One of IPB Professor Chair Holders Had Been Granted UNESCO Awards
Professor on Geophysics and Meteorology of IPB (Bogor Agricultural University), Prof.Dr. Hidayat Pawitan, had been granted an award by International Hidrologycal Programme of the United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organization, the Regional Steering Committee for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP). The award was granted as the appreciation of Prof. Pawitan’s contribution and dedication on the various UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP programs. The handed over of the award by Mr. Kaoru Takara, the Chairman of the UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP, was carried out in the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of UNESCO IHD and IHP in Medan recently.
Prof. Hidayat explained that according to the Organizational Structure of the IHP National Committee, members of the national committee are only 20 people and they will be up-dated every six years. The present National Committee members are from various vrious research institutes, universities and sectoral-departments. These institutes consist of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), University of Indonesia, Bogor Agricultural University, Bureau of Meteorology, Departments of Public Works, Agriculture, and Forestry. namely LIPI, Public Works, research centers and universities. "I have been elected for more than 20 years as member of the National Committee of the IHP. UNESCO published a catalog on the condition of rivers in the world (Catalog of Rivers), and I have been assigned as the scientific editor for two of those 50 volumes of the catalog. It was the reason I was selected to be the UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP awardee, "he said.
The Catalogue of Rivers is a document containing basic descriptions of rivers in the Southeast Asia region. Although it provides summaries of data such as mean annual values maps etc. it is however not in true sense a data book. The catalogue was planned as a media to promote mutual understanding of regional hydrology and water resources for better collaboration, and had been utilized reference for scientists and stakeholders to conduct their research programs on watershed management (DAS).
According to him, criterions to be member for the National Committee of the IHP of the UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP is not easy. It is very rigorous and require strict recommendations of the special team. Since 1996, Prof. Hidayat has been participating in various scientific meetings and activities of UNESCO IHP RSC for SEAP in various countries. (Wied)
