Beautiful Thousand Islands have a thousand complex problems
By M. Habiburrohman
JAKARTA (Antara): The string of 108 Indonesian islands known as the Thousand Islands, located just off the Jakarta shore, has long associated with various problems. This is commonly expressed in the phrase "Thousand Islands with a thousand problems."
The problems are intertwined and extremely complex, said Otto Ongkosono from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences oceanography research and development center. These include ecosystem degradation and the threat of extinction of a number of species. Moreover, there are also local problems such as inefficient economic practices in the community.
The Thousand Islands, an area of 69,976 square kilometers (of which 9,214 are land), are only located 75 kilometers offshore. The accessibility of the islands is abused by government officials and Jakartans for their own benefit through profit- making schemes such as land investment or entertainment and leisure developments which result in the degradation of the environment, local life-styles, and other potential resources.
This practice of abuse by "outsiders" has been going on since before Indonesia's declaration of independence, and especially since the Dutch arrival in Sunda Kelapa harbor in the 17th century. This could be seen for example when in the 19th century the island of Onrust was turned in to a massive fort.
Otto also said that a number of islands such as Ubi Kecil, Ubi Besar and Air Kecil have perished due to the extractive activities carried out there for materials for the construction of the Prof. Dr. Sediatmo tollway and the Soekarno-Hatta airport toll road in Jakarta.
Other islands such as Damar Kecil, Nyamuk Besar, Kelor, Onrust, and Cipir have all been severely eroded. Nyamuk Kecil is even on the verge of total disappearance.
Environmental degradation persists due to the human activities of the local community, particularly since the government has encouraged fish farming. The mangrove reservation on West Lancang island was turned into a large scale fish farm. As a result the reservation is now threatened with extinction, which will be followed by the local extinction of various animals in the habitat such as primates, snakes, lizards, and birds.
Physical degradation is worsened due to the activities of fishermen who use trawl nets and dynamite to catch fish.
"We have often caught them red-handed in such practices, yet there is no firm action taken by the authorities," said Syafruddin Masru, a fisherman from Kelapa island and head of the fishermen's group Mayang. He alleged that military personnel are involved in these practices of illegal fishing.
Environmental degradation is further worsened due to increasing pollution as a result of human activities.
Residues of fuels from ships for example consistently appear. The most alarming form of environmental pollution is the increase of heavy-metal particles in ecosystems , such as Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg), Cobalt (Co), and iron (Fe).
Garbage is also a critical problem. This waste comes from local human activities, river outflows from Jakarta, and the tourist industry in the area.
Usman, 73, from Kelapa island, complained that resort owners often simply ignore the problem. Yet most of the waste is from them and their guests.
Ownership
Another problem is ownership of the islands. At least 28 islands are privately owned, 34 are owned by companies, and only 11 islands are settled by locals.
The private owners often ignore conservation of the coral reefs. Coral reef excavations (some corals excavated were still alive) have been carried out for the foundations of onshore constructions. This obviously ruins the existing balance in the ecosystem. Some private owners even carry out aggressive work such as land reclamation to extend an island's coast-line as in the case of Air island, or the building of a landing airstrip as on Panjang island, and even the construction of a golf course as on Bira Besar island.
A lighter form of damage arises where company=owned islands maintain their water management although the existing ecosystem has been completely altered.
In economic terms, the ownership of islands does not improve the well-being of the locals.
"Since the sales of islands during the 1980s, we have only been able to fish in certain areas," Masru said.
He said fishermen are not allowed to fish in private or company owned areas. "Security men, who are paid to keep their area safe, will catch us and even punish us if we are apprehended fishing in their vicinity," he added.
The resorts in the area do not use the local human resources available.
A non-governmental organization, Sekretariat Bina Desa (Village Development Secretariat), which conducted an education program on Kelapa Island recently, found that 80 percent of the resort employees were not local people.
"We only get to do cleaning jobs," said Machmud, 63, who once worked for two years on Puteri island.
The ownership of islands also restricts living areas for the local community whose population keeps on growing. For example the less-than-1 square kilometer Kelapa island is occupied by 7,000 people. Now the island looks like other slums in Jakarta.
The increasing population density on the islands which are occupied by locals has led to the decrease in the quality of their lives. More problems come up due to poor sanitation.
"It is ironic that the locals do not have enough living space, whereas those who are not from here own whole islands for themselves," said Masru.
Meanwhile, John from Sekretariat Bina Desa believes the answer to all the problems lies in managing the human resources of the local community.
This scheme, according to him, would improve the access of the locals to their natural resources. The scheme would be supported by an organization coordinating protection and conservation of the Thousand Islands environment.
The utilization of the local human resources in the long run would stimulate locals' creativity to improve their own well- being, and thus their economic independence, as has been demonstrated by the fishermen's group Mayang on Kelapa island.
Currently, the group is developing an alternative rumpon (reef) from styrofoam as a substitute for coconut leaves if supplies decrease. They are anticipating the decrease in coconut leaves due to the increasing usage of the leaves by the growing Thousand islands population.
Nevertheless, the utilization of local human resources requires assistance from other institutions as motivators and facilitators. Now only a single consortium is handling the management. The Consortium to Conserve the Thousand Islands consists of Sekretariat Bina Desa, Bogor FDP Diving Club, Pengabdian University, Green Indonesia Club, the Mayang fishermen's group, and Jelajah magazine.
From another perspective Otto stated the need to improve environmental laws and their implementation.
Aside from that, a proper functional usage of the land in the islands will control and head off the increasing threat of environmental degradation and pollution.
Land which is properly utilized for conservation, construction, and preservation areas, according to Otto, would contribute to improving the quality of the environment.