Indonesia's vulnerable islands not yet on the map

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 1 May 09;

Indonesia's territory may be under threat of shrinking, with more than 5,000 of the 17,500 islands making up the archipelago remaining unnamed, let alone guarded.

To make matters worse, territorial assets may be lost and marine borders changed as the islands most vulnerable to human-induced climate change go unnoticed.

"We only just started drafting a vulnerability index for the Thousands Islands off North Jakarta," the director of small island empowerment Alex SW Retraubun told a seminar on oceans and climate change at the University of Indonesia on Thursday.

He said the index would be used to map out the vulnerability of all small islands under threat from any potential rise in sea levels.

"Hopefully, we will finish the vulnerability index by the end of this year," he said.

The 2007 law on small island management identifies a small island as one measuring less than 2,000 square kilometers in size.

Another speaker at the seminar, former environment minister Emil Salim, said that Indonesia was facing a "war" when it came to the severe impacts of climate change, with the country's outer islands under serious threat of being swamped.

"Our real enemy is not Malaysia or rampant pirates. We are now facing a serious war with climate change as thousands of small islands, including our outer islands, will disappear," said Emil, who is also a member of an advisory team for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He said climate change would change the borders of countries around the globe.

"There will be adjustments to the boundaries of each country because of climate change, so we should map Indonesia's islands as soon as possible," he said.

He suggested that the government take real action to protect the islands, such as by investing in algae farming.

A recent study conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted that annual global temperatures would be 4.8 degrees Celsius warmer in 2100 that in 1990, potentially raising sea levels by 70 centimeters over the same period.

This May, Indonesia will host the world ocean conference in Manado, North Sulawesi, inviting government officials and experts from 121 countries to discuss the role of oceans in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change.

The inaugural conference is expected to produce the Manado Declaration, which requires the world to practice sustainable ocean management practices to deal with climate change.

Experts have recently been debating whether oceans absorb or release carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming.

The business sector has expressed concern at the possibility of rising sea levels, as it would deal coastal investments a serious blow.

"Frankly speaking, we are shocked to learn about the impacts of climate change, which will make businesses nationwide uncertain," director of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol Budi Karya Sumadi said at the seminar.

He said the use of new technologies could help prevent the drastic impacts of rising sea levels.

"But, huge investment would be required to purchase and operate such technologies," he said.

A rise in sea levels, floods, coastal abrasion and heat waves are among the threats posed to businesses on coastal areas.

The State Ministry of Environment has predicted Ancol, Tanjung Priok and Pantai Indah Kapuk will permanently disappear by 2050 due to the climate chance.

Rising Oceans Could Mean A Shrinking Archipelago
Arti Ekawati, Jakarta Globe 1 May 09;

Environmental experts on Thursday warned that climate change could drastically change the country’s boundaries.

“Some 20 percent of about 17,000 islands in Indonesia will disappear by 2050. Many of them are located in outlying areas and serve as territorial markers,” Emil Salim, a professor at the University of Indonesia, said on Thursday during a seminar on oceans and climate change.

Emil, who served as environment minister under former President Suharto, called on the current government to map unregistered islands in outlying areas as sea levels rise by an average of 1.32 meters per year.

“So, in the future, our real enemy will not be neighboring countries who want to invade our territory,” he said. “The real territorial enemy is global warning.”

Emil warned that by 2050, the National Monument in Central Jakarta would be inundated by seawater, while coastal areas in the capital like Pantai Indah Kapuk, Koja, Ancol and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, as well as the Thousand Islands district, would disappear. The National Monument is about five kilometers inland.

Emil said Indonesia and other archipelagic countries would suffer massive territorial changes between 2050 and 2100. “Every country will change, mainly archipelagic states like Japan and the Philippines, let alone Fiji and Vanuatu.”

Alex Retraubun, the director of small islands at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said global warming would have a serious effect, and agreed the government did not have a complete inventory of its outlying islands.

Retraubun said that during the upcoming World Ocean Conference, the government would call for more rigorous efforts to stem harmful affects from climate change on the world’s oceans.

“We will ask other countries to cooperate on the climate and also talk about oceanic border issues,” Retraubun said at the seminar.

The oceans conference is slated to be held in Manado, North Sulawesi Province, from May 11-14, and is expected to draw about 5,000 experts from 121 countries.

Emil called on the government to build dikes such as those in the Netherlands, though such a move would be very expensive in Indonesia. He said Indonesia should also begin building settlements on high ground to hold so-called ecological refugees.

“Residents could return after the water recedes and the land re-appears,” Emil said.

He also urged the government to move sand from islands that are likely to disappear to bolster other islands. “If that one island has little chance of surviving, why don’t we use its sand and soil to add and widen densely populated islands such as the Thousand Islands or Java. The step is more reasonable than defending small islands from sinking,” Emil said. He added that it was important to strengthen coastlines by planting mangroves to fight erosion.

“We must start now, while we still have time,” he said.