not a piece of land will be allocated to, letʼs say, an oil palm plantation or whether it stays under http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/get-indonesias-leaders-accept-inconvenient-truths/ Page 1 of 4 How to Get Indonesia’s Leaders to Accept Some Inconvenient Truths | The Jakarta Globe 6/20/14 10:36 PM forest cover. One may assume that the decision-making is often based on personal connections between business and political leaders. And such “behind closed doors” deals are by necessity opaque and are not supported by broader public, let alone, scientific consultation. If this is the case, Indonesia is making costly mistakes in its land-use planning. These costs are especially high in environmentally sensitive areas. It is easy to ignore those costs, because they tend to accrue over longer time frames, whereas the revenues from development come in much quicker. Subscribe to our newsletter to get a briefing on the day's top stories, photos and more. Email Address For example, turning the peat swamp forests around the Danau Sentarum National Park in West Kalimantan into oil palm plantations will provide the companies working there with solid revenues in about 4 years after the forests have been cut down. Video: Honoring the Ancestors The environmental impacts, however, will be felt only over much longer time frames. They will be significant, largely irreversible, and affecting hundreds of thousands of people. This includes much-reduced revenues from fish that would normally breed in peat swamps. It also includes the increased severity and frequency of floods because of the reduced rainfall absorption in drained peat lands — the impacts of which will be felt far downstream in major towns such as Sintang and the capital Pontianak. Another one is the increased likelihood of fire in drained peats, which can have major environmental impacts, although with prevailing dry season winds blowing north the smog will mostly affect Malaysia and Singapore so that doesnʼt really matter, right? And, oh yes, the developments will kill a few hundred orangutans — gone forever. So the benefits accrue to a small group of people who own plantations, politically support them, or those who find employment on the plantations. Quick and rich wins for a few lucky souls. But the costs accrue over long time frames and will ultimately affect millions. The scientific side of the problem is that we can fairly accurately quantify the net revenues from oil palm development. But doing this is much harder for the costs. After all, how do you measure the economic impact of the annual floods in Kalimantan that displace 500,000 from their homes, as our studies show? Or what does it really mean if millions of people in the Southeast Asian region walk around in thick, acrid smoke because of the mismanagement of Indonesian lands? Presumably, politicians at central level in Jakarta would act a lot more decisively on the issue of land fires if the smog blew towards Indonesiaʼs capital city and there were large crowds blocking Jalan Sudirman to voice their objections. The political side of the problem is that Indonesian land-use decision-making clearly does not make enough use of the science that is available, or even use the precautionary principle when the science isnʼt yet 100 percent clear. As to why, I have a few guesses. First, there are the earlier mentioned vested interests in decision-making that would rather not use rational analysis of societal cost and benefits. Second, home-grown Indonesian science — as shown by many data sources — is still weak and has to mature further to be able to stand up to public scrutiny as credible and reliable. Third, the existing knowledge may not meet the dynamic demands of the Indonesian political decision-making process. Scientists generally (both Indonesian and foreign) need to get much better at understanding what kind of information decision-makers really need and how to make it palatable. The bottom line for Indonesian political decision-makers is to 1) improve the nationʼs educational standards, 2) listen more to scientists, and 3) clearly articulate the science they need to better inform their decision-making. Sticking our heads in the sand and acting like rational objective thinking and solid scientific analysis are not worth paying attention to might be a pleasant way to proceed, but it is a pretty irresponsible way to develop the countryʼs economy and decide how to make best use of its vast natural resources. Ignoring the science is a major cost for Indonesia. Twitter Video: Interview — Globe Asiaʼs 150 Richest Indonesians, Video: Becak ʻRising Sonsʼ Driverʼs Daughter Tops Class Video: Support for Candidates Takes Multiple Video: Forms Supporters Rally Outside Indonesiaʼs Second Presidential Facebook Instagram Debate Tweets Romi herdiansyah @Romiherdiansya1 2m @thejakartaglobe Lukas Schlogl @LukasSchlogl 4m RT @thejakartaglobe: Prabowo, If Elected, Would Pursue Plan to Cut Fuel Subsidy by Half in 3 Years jglo.be/ilxD Kelana Wisnu @kelanawisnu 49m alhamdulillah..... RT @thejakartaglobe Ahok Says Religion Has No Place on Identity Card Compose new Tweet… Erik Meijaard coordinates the Borneo Futures — Science for Change program from Jakarta. Like Share This: 13k Tweet 89 8 74 Corporate News Related Articles: Marathon Meets Aqua Group Accepts CSR Telkom Announces Telkom Smart BII Maybank Bali Marathon Meets Award Sustaining Indonesiaʼs Campus AwardHumans Winners Can Detect Boston Quali...at Bank Green Sustainability Economy Needs 1 Marathon Sustainability Support Green Economy by Trillion Smells: Study Ekonomi Embracing Green Infrastructure 9 Comments pts CSR Aqua Group Accepts CSR Sustainability Award The Jakarta Globe Telkom Announces Telkom Smart Campus Award Winners Sort by Newest Telkom Announces Telkom Smart Campus Award Winners BII Maybank Bali Ma Boston Marathon Qu Login Share Favorite Join the discussion… Tony Whitten • 23 days ago Ah, but it is wrong to think that Muslims have no positive role to play in conservation - see http://www.kent.ac.uk/dice/fil... and also http://tinyurl.com/ns2zg9z. • Reply • Share › http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/get-indonesias-leaders-accept-inconvenient-truths/ Page 2 of 4 How to Get Indonesia’s Leaders to Accept Some Inconvenient Truths | The Jakarta Globe JadeMacaque PR Newswire 24 days ago • As you said Erik, education is the key word, the only path to understand science. Educated