Indonesian regions get help to plan mitigation, adaptation

The Jakarta Post 22 Oct 09;

Regional forecasts of the impact of global climate change from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Indonesia will allow regional leaders to start .

Planning mitigation and adaptation programs for their respective areas.

Erwin Eka Syahputra Makmur from the agency said Wednesday regions could now take advantage of climate change projections within a 20-kilometer horizontal resolution, providing a portrait of changes in rainfall patterns, temperature, local winds and humidity.

"With this data, regional leaders can design policies to match the specific needs of their respective areas. The projections are not the same for every region, it depends on the topography," he said

Speaking at a seminar in Jakarta on capacity development for adaptation to climate change in Asia, he said the agency would cooperate with regional administrations wishing to have the information.

Areas around West Sulawesi would get 50 percent more rainfall than the current level during wet seasons from 2075 to 2099, he said. Other regions will see a 20 percent increase in their rainfall figures.

Regions located around coastal areas, especially the north coast of Sumatran, the Kalimantan coast, Sulawesi's west coast and Papua's southern coast will have a rainfall increase of more than 20 percent.

"The increase in rainfall will have an impact on coastal erosion and areas will be prone to flooding," Erwin said.

He projected no significant increase in rainfall from 2015 to 2034.

During dry seasons, there would be a decrease of up to 20 percent in rainfall in almost all parts of Java and some areas of Sulawesi. "This means there will be a lack of water for agricultural needs. We must be aware of this, since Java is Indonesia's national rice bowl," Erwin said.

The climate change projection shows the country's temperature is likely to jump 3 degrees Celsius between now and the end of the century, he added.

"The most significant increase will occur over highland areas around the Bukit Barisan Mountains in Sumatra, West Sulawesi and the Jayawijaya Mountains in Papua," he said.

The projection also provides data of possible increases in extreme events, such as extreme temperatures.

"The projection of extreme events can be very useful to develop adaptation policies to decrease the impact of natural disasters," he said.

Syamsidar Thamrin, deputy director of climate change at the environment directorate at the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said the government was preparing a road map to prioritize climate change issues in national development planning.

"The road map will serve as a detailed guidance for drafting the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) in the future," she said, adding the road map was being drafted for 2010 to 2030.

The government has carried out other climate-change-related activities, including creating a financing mechanism through the Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund (ICCTF).

"The UK Department for International Development has allocated *10 million *US$16.5 million* for the ICCTF. Other countries, like Japan, Finland and Norway have expressed interest in contributing to the program," she said.

"Indonesia is one of the first developing countries to ever have a self-managed trust fund." (adh)