Members Of Indonesian Parliament Pin Blame For Sumatran Deforestation On . . . . WWF, "Foreign" NGOs
Indonesian lawmakers criticized the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for its inability to stop deforestation in Sumatra, accusing the group of trying to destroy Indonesia’s reputation abroad and hurting the country’s economy.
“Foreign NGOs like the WWF are like thieves visiting our homes to steal our treasures without us realizing it,” said lawmaker Firman Subagyo, as quoted by the Jakarta Globe on March 17. “The NGO’s arrogance has impacted our weakened industrial competitiveness overseas, which will [in the] end worsen Indonesia’s economy.”
Firman was particularly critical of the WWF’s work in Tesso Nilo National Park in Indonesia’s Riau province, where massive deforestation continues to occur despite the organization’s attempts to prevent forest clearing in the park. “It is time for Indonesia to stop compromising with the WWF because it has failed to do anything,” Firman said. “They can only speak out and do black campaigns [against Indonesia] from abroad.”
WWF Indonesia’s communication and campaign manager Desmarita Murni said she found the accusations odd as the authority to manage Tesso Nilo National Park rested with the Ministry of Forestry, not a foreign organization. And WWF Indonesia, she said in an email to Mongabay-Indonesia, is not a foreign NGO as Firman claimed, since the organization has legal status in the country as a foundation.
EDIT
http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0326-dparker-tesso-nilo.html
