Coastal Damage Exacerbating Disasters: Indonesia

The degradation of Indonesian coastlines and marine resources are believed to be the sources for disasters that have occurred in recent years causing suffering for its residents.

Environmental activists are calling on the government and the public to halt the degradation of marine resources in order to prevent the kinds of disasters that have already caused suffering for millions of people says Tb. Arie Rukmantara in a JP article.

Riza Damanik, campaign manager for marine and coastal areas at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the rapid damage to coastal areas has left 750 villages along some 81,000 square kilometers of the country's coastline subject to chronic erosion. Indonesia has the world's second longest coastline.

"These villagers are also hit by increasingly frequent floods. In 2003 alone some 12,000 villages were inundated which is a sharp increase from 1999 when 7,000 villages were affected by floods" he said. A study by Walhi showed that 90 percent of the disaster-hit villages were located in areas where coral reefs and mangrove forests were damaged.

The 2005 State of the Environment report says that of the country's 51,000 square kilometers of coral areas, only 5.8 percent are well-preserved, a decrease from 2004 when 6.8 percent were in good condition.

Meanwhile about 57 percent of the country's 9.2 million hectares of mangrove forests are in critical condition. Experts say mangrove trees could halt erosion and mitigate the negative impacts of large sea waves on coastal areas where some 16 million Indonesians live.

Marine and Fisheries Ministry spokesman Aji Sularso said the government was fully aware of the situation and had drawn up various community-based programs to improve conditions.
Among dozens of programs created by his office, Aji said that the Coral Reef and Management Project and Marine Coastal Resources Management Project, both funded by foreign donors, had been successful at sustaining marine resources.

As for the fish farming industry he said it was up to local administrations to regulate them. In line with the decentralization system some conservation programs are now under the regional administrations' authority.