Dutch Unveil Latest Plan in War Against the Sea: a Massive Sandbar

Jakarta Globe, Nicolas Delaunay, December 26, 2011

The wind, waves and ocean currents, it is hoped, will drive the man-made
 peninsula of sand landward to replenish the coast of the Netherlands. 
(AFP Photo)   

          

Kijkduin,Netherlands. In its age-old war to keep back the sea, low-lying Netherlands hasdumped sand onto a surface larger than 200 football fields just off the coast —and will wait for nature to do the rest.

The wind,waves and ocean currents are the next “engineers” in this innovative projectthat will see the transferred sand — all 20 million cubic meters of it — drivenlandward to form a natural barrier against the North Sea’s relentlessonslaught. The elements have started moving the tip of the bar, which alreadyalmost touches land at low tide.

Over aperiod of 15 to 20 years, the sand will wash toward the coast, reinforcingbeaches and existing sand dunes that help protect the Netherlands, more than aquarter of which lies below sea level.

“Undernatural circumstances, the Dutch coast would erode away slowly,” said LeoLinnartz, an ecology expert who advised the project’s developers on behalf ofthe World Wide Fund for Nature. Without reinforcing fragile shores, floodswould eventually be inevitable, he said.

Over thedecades, the Dutch have developed world-renowned expertise in the field ofhydro-engineering, notably in constructing dams, dikes and bridges.

Around17,500 kilometers of embankment have already been built along its coast and rivers.

The newproject was conceived by a group of experts commissioned by the Dutchgovernment to help solve the country’s ongoing headache. It used dredgers tosuck up ocean-floor sand 10 kilometers off the coast then dump it closer toland. Some of the huge machines were able to carry as much as 10,000 cubicmeters of sand at one time.

If theexperiment works, the sandbar project, situated between the seaside suburbs ofKijkduin and Ter Heijde near The Hague, will be replicated elsewhere in thecountry. And the system could even be exported.

“We used todo it in such a way that we used a lot of stones and concrete and things likethat,” said Linnartz. “But nowadays we prefer to work together with nature, tocooperate with natural forces.”

The idea ofstrengthening the coastline with sand is not new, Linnartz said. But placing itoff the coast and allowing nature to take its course is not only a freshapproach to the problem but less harmful to the environment than simply dumpingmore sand on the dunes, he said.

Whiletraditional shoring up happens around every five years, the new plan based onthe sand’s natural movement will last 15 to 20 years.

AgenceFrance-Presse  

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Dike to house ‘blue energy’ plant

Afsluitdijk, The Netherlands

Huge Waves Destroy Homes in East Indonesia

"Like tsunami, the huge walls of waters destroy everything on the coast"

VIVANews, RABU, 12 JANUARI 2011, 10:24 WIB Ismoko Widjaya

VIVAnews - Scores of homes on the coastal area of Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, were severely damaged by massive waves of more than 3 meters in height last night. More than 500 people are seeking refuge to safer places.

Huge waves thumping coastal area
(VIVAnews/Nurcholis Anhari Lubis)

"I've lost my house. Like tsunami, the huge walls of waters destroy everything on the coast," said Nikodemus Domi, an inhabitant of Kelurahan Waioti, today, Jan 12.

The local administration has deployed an emergency response team to assist and evacuate the affected people.

43 homes are found destroyed and collapsed into the sea. In addition, dozens of fishermen's boats were smashed by the waves.

Extreme weather also caused whirlwind to take place in some other areas in the province.

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Rehobot Ship from Oeba harbor was also thumped by the high waves on Tuesday. As many as 15 passengers and ship crews were rescued by local fishermen who happened to be around the scene.

"Most of the passengers jumped into the sea on jerry cans and boards. Fishermen then came to the rescue," said the ship's captain, Yusuf Ton.

Coverage by: Jemris Fointuna | Kupang

Translated by: Bonardo Maulana W

Half of RI`s mangrove forests heavily damaged : Expert

Antara News, Tuesday, November 30, 2010 19:07 WIB

Bogor (ANTARA News) - Half of Indonesia`s mangrove forests are heavily damaged and facing total destruction due to ecological problems, an expert said here Tuesday.

Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) mangrove expert Professor Cecep Kusmana said most of Indonesia`s mangrove forests were in critical condition because of ecological disturbances.

