More than 100 students participated in the Biological Curator activity managed by the “Indonesian Biodiversity Index Committee – Indonesian Biology Consortium (IBI-KOBI)” in the Independent Study Program/Project – Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM).
This event took place from November 2020 to January 2021 and has generated thousands of biodiversity data.
“The results of student work as biological curators are very encouraging because they have managed to record 3,160 data on flora and fauna biodiversity,” explained Barano Siswa Sulistyawan representing the MBKM KH Activity Committee at the Inauguration of the Biological Curator Graduation, Wednesday (28/4).
Barano explained 119 students (61 individual participants and 11 group participants) attended this program. The participants came from 19 universities with faculties or study programs in Biology, Forestry, and Fisheries across Indonesia.
Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources at Bappenas Dr. Arifin Rudiyanto said that the curator should play a role in updating Indonesia’s biodiversity status, both from the ecoregion and national scope.
In this inauguration event, he delivered a presentation related to the challenges of measuring the achievement of the Indonesia Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP). Biodiversity, he explained, is one of the cornerstones of sustainable development.
“Indonesia’s economic development, which is oriented towards improving human welfare, relies on the capacity of the environment and nature to support sustainable development, so careful planning as a development asset is an important part,” he explained.
The government has compiled rules for the management and utilization of biodiversity in the 2015-2020 IBSAP document, which is an update of the 2003-2020 IBSAP by accommodating the latest issues following national and global dynamics.
The challenges of achieving IBSAP are quite diverse, one of which is the lack and distribution of biodiversity information data to help implement and achieve targets.
“Sufficient data is crucial to achieving IBSAP targets. Lack of data causes less optimal target achievement,” said Arifin.
The Biological Curator Program is a collaborative initiative between the Indonesian Biology Consortium (KOBI) and conservation practitioners who are members of the Indonesian Conservation Communication Forum (FKKI) as one of the models for implementing the MBKM program.
From this activity, the structure of the biodiversity database is structured which can be studied further. After completing the initial phase, the MBKM initiative will then continue with the second phase of activities, namely data analysis and compiling scientific publications.
