The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) is holding the LIKE Festival (Environment, Climate, Forestry and New Renewable Energy) as part of a series of activities leading up to COP-28 which will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This event, which lasted for three days from 16 to 18 September 2023, emphasized five principles, namely support for the community, environmental restoration, productivity of the business world, exploration of resources for EBT, and use of technology.
In his remarks at the peak event of the LIKE Festival, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that the threat of climate change is real and is felt by all countries. "Be careful. The threat of climate change is real and we have felt it and felt it in all countries in the world. The earth's temperature is getting hotter, the weather is also getting hotter, drought is everywhere, not just in Indonesia," said Jokowi (18 /9).
President Jokowi also handed over a Social Forestry Decree and a Decree on Land Objects for Agrarian Reform (TORA) to representatives of community groups from various regions.
At the peak event, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar also reported to President Jokowi that the LIKE Festival was intended to show the real work of corrective steps for environmental and forestry development. "The community, government and business world are working together to protect and continue to improve environmental improvements, forests and climate action, restoration and replication for nature preservation, which can be seen reflected in this festival," said Minister Siti (18/9).
The LIKE Festival is also expected to be a collaborative and participatory momentum for the government, together with the community, academics, grass roots, groups, accompanying activists, academics, NGOs, the business world, to continue work that has seen results and increase work for the progress of the Indonesian economy and show Indonesia's superior position in the global climate change mitigation agenda.
In this series of festivals, APP Sinar Mas also participated. APP Sinar Mas displays various products from farmers assisted by its business units and supplier partners from various regions, through the Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA) program.
"The DMPA program is an implementation of our commitment to support the government's vision to improve the welfare of communities around forests. This is also in line with the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap Vision (SRV). Through this program, we also focus on preventing forest and land fires as an effort to mitigate the impact climate change," said APP Sinar Mas Director Suhendra Wiriadinata.
The DMPA program itself is an APP Sinar Mas initiative to strengthen the welfare of communities around forests, as well as mitigate the impacts of climate change, one of which is preventing forest and land fires/ kebakaran hutan dan lahan (Karhutla). As of January 2023, the DMPA program has reached 421 villages spread across Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. Apart from that, this program has succeeded in involving 223 BumDes, 9 Cooperatives, 189 Gapoktan, and 135 Kelompok Wanita Tani (KWT). And the beneficiaries of this program have reached more than 85 thousand people.
Apart from that, in one of the LIKE Festival talk show series, GM Fire Management APP Sinar Mas Sujica Lusaka emphasized APP Sinar Mas' readiness and commitment in facing climate change, especially the El-Nino phenomenon which is predicted to have an impact in 2023.
"Through the 'Wildfire Mitigation Strategy', APP Sinar Mas seeks to anticipate and respond quickly to potential forest fires that may occur. Community safety and environmental sustainability are our main priorities. We are committed to continuing to innovate in the management of natural resources and forests, as well as fire prevention, in order to achieve the vision of 'Zero Fire' and 'Haze Free'." said Sujica (17/9).