Cecep hoped the government, the Forestry Ministry in particular, would undertake an emergency response to save the mangrove forests as they were on the brink of complete destruction.

"The threat to our mangrove forests is very concerning and they will vanish if we don?t act now," Cecep said.

The precarious conditions of the country`s mangrove forests needed to be addressed through serious actions by the central government , the Forestry Ministry and all stakeholders, he said.

The governments of regions where the mangroves were located also had an important role to play in saving them as they were the local policy makers.

"Local governments and the Forestry Ministry are expected to work together to stop further damage to mangrove forests," he said.

On the occasion, Professor Cecep also introduced the "Guludan" technique to save mangrove forests, which was considered as the appropriate technology to revitalize heavily damaged and critical forest areas.

The Guludan technique was mainly done by using a bamboo pole that planted deep in the mangrove areas and formed as a square partition with adjustable size.

In the research, the proper square measurement was done by 4 four meters wide, six meters long and two meters deep into the mangrove`s soil.

These Guludan must be filled with bags full of dirt on the bottom and then piled with approximately 50 centimeters high dirt on the top as the plant`s medium.

After the structure is built, mangrove sprouts can now be planted at a certain distance from each other.

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Here's Looking @ Earth... Mangrove Mania (Imagery—NASA)

These maps show the location and relative density of mangroves, which cover roughly 137,760 square kilometers (53,190 square miles) of Earth’s surface. The forests can be found in 118 different countries and territories, though nearly 75 percent of their area occurs in just 15 countries. They are most often found straddling the equator between 25º North and South latitude. About 42 percent of the world’s mangroves are found in Asia, with 21 percent in Africa, 15 percent in North and Central America, 12 percent in Australia and the islands of Oceania, and 11 percent in South America.

Environment Watch: Conservation program nurtures love of animal

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Fri, 10/01/2010 8:27 AM

Tens of young students from TK ABA kindergarten in Bantul, Yogyakarta, helped release infant turtles into the sea on Goa Cemara beach on Wednesday.

Before the turtles were released, the children were taken to a turtle hatchery set up by residents, who live nearby in Sanden village.

At the hatchery, the children were introduced to the species by Wahadi, chief of the Goa Cemara Beach Tourism Awareness Group.

Wahadi explained in detail about the animal’s life cycle, beginning with when they were eggs, and discussed their role in the ecosystem.

“We hatched the turtles from the eggs found along the beach by residents. We then put them in the hatchery,” he said.

The eggs placed by the residents in the hatchery were then left for 45 days to hatch.

Once hatched, the young turtles, locally known as tukik, were immediately released into the sea. The infants too weak to be released were held by the residents, who will nurture them for about a month before releasing them. The residents finance the program privately.

Wahadi said the hatchery was currently home to 100 turtle eggs, 19 of which had hatched.

“The 19 young turtles were released today. This program is important to make people love animals from an early age,” he said.

He said the turtle conservation program had been started spontaneously when residents launched an environmental program aimed at protecting the beach’s ecosystem in 1994.

The residents, he said, had planted 10 hectares of pine groves behind the beach, prompting residents to rename it Goa Cemara (fir cave) beach.

“In the beginning, the trees were planted to ensure strong winds did not affect coastal plants along the area and as barrier against strong waves,” Wahadi said. “Now, many residents are spending their time relaxing on the beach.”

North Jakarta plants 5,000 mangrove trees

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 09/25/2010 11:38 AM

JAKARTA: The North Jakarta administration rallied around 1,750 residents to plant around 5,000 mangrove trees in the Pantai Indah Kapuk area on Friday to prevent coastal erosion.

“Mangrove trees will protect against waves that erode the coastline,” Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto said Friday during the tree planting event, as reported by beritajakarta.com.

“It’s hard to do this without support from residents along North Jakarta’s 35-kilometer coastline,” he said.

Prijanto urged residents from other areas on the North Jakarta coastline, such as Ancol, Pluit, Cilincing and Marunda, to follow suit.

“We also urge the residents to take care of these trees,” he said.

North Jakarta Mayor Bambang Sugiyono praised the public efforts to plant the trees. “Two days ago, my office planted 4,000 mangrove trees in Angke Kapuk natural tourism park,” he said. — JP

Beach ‘abrasion’ increasing: Expert

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Mon, 07/05/2010 10:40 AM

Two more kilometers of Bali’s shoreline are damaged by geological abrasion every year, and immediate action is needed to stop people from making it worse, say experts.

