The Director of Essential Ecosystem Management, Ministry of Environment and Foresty, Ir. Tandya Tjahjana, MSi in his opening remarks appreciated the initiative for developing module on biodiversity management in mining area. He said, “Our conservation area alone are not able to protect all high – priority species, because many endangered species are living outside conservation area including in mining concessions area”. He expects that inputs from various experts can help mining industries to protect and manage biodiversity in the mining area.

The draft Module of Biodiversity Conservation in Mining Area is developed using the concept of high conservation value (Area Bernilai Konservasi Tinggi / ABKT). This concept aims to protect and manage high value biodiversity outside the conservation area. One of the challenges in implementing the ABKT concept as emphasized in the FGD, is that this concept can only be implemented successfully if there is synergy among different stakeholders since the ABKT deals with cross-boundary issues, as the ABKT is a landscape approach.