Expert blames landslide on environmental damage

CILACAP, Central Java (JP): A leading marine expert has blamed the recent floods and landslides here on environmental destruction in the forms of erosion, sedimentation and deforestation in the regency.

Biologist Rubiyanto Misman, who is also the rector of Purwokerto-based Jendral Soedirman University, said a quick bypass of Citanduy river at Segara Anakan lagoon and mangrove here could be the short-term solution to the floods.

"A river bypass can be made to divert the river flow so that sediments will go straight to the open sea," Rubiyanto said during a cruise on the Baruna Jaya IV research vessel here on Tuesday.

For a long-term solution, people's awareness on the importance of environmental preservation must be raised, including mangrove reforestation and an end to illegal lumber, Rubiyanto said.

The professor is representing Indonesia in the ecosystem research jointly conducted with the Marine Ecosystem Center of Bremen University in Germany.

Landslides in three Cilacap districts last week claimed at least 33 lives, with material losses estimated at Rp 2 billion.

Cilacap is the largest regency in Central Java, having 225,000 hectares of territory. Situated in the southwestern tip of the province the regency is home to some 2 million people.

It hosts two important places, namely the Segara Anakan estuary and the Nusa Kambangan island which has the last tropical forest in Java.

Activities in the hinterland have rapidly changed the physical layout and ecology of Segara Anakan lagoon, which Rubiyanto said had aggravated the flooding.

He said in 1903, the lagoon was 6,450 hectares wide but dwindled to 4,290 hectares in 1971 and shrunk to only 1,400 hectares in 1994.

The Indonesian and German marine scientists completed on Tuesday their DM 1.5 million research on the marine ecosystem here, one of three explorations in the country's major sea zones. Known as PRE-JIGSE project, the series of research were meant to examine the biochemical fluxes in the Indonesian sea.

Through a thorough study of the biochemical fluxes, a more accurate prediction of the El Nino weather phenomenon and global climate changes could be conducted, director general of Sea Research and Exploration Indroyono Soesilo said. (edt)