Celebrating 2011 Earth Day in Sumatra

In celebration of 2011 Earth Day, the U.S. Consulate Medan, working together with various partners, implemented a number of Earth Day programs in North Sumatra and Riau.

Save the Environment Drawing Competition:

Consul Anthony C. Woods on 19 April 2011 traveled to Public Elementary School 47160 in the town of Berastagi for an Environment Drawing Competition. As many as 120 drawings were submitted by 4th and 5th grade students portraying positive efforts of environmental preservation.  The U.S. Consulate Medan donated books to the library and to the winners of the competition.

We also held a quiz on environmental preservation in which the students actively participated.  Consul Anthony Woods expressed amazement at how knowledgeable the students were, as they provided correct answers to many of the questions.

Environment Preservation Campaign on Prambors Medan Radio:

On 20 April 2011, Consul Anthony Woods visited Prambors radio in Medan for an interview on U.S. government support to Indonesia on climate change and environmental preservation.

Check out excerpts of the interview below:

Q. What climate change and clean energy programs which the U.S. and Indonesian governments are partnering on?

A. The first Working Group on Climate Change and Environment, under the Comprehensive Partnership, met in September, 2010. This followed an announcement by the two Presidents in June 2010 of a broad suite of cooperation on both environment and climate under the SOLUSI (“solution” in Indonesian) framework, which involves $136 million in total funding, including programs with a strong climate change dimension. Here are some examples of the programs that we are doing:

• USAID’s Indonesia Forestry and Climate Support (IFACS) project is a $40-million effort that will reduce the threats of deforestation and climate change and help to conserve the country’s tropical forests, wildlife, and ecosystem processes.
• USAID’s Indonesia Marine and Climate Support (IMACS) project is a $20-million effort that will promote climate change adaptation in vulnerable coastal communities and marine food security through sustainable management of marine resources.

Q. What tips can you share with the listener so that people can start preserving the earth and environment without having to sacrifice the growth of industries in Indonesia?

A. North Sumatra for example, is aiming to attract more foreign tourists to come to this province. Tourists come to see places such as Bukit Lawang, Danau Toba and other amazing sites you have here in this province. None of them actually come to see the palm oil or rubber plantations. Therefore one tip for North Sumatra is to develop the resources and infrastructure for ecotourism that can attract visitors and improve the economy of the region.

Q. For you personally, what have you been doing to preserve the environment and to prevent global warming? 

A. Well, I always print my documents on both sides of the paper to prevent its excessive use. This means there will be less trees being cut down to make paper. I have also suggested this as a standard for our office. Also, I always switch off electricity in my house whenever I am not using it and the same goes for water; and by the way, I take good care of my garden and enjoy the delicious mangoes I gather from my well-cared-for mango tree.