INDONESIA adalah eksportir satwa liar terbesar di dunia, dengan nilai
transakki sebesar rata - rata 9 triliun rupiah. Angka ini
berangkatdari kuota ekspor resmi yang ditetapkan oleh Departemen
Kehutanan Indonesia. Berapa sih sebenarnya angka yang illegal?
Berapakah kerugian negara dari sektor ini?
Harian KOMPAS memprediksikan bahwa kerugian negara mencapai 100
triliun per tahun. Angka ini berada di atas perdagangan kayu bulat
dan pasir laut.
Tanggal 3 - 15 Juni ini, Indonesia akan hadi rsebagai peserta dari
Conference of Parties dari Convention on Endangered Species of Wild
Flora and Fauna.
HB
On May 26, 2007, at 11:35 AM, Sunny wrote:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2088589,00.html
'Noah's Ark' of 5,000 rare animals found floating off the coast of
China
· Cargo of abandoned vessel destined for restaurants
· Illegal trade drives species closer to extinction
Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Saturday May 26, 2007
The Guardian
Endangered, hunted, smuggled and now abandoned, 5,000 of the
world's rarest animals have been found drifting in a deserted boat
near the coast of China.
The pangolins, Asian giant turtles and lizards were crushed inside
crates on a rickety wooden vessel that had lost engine power off
Qingzhou island in the southern province of Guangdong. Most were
alive, though the cargo also contained 21 bear paws wrapped in
newspaper.
According to conservation groups, the haul was discovered on one of
the world's most lucrative and destructive smuggling routes: from
the threatened jungles of south-east Asia to the restaurant tables
of southern China.
The animals were found when local fishermen noticed a strange smell
emanating from the vessel, which did not have any registration
plates, on Tuesday, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
When coastguard officials boarded the 25-metre craft, it was
reportedly deserted and stripped of identification papers. They
found more than 200 crates full of animals, many so dehydrated in
the tropical sun that they were close to death.
The animals - which weighed 13 tonnes - were taken to port, doused
with water and sent to an animal welfare centre. "We have received
some animals," said an office worker at the Guangdong Wild Animal
Protection Centre. "We are waiting to hear from the authorities
what we should do with them."
According to the local media, the cargo included 31 pangolins, 44
leatherback turtles, 2,720 monitor lizards, 1,130 Brazilian turtles
as well as the bear paws. Photographs showed other animals,
including an Asian giant turtle.
All of these south-east Asian species are critically endangered,
banned from international trade and yet openly sold in restaurants
and markets in China's southern province of Guangdong, which is
famous for its exotic cuisine.
The accidental discovery highlights the negative impact that the
growing power of Chinese consumption is having on global
conservation efforts.
According to wildlife groups, China is the main market for
illegally traded exotic species, which are eaten or used in
traditional medicine. Pangolins are in great demand because their
meat is consider a delicacy and their scales are thought to help
mothers breastfeed their babies.
As a result of demand, the pangolin populations of China, Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia have been wiped out. With traders moving further
and further south, the animal is declining even in its last
habitats in Java, Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula. It is a
similar story for many species of turtle, tortoise, frog and snake.
Despite China's international commitments to get to grips with this
illicit activity, the trade is booming. Border controls are lax,
and smugglers know that fines are usually far lower than the
potential rewards. As a result, raids and seizures of banned
products occur regularly. One recent raid on a restaurant in
Guanghzou turned up 118 pangolins, 60kg of snakes and 400kg of toads.
Traffic - an organisation that monitors and tries to prevent the
smuggling of endangered species - welcomed the fact that China's
authorities had reacted swiftly to rescue the animals but said much
more needs to be done to prevent similar cases.
"Unfortunately, this is all too common. This trade is a far bigger
threat to these species than habitat destruction," said Chris
Shepherd, senior program officer with Traffic Southeast Asia. "The
vigilance on the border has to be improved, cooperation with source
countries needs to be strengthened, there should be better
monitoring of dealers, and the people violating the laws must be
penalised severely."
Despite the ban on pangolins, many restaurants offer their meat.
The Chaoxing restaurant in Shenzhen said yesterday that pangolin
was available but was only suitable for large dining parties.
"The animal is very big - about 10kg," said a waitress contacted by
telephone. "We serve it in hotpot. That is the tastiest way."
According to recent reports in the Chinese media, the price of 1kg
of pangolin served in Guangdong or Yunnan is between 600 and 800
yuan per kilogram (between £43 and £50).
A Guangdong chef interviewed last year in the Beijing Science and
Technology Daily described how to cook a pangolin.
"We keep them alive in cages until the customer makes an order.
Then we hammer them unconscious, cut their throats and drain the
blood. It is a slow death. We then boil them to remove the scales.
We cut the meat into small pieces and use it to make a number of
dishes, including braised meat and soup. Usually the customers take
the blood home with them afterwards."