The Threat Of Extinction Lurks, Here's The Government's Plan To Save Mahakam Instigators

JAKARTA - The preservation of Mahakam pesut (Orcaella brevirostris) is an urgent concern because the endemic animal of the Mahakam River is increasingly being pressured by human activities. Protection efforts are needed so that the remaining population of only tens of tails does not disappear from Kalimantan waters.

Saving pesut means that it not only protects one of the rare water mammals, but also preserves the balance of the river ecosystem that supports the lives of the surrounding community.

The Ministry of Environment explained three regulatory-based protection solutions to save the population of mahayam protesters who are on the verge of extinction.

"Minimally, the population is investigating and the high mortality rate due to human activities, we immediately coordinate to ensure that all parties implement existing legal instruments to prevent the extinction of this Kalimantan biodiversity icon," said Director of Biodiversity Conservation of the Ministry of LH Inge Retnowati in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, as quoted by ANTARA.

According to him, Mahakam's current status is critically endangered in the IUCN red list and is included in the Apendiks I CITES, which signifies the highest level of condemnation.

Based on data from the Rare Aquatic Species of Indonesia Conservation Foundation (RASI), the population of pesut who continues to decline faces various serious threats, ranging from the entanglement of the insang net which causes 67 percent of deaths, industrial waste pollution, to the risk of being hit by barges on river lines that are congested in traffic.

Responding to this emergency, the KLH's Directorate of Concerned Conservation emphasized the importance of implementing three main steps that refer to Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management.

The first solution is to ensure that all parties apply the principles of biodiversity by maintaining the existence, diversity, and sustainability of biological natural resources as a unit of the ecosystem.

The second solution is to integrate the principles of sustainable development into every regional development policy, plan, and program, including RTRW and RPJP, so that the potential impact and risk on the environment can be minimized, especially the threat of animal extinction.

The third solution is to implement a real Environmental Maintenance program through conservation measures and backup of natural resources outside the forest area to prevent damage due to human activities.

"This integrated step is expected to reduce the rate of death and open up hopes for the survival of Mahakam investigators for future generations," said Inge.