Developing Without Damaging

Kompas newspaper has noted that throughout 2016 up until June 21, there have been 28 landslides countrywide, from Aceh to Papua.

More than half of the disasters have occurred in Java. Indonesia does have considerable natural disaster potential, being an archipelago that is flanked by two oceans and has hundreds of volcanos.

Indonesia is also surrounded by slabs of earth that could collide at any time. All this becomes a danger if we do not use our sense and reason to manage nature wisely.

The occurrence of natural disasters is completely due to forces of nature such as volcanic explosions, tectonic quakes or tsunamis. But there are also disasters that happen because of human activity.

A warning regarding the possibility of disasters occurring this year has been issued by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The warning was given because this year we are experiencing a wet dry season, which means there will be more rain than normal, after seeing drought last year due to the El Niño climate phenomenon.

However, Java must be given special attention. Around 58 percent of Indonesia’s population lives on Java, an island that accounts for only 7 percent of Indonesia’s land area.

The high population density on Java causes environmental problems. To survive, many people are forced to live and make a living, particularly through farming, in areas that are vulnerable to disaster.

The good infrastructure in Java has made the island a center of economic growth. The need to provide food and homes battles with industrial development over acquiring the best pieces of land, as well as raw materials for extractive industries such as cement.

Environmental degradation in Java is felt when floods and landslides occur in the rainy season and when there are water shortages during the dry season. This would not happen if forests and conservation areas were extensive and in good condition.

Green development is a term we often use. International conferences on green development are often held in Indonesia. However, we have not been consistent in implementing the concept because we are busy chasing economic growth.

A development model that only exploits nature cannot be maintained. We need to be able to manage disasters through a mastery of technology and not put our wants ahead of our needs, which is proven to have disrupted the balance of nature.

Kompas, Thursday, June 23, 2016