East Timor Legal Information Site
People Must Look After the Flora and Fauna
Suara Timor Lorosa'e 24/06/08
AMBENO, Oecusse – As a result of human activities in the natural environment, flora and fauna in the Oecusse District are now threatened with extinction. But the Catholic Church is appealing to residents to protect and to conserve the different types of natural wealth in the area.
In a presentation to residents in Oebone, the Director of the Topu Honis non-governmental organization, Father Ricardo Dasback, SVD noted that human existence is very much dependent on the condition of nature. If the condition of the environment is ruined, then that will very much influence human life. Therefore, Father Ricardo requested residents to properly look after the natural environment.
The Topu Honis NGO has been working with Caritas Australia to educate the community to protect and conserve the natural environment in Oecusse. If the environment is well-protected, said Father Ricardo, then farmers will farm compatibly with the environment because it is the land from which the farmer benefits.
”We know that land benefits humans through our efforts to manage the land through farming to meet our daily living needs so humans must give back to the land and environment through activities that heal the land. Don’t just wildly cut the forest, the various forest products, in order to survive, must be maintained along with the flora and fauna that are protected in the forest as a legacy for future communities” he added.
According to Father Ricardo, the conservation of flora and fauna is not only at God’s command but is also a strategy to empower the community from the bottom up so that the community can live standing on its own feet while maintaining the environment. If we understand the importance of the environment, then the environment itself will give a concrete contribution to us.
If the community protects the environment then land erosion will not impact the community – but the community continues to cut the forest wildly and so the impact is more and greater erosion and the land will no longer be beautiful because of human activities.
Atilio da Costa, as the environmental adviser to Caritas Australia NGO in Oecusse, explained that
the purpose of this social development program for the community is to help residents understand how humans interact with the environment.
“Human life and the environment are connected. If we destroy the environment then one day we will destroy ourselves so there must be a discourse about the importance of the environment. It is hoped that the entire East Timor community will love our environment and protect and conserve it for the benefit of future generations on the Earth,” explained Ricardo.
He added that this community development program has also been implemented in Banafi, Besa Toko, Hoineno Oesilo, Kinat, and lastly, in Desa Nipani. It will be continued in Usi Taku, Pasabe, Nitibe, Baki and the Oecusse basketball field. jos
http://www.suaratimorlorosae.com /details.php?id=13147&now=2008-06-24
Translation by wwright1961@gmail.com 25/06/08