citizen will surely listen more to scientific inconveniences, but not religious islam citizen. Corruption on ALL level caused education to stagnate. With 240 million to feed, 240 million to educate, the choice is simple. Religion is regarded by the COMMON people as TRUE, by the Scientist as false, and by The CORRUPT ruler$$$$$ as useful. BTW Max as usual touché. • Reply • Share › As • 6/20/14 10:36 PM 25 days ago What amazes me is Indonesians know the country's corrupted, like VERY corrupted, on every level, in every sector, but they can't see the effects on everyday decision-making. Corruption ruins a country, and it is happening right now ! Photo & Imaging Shanghai 2014 to be Held at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center on 3-6 July SHANGHAI, June 20, 2014, 1 hours ago 36 minutes ago HOTELEX Shanghai 2015 Sales Progress Report SHANGHAI, 1 hours ago 36 minutes ago CNOOC Signed PSC with Eni HONG KONG, 5 hours ago 12 minutes ago DHL Supply Chain Announces New Managing Director for Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 20, 2014, Friday, June 20, 4:35 AM More News • Reply • Share › jose • 25 days ago unfortunately it is not just about making decisions on land-use based on science - it is also about enforcing the countries laws - mining companies are not paying their dues, so the communities and government lose out - see http://lepmilsoutheastsulawesi... - resulting in less money for public services. 1 • Reply • Share › Swasti Prawidya Mukti • 25 days ago I'm not sure about how Indonesian scientists differ from foreign scientists, but I have this assumption that many of Indonesian scientists are way too busy with their studies and the studies get too complicated for the general public (including the govt) to understand, let alone to employ. People study and get degrees on wildlife, forestry, marine ecology and many more but when it comes a time to act by doing campaigns, public engagements, educations..that's the work of NGO people, not scientist :( 1 • Reply • Share › martopiak Swasti Prawidya Mukti • 25 days ago They differ a lot. First they believe in ghosts, tuyul, kuntilanak and pocong and they know what Gods want. 1 Erik • Reply • Share › Swasti Prawidya Mukti • 25 days ago Two comments about that Swasti. Any science can be translated into language that most people should be able to understand, however, complicated it is. Even Stephen Hawking manages (well, at least to some extent -- admittedly, I didn't get all he said in A Brief History of Time). Anyway, my point is that scientists should try to speak in a clear language to lay audiences if they want their science to be used. And I would like to push that argument a bit further. Considering that much research is funded by the state and ultimately the tax payer, we should as scientists make at least some attempt to generate science that is relevant to society, and make our scientific findings accessible to people. Or even if we are "too busy" ourselves, and want NGOs to tell our story, then we still need to package our science in a way that makes it interesting to NGOs. So, there is no way around. As scientists, we have to make ourselves more relevant, if indeed we want our science to be used. 9 • Reply • Share › Ruli Manurung Erik • 25 days ago While I agree that some scientists might not be doing enough to make their findings have a clear impact on society (myself included), I would say that in the Indonesian context this is much less of a factor than the lack of commitment from governmental institutions who actually want to make use of research findings to help improve current conditions. I once approached a governmental agency with a working proof of concept that could potentially address an urgent societal need, but the response was a mixture of indifference and an outright and-what's-in-itfor-me-? attitude. I agree, perhaps NGOs, who have more experience dealing with government, would be a better partner to communicate research ideas to stakeholders. 3 Max Headroom • • Reply • Share › a month ago "...Ignoring the science is a major cost for Indonesia....." - agree fully - BUT (capital letters!!!) it does fill the pockets very quickly of those who are able due to their various connections to simply get what they want and of course it also does fill the pockets of the ones who are in charge granting permits. Just look at the EXTREMELY pompous lifestyle of those civil "servants" (even from the lower pay-scale) - may it be administrative staff in the forestry departments or the police - a flashy lifestyle which puts even really wealthy people in developed countries to shame. Now, nobody really wonders where the money is coming from - one suggestion - by selling out basically everything which rightfully belongs to the People of Indonesia as natural resources to the highest bidder regardless of any laws whatsoever - and not enough with stealing and robbing http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/get-indonesias-leaders-accept-inconvenient-truths/ Page 3 of 4 How to Get Indonesia’s Leaders to Accept Some Inconvenient Truths | The Jakarta Globe 6/20/14 10:36 PM resources to the highest bidder regardless of any laws whatsoever - and not enough with stealing and robbing this country poor for their egoistic wishes - on top of it they treat the people from whom they steal with disgust and arrogance. 12 • Reply • Share › ALSO ON THE JAKARTA GLOBE Indonesia Seeks to Boost Trade With Pacific Islands, Aid in Combating Climate Change Wiranto Sets Record Straight on Prabowo’s Military Discharge 2 comments • a day ago 13 comments • a day ago JAHAAN — The type of cooperation is in the right Gulf of Tomkin — if this info doesn't seal Probowo fate spirit, much needed, boding well for the future. Probably more needs to be done to avert climate … what will Hundreds of Entertainment Venues in Jakarta to Shut Down During Ramadan Tempo Scan Opens Baby Formula Plant in Surabaya 13 comments • a day ago 1 comment • a day ago a human — How weak minded are you if you can't fast Joseph — Shouldn't this be clearly labelled as an or observe your religion because a bar is open? Stupidity knows no limits when it's inspired by … advertorial ?Bit too sneaky for my liking. Subscribe HOME ABOUT US Add Disqus to your site COMMENT POLICY PRIVACY POLICY RSS http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/get-indonesias-leaders-accept-inconvenient-truths/ BACK TO TOP Page 4 of 4