No action taken to restore damaged Lake Tondano
No action taken to restore damaged Lake Tondano
Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado
Locals and tourists are no longer able to enjoy the beauty of
Lake Tondano, some 37 kilometers north of here in Minahasa
Regency, as it has been suffering from serious environmental
deterioration for many decades.
Fewer and fewer locals and tourists picnic along the lake's
shores following the disappearance of tourist resorts and
recreation spots due to increasing population. Many locals now
use the lake's shores for fishing and farming.
"The lake is no longer attractive for visitors as it has
suffered serious environmental degradation. This is just one of
negative impacts the environmental degradation has had on local
people and the local administration's income," Sri Hardiyanti, a
researcher from the National Resources Management organization,
told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.
She regretted that so far the local administration had taken
no action to stop the deterioration of the once-beautiful lake.
Sri pointed out that even more serious was the fact that the
lake would soon no longer be able to function as a reservoir for
millions of people living in Minahasa and its surrounding areas,
including Manado, because of the environmental damage caused by
human activities.
"The water level has dropped to 15 meters now from around 47
meters in the 1950s because of intensive sedimentation in the
lower courses of the rivers flowing into the lake over the last
six decades.
"The sedimentation is caused by the conversion of thousands of
hectares of forested areas around the lake into farmland, the
appearance of water hyacinths in the lake (eutrophication), as
well as fish farming," she explained.
She said that besides irrigating hundreds of hectares of
farmland in Minahasa regency, the lake's water was also used to
drive a hydropower plant that supplied electricity to the
province.
According to Sri, the fish farms had also resulted in
sedimentation and provided fertilizer for the water hyacinths.
"Besides, a large part of the fertilizers used on the
surrounding farms are washed into the lake, providing further
fertilizer for the water hyacinths and damaging the ecosystem of
the lake," she said.
Sri suggested that the local administration issue tighter
rules governing land use to save the lake and its ecosystem.