Jakarta, IO – If we just limit the period from the year of 2004 until this 6 February 2023, various regions in Indonesia and in the world are experiencing a series of natural disaster events that have caused various victims and material losses. The incidents ranged from small, medium to large scale natural disasters.
In Indonesia, it was recorded, among others, fooding in rural and urban areas, the big Aceh Tsunami, the Sunda Strait tsunami due to the ruins of the wall of Mount Anak Krakatau which was on alert status, the earthquake in Lombok, the earthquake with liquefaction and tsunami waves in Palu, Southeast Sulawesi and landslides in Papua Province as well as earthquakes and landslides in Cianjur. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, news of natural disasters such as the foods in Kerala (India), the eruption of Mount Fodeo Guetamala which caused hundreds of fatalities and millions of people were affected, and crashes in West Japan and in recent tragedy of Southern Turkiye earthquake and in other areas. For those sad events, I convey my deepest condolence to the victims and bereaved families. May God Almighty Allah give strength and easiness to recover. Aaameen Ya Robbal ‘Aaalameen.
In Indonesia, this incident is often interpreted as the geographical location of Indonesia above the ring of fire which is always moving. This movement becomes the potential for future earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. On the other hand, food disasters are caused by various technical matters and little attention to aspects of environmental protection and hygiene.
In such a situation, it is believed that the central and regional governments and their officials in each country will take various ways to anticipate more victims and material damage in the future. According to historical records, disaster management in Indonesia, especially after the birth of the Indonesian nation, since the beginning of independence until now the management of natural disasters is one of the important focuses so that the government continues to modernize institutions, equipment and improve competent human resources. In addition, the government and the community work together a lot to provide education on the importance of overcoming potential disaster vulnerabilities by developing self-awareness alert/alert against potential natural disasters in the surrounding environment.
Indonesia, with its waters covering almost 2/3 of Indonesia’s territory and tropical forests, makes Indonesia’s position very important in the eyes of the world. The world sees Indonesia as the pegs of the earth and the world’s lungs. So if the Indonesian ecosystem is damaged both on land and in the sea, this will directly and indirectly have an impact on the region and the world.
Population growth in this country which has reached 267 million in 2023 and the world’s population according to the 2019 UN report is estimated to reach nearly 7.6 billion and will increase to 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. Of course there will be more pressure on the earth so that the earth reacts in various ways to the criticality of natural resources and the quality of life and the environment.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that the population explosion will put pressure on land and every human being needs space to live, work, and fertile land to grow food sources. If the population is too dense, these needs become a problem. Without spatial planning, these living space problems will continue to accumulate and will become increasingly difficult to deal with in the next century.
In Indonesia and in other parts of the world, the level of population distribution which is concentrated on one or a few certain islands and is not evenly distributed can encourage the exploitation of natural resources. This problem initially took the form of competition in seeking to meet the needs of food, clothing and shelter so that if it could not be resolved it would lead to friction which could at one time become a conflict under the pretext of controlling natural resources which were still abundant as well as markets for the distribution of their scarce products. In such a situation, the synergy that must be built immediately from all layers of society and government officials and other related institutions in Indonesia is awareness in maintaining the quality, health and balance of the natural surroundings.
Indonesian people, on the one hand, must be given early learning about the importance of maintaining the quality of their environment. On the other hand, the community and the government must also jointly strive to create Indonesian human characters that are friendly to their environment.