The bioeconomy approach focuses on sustainably utilizing biological resources to create high-value products and services. This aligns with goals to conserve biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and support human well-being through ecosystem services.
Indonesia, with its rich natural resources, including 68 million hectares of production forests, thousands of endemic flora and fauna species, and abundant marine resources, has the potential to become a global leader in bioeconomy.
This approach integrates economic and biological principles in managing biological resources, particularly in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors.
Products such as bioenergy, biopharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biomaterials, and environmental services are concrete examples of utilizing genetic resources and ecosystems for sustainability.
This potential presents a significant opportunity to develop the bioeconomy, a concept that prioritizes the sustainable use of biological resources to support economic growth.
This economic model aims to balance the exploitation and conservation of natural resources. Within this context, three crucial initiatives play a role in building Indonesia's bioeconomy: bioprospecting, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), and the Cali Fund.
Bioprospecting – Exploring Biodiversity for Innovation
Bioprospecting is the exploration and utilization of biological resources to discover compounds, organisms, or genes with economic potential. Indonesia, with its rich tropical forests, has vast opportunities in this sector. High-value products, such as medicines, cosmetics, and biomaterials, can be developed from Indonesia's biodiversity.
The bioeconomy offers a new perspective on our natural resources, not merely as something to be exploited but as the primary capital for building sustainability that harmoniously benefits both humans and nature.
Indigenous and local communities possess profound knowledge about managing biological resources. They must be an integral part of the bioeconomy value chain, ensuring that the economic benefits generated are equitably distributed to them.
Indigenous Community-Owned Enterprises (BUMMA) are expected to become a model for the sustainable management of indigenous communities' resources. Indonesia has the potential to lead global bioprospecting and create harmony between humans and nature.
Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – Financial Incentives for Forest Conservation
The TFFF is an innovative financial mechanism designed to provide long-term, large-scale incentives for tropical forest conservation and restoration efforts.
The goal is to create a sustainable reward system for countries that successfully reduce deforestation and maintain their forest cover. The TFFF operates through a payment-for-results mechanism, where countries receive long-term payments based on the number of hectares of forest successfully conserved or restored, with deductions for any hectares deforested or degraded.
Currently, 12 countries are negotiating the design and governance of this fund. These countries include potential donor countries (Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and France) and tropical forest countries (Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, and Malaysia).
Cali Fund – An Innovative Solution for Global Environmental and Financial Justice
The Cali Fund is an initiative designed to address inequities in the exploitation of natural resources and traditional knowledge by multinational corporations, a practice known as biopiracy. This initiative aims to ensure that local and indigenous communities receive fair compensation for the use of their genetic resources and knowledge. The Cali Fund aligns with the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) principles of the Nagoya Protocol, which emphasizes equitable sharing of benefits.
The name "Cali Fund" is derived from the city of Cali in Colombia, a country with high biodiversity and home to many indigenous communities. This initiative adopts a rights-based approach, ensuring transparency and active participation of local communities in decision making. The Cali Fund also sets a precedent for companies to be financially and ethically accountable.
By integrating environmental, social, and economic justice, the Cali Fund has the potential to become a fairer and more sustainable biodiversity financing model, reducing biopiracy and empowering local communities to conserve biodiversity for future generations.
Bioprospecting, the TFFF, and the Cali Fund are crucial elements in building a sustainable bioeconomy that values biodiversity. The bioeconomy offers a holistic approach, balancing economic growth with environmental conservation.
Bioprospecting unlocks opportunities for innovation based on biological resources, while the TFFF and Cali Fund provide innovative financing mechanisms for forest conservation and the equitable utilization of genetic resources. With the right strategies, Indonesia can become a leader in the global bioeconomy, creating economic prosperity in harmony with environmental preservation.
*) Hayu Prabowo is a national facilitator of the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative Indonesia
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