Biodiversity for poverty alleviation in Indonesia

摘要

Indonesia has one of the most diverse megadiversities in the world. Although its land area is only about 1.3 percent of the world's, Indonesia has about 17 percent of all species. If the diversity in the sea is also included then Indonesia would be regarded as the greatest megadiverse region in the world. The 47 ecosystem types in Indonesia can be divided into seven biogeographic regions which are centered on the major island groups and include their surrounding seas. Despite its megadiversity, Indonesia has great problems with poverty. Poverty in Indonesia may be related to the destruction of the biodiversity since about 1.6 million ha of forests are destroyed annually. Every single species loss is believed to be followed by that of 10 to 30 other species. It is very important therefore to manage the biodiversity sustainably for the benefit of the people.