Jakarta (ANTARA) – Ecological disasters in Indonesia are not caused solely by extreme weather but are significantly worsened by poor land management, a Gadjah Mada University (UGM) expert said here Wednesday.
Prof. Junun Sartohadi, head of UGM’s Land Resource Management Study Center, said authorities and communities often focus on assigning blame rather than taking scientifically sound mitigation measures.
“Extreme events are often blamed on land conditions. We become busy looking for who is responsible, while forgetting who should take action,” he said.
Junun said environmental changes are driven by geodynamic factors and climate fluctuations. Extreme weather will naturally trigger disasters, but their impacts can be reduced through responsible development.
“When we manage land poorly, mistakes in one location can lead to problems elsewhere, increasing the impact,” he said.
To prevent worsening ecological impacts, Junun urged all infrastructure and physical development to follow the precautionary principle, with development activities and locations chosen according to ecological conditions.
“Development must be in the right location and position. We must assess whether it is ecologically appropriate and consider whether it lies upstream, midstream, or downstream of a watershed,” he said.
To address increasingly complex and dynamic spatial planning and land-resource management, he urged wider use of modern geoinformation technology instead of traditional, time-consuming soil-mapping methods.
Modern land mapping requires advanced computing technology so that separate spatial datasets can be integrated into a complete, continuous, and real-time information system, he said.
“AI, machine learning, and similar technologies can turn disconnected data points into a unified database,” Junun said.
He cited agriculture as one strategic sector where AI-based geoinformation technology could play a crucial role in improving land management and policymaking.
Junun said policies based solely on administrative boundaries often lead to inefficient spending and lower productivity.
“For example, fertilizer subsidies based on subdistrict boundaries can leave some areas with excessive supplies and others with shortages, making productivity difficult to plan properly,” Junun said.
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Translator: Sean FM, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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