Indonesia bans five foreign scientists, shelves conservation data

He was worried about how the Indonesian government would react to his opinion piece. The government claimed that orangutan populations in the country are thriving. Eight Indonesians were invited to co-author an article by Meijaard, who was aware that Indonesia was becoming more cautious of foreign interference. No one agreed to do that.

The piece ran on the 14th. The authors were banned from doing research in Indonesia because they had discredited the government. National parks and KLHK offices were ordered to tell the ministry about any research done by foreign scientists. From now on, data from such research will be monitored and controlled by KLHK.

The five authors have their work unaffected. None of them are currently doing field work in Indonesia. His co-authors are located in the United States, Malaysia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Meijaard says the ban shows a bigger problem. Wary of interference in the government's ambitious development goals, KL HK has tightened control over research on the country's enormous biological diversity by both Indonesian and foreign scientists Critics of the government have had repercussions, as data on wildlife populations have been put away. The issue is not the KLHK ban. There is an issue with the independence of Indonesian science.

Many Indonesian scientists agree, but few want to discuss it in public. A Sumatran environmentalist who asked to remain anonymous says that their voices are not being heard.

There is no question about the threats to Indonesia's flora and fauna. The Tapanuli orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran rhinoceros, and the Sumatran elephant are all found nowhere else. Conflicts between humans and animals are becoming more frequent. Elephants are poisoned by farmers, tigers are snared by traffickers, and orangutans are stranded in plantations.

Reliable population estimates and mapping remaining habitats are important to the preservation of the environment. The environment ministry has supported such work on the ground as counting orangutans, collecting elephant dung, and setting camera traps for tigers, among others. Data from such efforts have been kept under wraps.

The population of elephants in a national park in southern Sumatra declined by 75% between 2001 and 2015, according to a survey by an Indonesian wildlife activist. The data got stuck in Jakarta after she presented it. The findings were not allowed to be published by KLHK's central office.

An urgent action plan for the Sumatran elephant population was produced in 2020 by a group of scientists and experts. The document was signed and released by the director of KL HK, but the ministry later withdrew it. KLHK said that the statement against the government was counter productive.

The studies on other species have ended in the same way. The data for Indonesia's tiger population have not been approved by KL HK. An Indonesian member of the team says that it's the best knowledge they have. There are fewer than 50 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild, according to a recent report from a specialist group. It is between 67 and 75 according to KL HK.

On World Orangutan Day on August 19th, the op-ed by Meijaard and his colleagues took issue with an assessment by KLHK Minister Siti Nurbaya. The minister said that the Tapanuli orangutan, which is threatened by a hydropower project in North Sumatra, would grow and thrive. According to the authors of The Jakarta Post, all three orangutan species have declined in the past few decades.

Science did not get a response from KL HK. A ministry spokesman told The Jakarta Post that the analysis was based on outdated information and ignored many steps KLHK had taken to protect orangutans. The rebuttal said that the assessment was intended to be optimistic.

KLHK has objected to certain initiatives. The World Wildlife Fund criticized the government's handling of forest fires and the ministry ended a joint program with them. About 400 WWF staff were laid off due to the move. A sobering estimate of the area burned during the fire season was requested by KL HK. David Gaveau, a French landscape ecologist who worked with the agency, was deported due to the spat.

NGOs have adapted. The 800 or so remaining Tapanuli orangutans are at risk due to the Batang Toru hydropower project. The company decided to work with the Indonesian government and the company building the dam. A representative from Pan Eco says it is up to the office in North Sumatra to release the new population estimate.

The results of population and habitat surveys should be made public and stored in Indonesian and international databases, according to Meijaard. Foreign researchers are being squeezed out and their Indonesian colleagues are becoming more fearful.

A scientist in Indonesia says they could lose their jobs if they criticize the government publicly. Hundreds of people work in the same organization and it is not only about me. Since the Jakarta Post article, at least one-third of the Indonesia-based co- authors on an upcoming paper have asked Meijaard to remove their names.