A good and healthy environment is the basic
right of every Indonesian citizen guaranteed by the State, written on the
Indonesian Constitution Article 28 H paragraph (1).
To guarantee such rights,
pollution prevention and environmental damage instruments are conducted,
including the standard criteria for damage to karst. On its development karst
has been explored and exploited to bring an impact to the environment and the
society. The standard criteria of karst damage is written on Article 21
paragraph (3) letter f of Law Number 32 Year 2009 on Environmental Protection
and the Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 17 of
2012 on the Determination of Karst Landscape Area. Indonesia has karst covering
an area of 15.4 million hectares with 17 locations categorized as karst areas.
Karst has important ecological functions as supporting ecosystems, hydrological
regulators, water supplies, flood controllers, and biodiversity conservation
facilities, as well as global climate control. Karst clearing and management
are widely implemented and pay more attention to economic value, thus
marginalizing the ecological aspects of the environment. Limestone mining
activities both large and small scale, pose a threat to the sustainability of
the karst area. Karst damage in East Kutai, East Kalimantan, will be an
environmental disaster, if the permit is not controlled by the East Kalimantan
provincial government. For this reason, the standard criteria for karst damage
are important to maintain the sustainability of ecosystems in forest areas.Tentang Saya
Dr. Siti Kotijah, S.H, M.H.
Lecturer in Mulawarman University,
Law Faculty
Komisi Pengawas Reklamasi dan Pasca Tambang Kalimantan Timur