Kaliurang suffers increased environment damage

Mimin Dwi Hartono, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Located 950 meters to 975 m above sea level on the slopes of Mt. Merapi is Kaliurang, which encompasses an area of 250 hectares.

It has grown rapidly since it was developed as a tourist resort in the 1980s, and has now become a well-known holiday resort in the Yogyakarta area.

Coming under the jurisdiction of the three hamlets of Kaliurang Barat, Kaliurang Timur and Kaliurang Selatan, the resort has become one of the province's main sources of income, thanks to its rapid physical development.

This can be observed from the rapid increase in the number of hotels and inns. In 1994, for example, there were only about 75 hotels and inns in Kaliurang. As of September 2004, the number had increased to no fewer than 250. That excludes hundreds of dwellings built by locals that reside in the region, whose population totals some 3,535.

Both the local community and investors have enjoyed the economic benefits of development. One thing is for sure -- many Kaliurang residents make a living from tourism-related activities.

Environmental damage exacts high cost

Compared with people from neighboring villages, Kaliurang people are perceived as more prosperous and wealthy. Yet, they are having to pay a high cost, in the form of environmental damage.

The local government seems not to have anticipated the impact of massive physical development on Kaliurang by its failure to produce government policies that take account of landscape design as well as nature conservation.

It seems to have forgotten that Kaliurang is one of the region's main water catchment areas. As a result, uncontrolled development has had a negative impact. One example of this is a lack of clean water supply in the region.

Such a problem is not one that occurs in an instant. There are reasons behind it, which can be traced back to both natural and human factors.

Damage caused by nature

The natural factor is the Nov. 22, 1994, disaster caused by a hot cloud that emerged from Mt. Merapi, which damaged some 700 hectares of Mt. Merapi forest. Further damage occurred on October 2002 when a forest fire destroyed another 300 hectares of Mt. Merapi forest.

Both, of course, affected the ability of the damaged area to absorb rainwater, causing a significant reduction in water availability. Some water sources even dried up completely because of it.

Before the 1994 incident, the water supply for Kaliurang was provided by natural springs at Umbul Madohan, Umbul Candi and Umbul Kletak, which are located on the upper reaches of the Boyong River, as well as from Umbul Muncar and Umbul Wadon water springs on the Kuning River.

However, as the disaster also damaged the pipeline from the Boyong River, the main supply of clean water for Kaliurang, ever since, has been provided only by Umbul Wadon and partly from Umbul Muncar.

With a debit of 16 liters per second at Umbul Wadon and two liters to five liters of water per second at Umbul Muncar, it is of course difficult for both of the water springs to fulfill the demand of Kaliurang's population for clean water -- a demand that keeps increasing due to its development as a natural holiday resort.

This is where the problem began.

No sense of urgency was shown in the local government's policies. Instead of restoring the damaged water pipeline and forest, it focused more on the massive physical development of the area that rapidly increased the population there.

Physical development must take into account the existing water supply in the region. That excludes the lack of awareness by local people that they are experiencing a water crisis, which has worsened the situation.

Damage attributable to human factors

Human factors, meanwhile, involve two things, i.e. individual human behavior and local government policies.

The community still lives under the misperception that water is something that will always be there, that it can be exploited for as long as it wants.

The people are ignorant of environmental issues, too. A recent survey revealed that 90 percent of Kaliurang's population did not know about the existence of Umbul Wadon, much less its location.

How could they respect or care for it if they knew nothing about it?

Another equally important factor is unclear policies issued by the local government regarding the resort.

At present, for example, there has yet to be a clear land use plan for the development of Kaliurang as a holiday resort that controls physical development.

Although this may not have a direct impact on the supply of clean water in Kaliurang, it would certainly limit the reduction in the water catchment surface in the area.

It is ironic that Kaliurang, a water catchment area, is experiencing a lack of clean water supply.

However, this is always the case when development occurs in an uncontrolled manner and ignores the environment while at the same time the local community is unaware of the importance of environmental conservation.

Development must be controlled

At present, therefore, what is needed to save Kaliurang is to stop the uncontrolled construction of more hotels and inns at the resort, mostly by outsiders, and the implementation of a clear, strict policy regarding land use at the resort.

Local people should also be encouraged to use water more carefully, while consciously preserving the existing forest and natural water springs.

Otherwise, Kaliurang will sustain serious damage. It would be a shame if the resort were to suffer the same fate as the Dieng Plateau tourist resort in Wonosobo, Central Java, which had to put the brakes on further development due to damage to its environment.

Kaliurang has generated prosperity for its local community and has become one of the province's main sources of income.

Whether such prosperity will be sustainable very much depends on how local people and the local government treat the Kaliurang environment in particular, and that of the whole area around Mt. Merapi in general.

Therein also lies the right of future generations to a better environment and living circumstances.