IPB Awarded Doni Monardo Honorary Doctorate

Head of BNPB Doni Monardo is considered to have a role in restoring natural resources and the environment (Photo via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) University conferred the title of Honorary Doctor (doktor honoris causa) to the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo. Doni is considered to have a role in restoring natural resources and the environment.

"There is one thing that we need to pay attention to, that the progress of the nation is not due to the abundance of natural resources (SDA), but because of the ability to manage these natural resources," said Rector of IPB University, Arif Satria, quoted by Antara, Saturday, March 27.

Arif said that Indonesia is currently faced with a commitment to a global action plan agreed by world leaders or the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The challenges faced today, said Arif, are depletion of natural resources and degradation of the quality of the environment.

Arif said forest cover had decreased from 50 percent or 93.4 hectares in 2017 to only 45 percent or 86.5 million hectares of Indonesia's 188 million hectares in total in 2045.

Water scarcity in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara will increase until 2030. The proportion of water crisis areas will increase from 6.0 percent in 2000 to 9.6 percent in 2045. Water quality is also predicted to decline significantly.

The area of ideal habitat for endangered species is threatened with extinction in the four major islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. The number has decreased from 80.3 percent in 2000 to 497 percent in 2045.

"In the World Risk Report in 2016, Indonesia is categorized as a country with a high level of disaster risk. The Ministry of Finance in 2021 noted that every year disaster losses reach an average of Rp. 20 trillion," he said.

Arif stated that natural resources and the environment also play a big role in the peace process.

"This is a theoretical framework that can explain the relationship between natural resources, the environment and the peace process, that good governance processes in environmental and natural resource management will be able to reduce conflicts," he said.

What Doni Monardo has done with the idea of the Blue Gold and Green Gold Program has succeeded in reducing the conflict in the Maluku Islands.

This is a very good step in the process of managing the environment and natural resources fairly.

Doni is considered capable of building resources through collaboration between governments, universities, NGOs, communities and industry in the sustainability of the environment and natural resources.

Arif said that all these challenges were overcome by strengthening environmental leadership as an important concept in realizing the principles of natural resource and environmental management.

"Herein lies the argument why IPB gave the title of Honorary Doctorate to Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo," he said.

The promoter team for this Honorary Doctorate title is Prof. Dr. Ir Hadi Susilo Arifin, Prof. Dr. Ir Widiatmaka, Prof. Dr. Ir Anas M Fauzi, Prof. Dr. Ir MH Bintoro, and Dr. Ir Soeryo Adiwibowo.