Journalists should highlight Cycloop protection through their works

Preserving Cycloop as a nature reserve area requires synergy across sectors, starting from the local administrations, BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Agency) , NGOs, custom society, and communities, including journalists.

Jayapura (ANTARA) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its flagship forestry project Lestari, urged Papua's journalists to play their part by raising awareness through journalistic works to protect the Cycloop nature reserve.

USAID-Lestari Papua Coordinator Paskalina Rahawarin, here, Wednesday, was optimistic that the journalists would collaborate to disseminate information on the significance of environment protection.

"Cross-sectoral synergy is necessary to preserve Cycloop as a nature reserve area, with the initiative to be taken right from the local administrations, BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Agency), NGOs, custom society, and communities, including journalists," she emphasized.

Rahawarin opined that disbursing educational information through journalistic works will help to make the public, especially errant parties, more aware of the pressing need to preserve Cycloop.

"Taking a cue from the recent floods, the most crucial aspect is what preventive steps we should take in future against the natural disaster. Preservation of Cycloop not only requires the cooperation and contribution of one or two institutions but also cross-sectoral cooperation that remains the greater challenge in the path to tackling forest encroachment in the reserve area," she elaborated.

Seconding Rahawarin's view, Papua's BKSDA Head Edward Sembiring called on the need to develop a common perception on the significance of saving the Cycloop nature reserve to prevent natural disasters, including floods, that hit Sentani, Jayapura, on March 16, 2019.

"The nature reserves, spanning 31,479.89 hectares, are facing damage following encroachment in buffer areas and nature reserves through the opening of land to conduct farming, logging, charcoal-making process, and mining, as well as illegal settlements," he pointed out.

Sembiring has appealed to players from all sectors to make joint efforts to gain an understanding and edify the public to ensure the smooth implementation of a memorandum of understanding to maintain Cycloop recently inked by the local administration heads in the presence of President Joko Widodo at Sentani Airport.

Translator: Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019