Indonesia faces one of its most devastating natural disasters in recent memory as catastrophic flooding and landslides continue to ravage Sumatra island. The unprecedented destruction has displaced over 1.2 million people while rescue teams struggle to reach remote communities cut off by damaged infrastructure. Environmental experts are pointing to human activities as a significant factor that amplified this tragedy. The disaster has sparked intense debate about ecological destruction and extreme weather events.
Destruction of nature worsens natural disasters effects
Environmental groups in Indonesia contend that the huge clearance of forests owing to hundreds of licenses for natural resource extraction has adversely impacted the magnitude of landslides and floods in Sumatra. The Environmental Forum in Indonesia has reported that, in over 20 years, hundreds of thousands of hectares in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh were cleared as a result of forest clearance licenses from 631 companies for natural resource extraction.
The government has named eight firms that are believed to be involved in worsening the natural disaster, including plantation companies, gold mining companies, and palm oil producers. These firms were known to operate in the river basin of Batang Toru, in North Sumatra. Environmental Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has announced that if any wrongdoing was found, those companies would see their environmental permits being amended.
Deforestation compromises vital natural flood protection
Indonesia has long been known as a country with a vulnerable natural environment. This vulnerability has been exacerbated by the degradation of natural protective belts around major islands in Indonesia, said Uli Arta Siagian, Director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment. Without natural buffers and environmental infrastructure, natural disasters are able to reach deeper into territories and cause further devastation for populated areas.
Rare cyclone formation takes authorities by surprise
This devastation was brought about by the rare conjunction of Typhoon Koto and Cyclone Senyar in the Malacca Strait, due to a rare meteorological phenomenon whereby cyclones are uncommonly found near the equator. Professor of climatology Erma Yulihastin defined Senyar as an “unusual occurrence” for Indonesia, where cyclones are uncommon in low latitudes. The storm also exhibited heavy rain with a rate of up to 300mm per day when it reached its peak intensity from November 17 to 26.
The cyclone caught many of the country’s officials by surprise, which left a lack of preparedness in terms of early warning systems and understanding of tropical cyclone phenomena in Indonesia. Meteorologists attribute this development to warmer sea surfaces that are now disrupting atmospheric patterns, which were responsible for this rare event of a cyclone forming in the tropics.
Government under fire for inconsistent policies
President Prabowo Subianto recognized the effects of deforestation and appealed for forest conservation, as he stated, “we must prevent deforestation and forest destruction.”Nonetheless, this statement faced criticism from the Mining Advocacy Network in Indonesia, as it labeled this appeal “political hypocrisy.” This was in relation to his administration’s support for an extractive economy with accelerated mining projects and large energy projects.
According to the Centre of Economic and Law Studies’ estimates, the Sumatra disaster would result in a potential degradation in gross domestic product equivalent to 68.67 trillion rupiah (4.13 billion USD), which is 0.29 percent of gross domestic product per year. A total of 1.5 million people were affected, while 570,000 are displaced due to flooding. Roads, especially bridges, in many towns in North Sumatra are still impassable.
This unfortunate event needs to highlight that it has now become a pressing requirement for Indonesia to manage its development and environmental conservation. This event has been a result of a mixture of abnormal climatic conditions and many years of environmental degradation. However, due to increasing abnormal climatic conditions owing to climate change, it has become important for Indonesia to re-evaluate its forestry management and development strategies.
