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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Coastal region and small island papers 6
Introduction
Jakarta,
the capital city of Indonesia, is a large tropical megacity with a population of
more than 20 million people. Jakarta Bay, which lies north of Jakarta and within
which there is a chain of small islands, the Kepulauan Seribu, is heavily
impacted by human activities taking place in and around the city as well as
those taking place in the bay itself. The impacts from the city include solid
and liquid waste from domestic, industrial and agricultural activities resulting
in pollution and eutrophication of the bay waters. Activities within the bay
itself include sand and coral mining, oil exploration, fishing and tourism. As a
result of these activities, several islands within the Kepulauan Seribu
(referred to as the Seribu Islands in this report) have disappeared within
recent decades and others are seriously threatened.
Since
an international workshop on 'Human-induced damage to coral reefs' in 1985,
UNESCO has been collaborating with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Lembaga
Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia –
LIPI) and other scientific institutions to collect information on the status of
coral reefs in the Seribu Islands. A baseline coral reef survey was conducted
during this workshop in 1985. During an international workshop in 1995 on 'Coral
reef evaluation, Pulau Seribu' a second reef survey was conducted. The results
showed a dramatic decline in reef health over the ten year period.
In
1996, the intersectoral platform for Environment and Development in Coastal
Regions and in Small Islands (CSI) was launched by UNESCO. This initiative,
which seeks to develop wise coastal practices for sustainable living, has three
modalities: pilot projects,
university chairs/twinning, and a web-based discussion forum on 'Wise
Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development' (user name = csi, password
= wise). Jakarta Bay was selected the same year as a pilot project site, and
the activities and results of the project between 1996 and 1999 are described
in this report.
One
of the first activities, in 1996, was to hold a workshop on coral reef
management together with LIPI and The Indonesian National News Agency – Antara. Key sections of the presentations and discussions
from this workshop are included in Section 2 of this report, which describes the
impacts of human activities on the biophysical status of Jakarta Bay and the
Seribu Islands. One of the recommendations of the workshop was to develop
community-based solid waste management through recycling and composting, and
this has become one of the major activities of the pilot project.
Prior
to commencing activities, a socio-economic survey was conducted of three
selected communities (two urban and one rural) in the Jakarta Bay coastal zone,
and of the community in Pari Island in the Seribu Islands. The results of these
surveys are described in Section 3 of this report.
Following
on the recommendations of the 1996 workshop, and in co-operation with the UNESCO
Jakarta Office and several NGOs, the project has undertaken several activities
relating to community-based solid waste management. These are described in
Section 4 of this report, and include firstly an assessment of waste production
in Jakarta; secondly, household and traditional market waste composting, and
paper recycling; and thirdly environmental education – both school programmes
and informal initiatives.
| Crowded
conditions in Jakarta's waterfront areas |
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During
a workshop in 1997 to establish a framework for sustainable development in the
Seribu Islands, one of the priority areas recommended for action was to develop
alternative livelihoods for the islanders. This has become another major focus
of the project and Section 5 of this report describes these activities which
include duck and seaweed farming in Pari Island. A further development
In
1999, a panel discussion was held, organised together with LIPI, to develop a
concept for coastal city management, specific to Jakarta, which would seek to
establish equilibrium between resource exploitation and ecosystem preservation.
Major recommendations from this meeting were to encourage co-ordination between
sectors and stakeholders, to prepare an environmental management plan, and to
increase awareness amongst community, government and private sectors, concerning
environmental quality.
The
main conclusions and recommendations from the project are described in Section
6. Future activities will maintain the existing themes of community-based
development, social empowerment and alleviation of poverty.
