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Aceh: Environmental Resource Centre
The earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 not only killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed infrastructure, houses, business, agricultural land and many other resources, it also caused major environmental damage to the coast of Aceh. It is highly likely that rebuilding the houses and community infrastructure destroyed by the tsunami will further exacerbate the environmental damage to forests in Sumatra and other areas of Indonesia. There is an overwhelming need for timber, an estimated 860,000 cubic metres, and very little of the wood and other building materials required can be acquired legally or from a sustainable source.
First construction stage of the WALHI Environmental Resource Centre
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Deforestation in Indonesia has already caused a number of landslides and flash floods, and further illegal logging will only increase the number of environmental disasters and their devastating impacts on local communities. There is a need to raise awareness and improve skills relating to sustainable resource management for the tsunami reconstruction effort. To this end, Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA are working together with the Indonesian Forum for Environment WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), Indonesia's largest forum of NGOs and community based organizations, to build and run an Environmental Resource Centre just outside the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh.
WALHI was established in 1980 and has 438 member organisations throughout Indonesia. The forum began operations in Aceh in 1993, and currently has 34 member organizations and works closely with 75 community groups in the province on issues relating to the environment and natural resource management. WALHI lost staff and resources in the tsunami, with the Executive Director of WALHI Aceh, Mohammad Ibrahim, and over 30 staff from WALHI member organisations killed in the disaster. Since the emergency WALHI has resumed work with its member organisations throughout the province. In early 2005 WALHI carried out emergency relief efforts throughout Aceh, and Union Aid Abroad -APHEDA contributed to their emergency activities on the island of Simeulue. WALHI is now working on programmes in advocacy, civil society development, environmental education, livelihoods, micro-credit and various other activities.
Work on the Environmental Resource Centre (ERC) began in January 2006, and the first phase of the building, funded by Union Aid Abroad -APHEDA, is expected to be completed in July 2006. Cut Hindon, current Executive Director of WALHI Aceh, believes that the centre will greatly benefit the local community, as there are limited community facilities in the area, and the ERC will be a space where people can hold meetings, workshops and training activities, and also learn about natural resource management. The first floor of the building will function as the WALHI secretariat, with a number of rooms to be used as the WALHI office. There will also be a meeting room with a capacity of 30-50 people and a public library where people can access materials and books dealing with natural resource management and environmental issues. WALHI also plans to build the second storey of the building, which will hold a training centre, a comprehensive education centre and a space for media advocacy production.
The ERC will be used as an information centre for educating civil society on the environment and related advocacy issues, as well as on government policies related to the environment. WALHI believes that "affected communities have to be able to help themselves", and as such, facilities such as the ERC that allow community members access to resources and information are invaluable. The ERC will also be used as a training centre for WALHI members to carry out activities in response to tsunami associated needs such as counselling, community development, and conflict resolution. Alongside funding the Environmental Resource Centre, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is assisting WALHI by providing programme development training on needs analysis, problem diagnosis, and problem identification to all of the member organisations.
Working together with WALHI has enabled Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA to expand the scope of our programmes in Aceh. The Environmental Resource Centre will benefit the local community and also contribute to the preservation of natural resources in the area. The rebuilding of Aceh is a huge and complex task, and this project with WALHI demonstrates Union Aid Abroad -APHEDA's commitment to empowering local communities and strengthening the capacity of local organisation, but also to contributing to a sustainable and environmentally responsible reconstruction effort.
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