Burung Indonesia has consistently prioritized the potential of biodiversity in the regional planning of the Sangihe Islands Regency. Burung Indonesia participated in the first and second public consultations for the preparation of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (KLHS) for the revision of the 2014-2034 Regional Spatial Plan (RTRW) of the Sangihe Islands Regency, which took place towards the end of 2023.
Previously, biodiversity was not identified as an issue in sustainable development planning. In terms of the environment, the most important issue is related to waste management. At Public Consultation I (28 November 2023) with the agenda "Scoping of Sustainable Development Issues, Strategic Issues and Priority Issues", Burung Indonesia proposed optimizing the protection and management of biodiversity in the Sangihe Islands Regency.
In the discussion session, Burung Indonesia also emphasized the importance of Sangihe and Sahenderuman at the international level by having IBA and KBA status. Therefore, it is necessary to include this status in regional planning and use it as one of the bases for analyzing the preparation of the district spatial plan.
The SEA drafting team encouraged Burung Indonesia to complete data on biodiversity in the district, and fill in the biodiversity aspects of the assessment document.
During the second public consultation on December 15, 2023, Burung Indonesia was again involved in the FGD on the preparation of the Sangihe Islands District RTRW. In this forum, participants started talking about biodiversity. The discussion was started by Josephus Kakondo, Chairman of the DPRD of Sangihe Islands Regency, who said that the regulative aspects need to be reconciled with the context and local wisdom. For example, regarding the absence of wildlife sanctuary regulations in the Sangihe Islands Regency. According to Josephus, seeing the potential for endemic birds in the Sangihe Islands Regency, protection regulations need to be made. This is also important for areas with water catchment functions.
This statement then received a response from the district RTRW drafting team which stated that the preparation of spatial patterns would consider the impact on biodiversity. The drafting team then shared the Table of Identification of Program Plan Policy Content (KRP) of the Sangihe Islands Regency RTRW Revision. The table states that the decline in biodiversity resilience and potential is one of the aspects identified in the KRP content material which is expected to cause environmental impacts/risks. Participation in the FGD for the preparation of KLHS and the revision of the district spatial plan is an effort to strengthen the conservation of endemic and endangered species, and is the first step in declaring the Sahendaruman Landscape as an area of high conservation value.
