Earth donation is expected to support the financing of environmental damage. As we know, there is still a large gap between funding and existing environmental efforts. This is an issue we need to overcome, so we can focus on accelerating the pace of our innovations. It’s especially important for us to contribute to helping the earth’s recovery through financial support.
The Challenge of Funding
Environmental damage restoration needs strategies for every, from data gathering and baseline study, policy and institution formulation, and the restoration itself. The amount of work that must be done requires all parties, especially governments and world leaders, to make more ambitious sustainable development strategies, including in terms of funding. Now, lack of funding becomes a challenge in pursuing sustainability that lags far behind development. In many parts of the world, only a small percentage of the government’s budget goes to solving sustainability issues.
Environment Restoration Funding Cost
In Indonesia, the government established an agency to manage an environment restoration fund called Indonesian Environmental Fund (Indonesia: Badan Pengelola Dana Lingkungan Hidup / BPDLH). The environmental restoration funding source comes from the state budget, grants, CSR, public, philanthropy, and bilateral cooperation. In 2021, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry received a budget of around IDR 7.4 trillion. Unfortunately, in 2022, the planned budget for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry from the APBN will decrease to IDR 7.1 trillion. From the budget set, environmental quality restoration is not a top priority, environmental restoration is the 6th national priority with a budget allocation of around IDR 2.51 trillion.
Waste Management Donation
Waste management donation can be your choice of charity during Ramadan. By donating some of your sustenance, you can contribute to carrying out various responsible waste management actions such as providing facilities and services for collecting and processing waste, giving to waste pickers and waste processing workers at the landfill, organizing various waste management education programs, to making policies and strategies for waste management in Indonesia.
Besides donating some of your money, you can also donate your trash to various institutions or waste processing services. One of the garbage alms facilities that you can use is the garbage alms at the mosque which was initiated by GRADASI. Mosques that have collaborated and implemented waste alms are Al-Muharram (Yogyakarta), Az-Zikra (Bogor), Baitul Makmur (West Cikarang), and others. Donated waste will be processed responsibly so that it does not end up in the landfill without being sorted or recycled.
Tree Adoption
Adopting trees is an option for those of you who want to regenerate forests. Tree adoption supports existing reforestation actions in Indonesia to restore 270 thousand hectares of primary forest that have been lost from 2001 to 2019. This adoption can be done by planting new trees or maintaining existing trees. Many of this reforestation are carried out by non-profit organizations working on protecting forest ecosystems. To adopt a tree, you can make a donation at the institution’s donation channels or go to the field to plant the tree you adopted directly. By adopting trees, you as a tree guardian contribute to restoring lost forest ecosystems in order to minimize the impact of the climate crisis through carbon sequestration by trees.
Animal Rescue Donation
During Ramadan, not only for fellow humans, you can also give charity to endangered animals in Indonesia. Similar to trees, donations for animals are also widely carried out by non-profit organizations. Conservation of endemic Indonesian animals such as Sumatran elephants, Sumatran tigers, orangutans, sea turtles, rhinos, and birds of paradise also requires financial support to maintain biodiversity. The donations given for the preservation of endemic animals are used to fund conservation operations to restore animal habitats.
Earth Waqf
Waqf is a property that is granted to the public to share its benefits. There are many types of waqf assets such as property, land, public facilities, money, food and water supplies, and even plant seeds. Waqf also has the potential to support environmental conservation actions that benefit mankind in the future. One of the waqf innovations that support environmental preservation is the Green Waqf initiated by the Waqf Center for Indonesian Development and Studies. Green Waqf disburses its waqf funds for programs to reforest critical lands in maintaining ecosystems and minimize environmental degradation.
The various choices of earth donation above can be a solution for you who want to spread kindness not only to fellow humans but also to all living creatures created by God on this earth. Realizing that humans will always coexist with nature, let’s restore the earth with us to deal with the waste crisis in Indonesia through the implementation of sustainable consumption and production! Click here to turn knowledge into action! #WorshipWithoutWaste.
