PROFAUNA Trains Kutai Students to Protect the Forest

National non-profit organization working for forest and wildlife protection, PROFAUNA Borneo, is giving trainings for students in Kutai Timur regency about forest protection.

"This year, 75 percent of our work is focused on the forest protection effort in Kutai Timur," stated the Coordinator of PROFAUNA Borneo, Bayu Sandi, last Friday in Samarinda.

He added that PROFAUNA's forest conservation program in Kutai Timur will involve students as the country's young generation who are expected to become pioneers in wildlife and habitat conservation.

"Our main target is students in Kutai Timur," said him.

Not only students, PROFAUNA Borneo also engaged other community groups to participate in the protection efforts of the remaining forest in East Kalimantan.

"In 2017, we will intensify our education program for students, which hopefully could extend to other community groups such as women, farmers groups, and more," explained Bayu Sandi.

PROFAUNA has decided to focus its program on the campaign for forest protection in Kutai Timur because in the region, there are forests that have been converted into oil palm plantations and coal mines. Forest conversion put the wildlife in danger due to habitat loss, for instance the Bornean Orangutans and Sunbears.

"Based on our evaluation, despite the minimum human resources we have at PROFAUNA Borneo, we consider that the people of Kutai Timur deserve better information and assistance to preserve their remaining forest and wildlife," claimed Bayu.

Meanwhile, PROFAUNA Borneo's collaboration with other organization in Berau to protect sea turtles is also going well.

"So far we have seen improvements in sea turtle protection, such as better commitment from the police to arrest sea turtle eggs poachers and also better awareness of the general public. In fact, the biggest problem right now in Kutai Timur is the expansion of oil palm plantation," concluded Bayu Sandi.

Source: http://www.antarakaltim.com/

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ProFauna Indonesia is an Indonesian society for the protection of
wild animals and their habitats