Abrasion, a form of erosion in which rocks are eroded by particles propelled another force, such as water, affects the beaches of almost every regency in Bali, especially those in the south, Walhi Bali Institute’s Ngurah Karyadi said.

“Bali has 430 kilometers of shoreline, but 86.5 kilometers are severely abraded and 51.5 kilometers experienced minor abrasion. This problem should be handled immediately,” Karyadi said.

The most severe abrasion rate is 50 meters per year, recorded at Gianyar regency’s Lebih beach.

Concrete barrier walls have been built to guard against huge waves, the main natural contributor to abrasion, in only a few areas, such as Sanur, Kuta, Nusa Dua, Tanah Lot, Candidasa and parts of Bali’s north coast, he said.

A Bali Public Works Agency reports shows more than 181 of 438 kilometers of Bali’s coastline have been affected by abrasion. Eighty kilometers have been restored.

Severe abrasion occurred on Padanggalak and Matahari Terbit beaches in Denpasar; Ketewel, Masceti and Purnama beaches in Gianyar; Tegal Besar, Negari, Jumpai and Pasinggahan beaches in Klungkung; Candidasa beach in Karangsem; Cupel, Baluk and Medewi beaches in Jembrana. Grogak beach in Buleleng recorded light abrasion.

In 1987, the agency reported that amount of coastline affected by abrasion had increased by 39.1 kilometers over the last 20 years, with an average annual increase of 1.95 kilometers.

Abrasion forced the relocation of 49 families and a cemetery from Cupel and Candikesuma beaches in Jembrana in 2007. In Candikesuma, a huge wave severely damaged local fishing boats and a fish market.

Abrasion has also threatened several sacred places, including Tanah Lot temple in Tabanan and Rambut Siwi temple in Jembrana.

“Destructive human activity and global warming both have increased the intensity of abrasion, as is evident from changes in the position of shoreline,” Karyadi said.

R. Suyarto from Udayana University’s Center for Environmental Management said that recent coastal area development ignored human activity as a sources of increased abrasion.

“Other human activities, such as cutting down mangrove trees and removing coral and sand also adds to abrasion,” he said.

Land reclamation projects on Serangan island are behind abrasion along Sanur beach in the direction of Lebih beach, while the extension of runways at Ngurah Rai airport has worsened abrasion in Kuta, he said.

Gianyar Regent Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati said a blueprint for coastal development is needed to address the problem.

“We need to tackle this problem in a comprehensive way, including making a blueprint for coastal development,” he said.

“Everyone who wants to build along coastline should refer to the blueprint. We need to ensure that tourism businesses comply with it,” he added.

President: Do not throw garbage into rivers

Antara News, Monday, June 7, 2010 16:13 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday called on the people not to litter rivers with garbage because it could destroy mangrove forests along the coast lines.

"Again, I ask the people not to throw garbage arbitrarily into rivers because it will destroy our mangrove forests at the sea shores," President Yudhoyono said when he inspected a mangrove forest area in the Muara Angke natural tourist park in North Jakarta.

On the occasion the president said environmental pollution would cause floods , various kinds of disease which would in the long run compel the government to spend a lot of funds on people`s health programs.

The head of state said it was better at the earlier stage to use the funds to save the environment, including mangrove forests, in an effort to save the people from the threat of natural disasters in the future.

"Some parts of the rivers are clean enough but most of them are still littered with garbage," the president said.

During his visit to the Muara Angke park, the President was accompanied by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo.

The Angke Kapuk natural tourist park is a 99.82-hectare natural conservation area covered by mangrove forests.

The area has been declared a tourist forest area for mangrove reforestation and rehabilitation and natural tourist activities.

Up to the end of April 2006, some 40 ha of the area had been rehabilitated and reforested with mangrove trees.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on the occasion that his office has been cooperating with the Jakarta City Administration for five years to plant at least 9 million mangrove trees in the area.

"We have planted mangrove trees several times here, at Teluk Angke, at Ancol resort, and even at other locations in an effort to make Jakarta green," the forestry minister said.

According to him, mangrove-tree-planting activity should be intensified because environmental damage along the coast of Jakarta Bay had reached an alarming level.

Dumai coastal erosion reaches ‘alarming pace’

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru | Fri, 04/30/2010 10:07 AM

The coast of Dumai in Riau province is facing further coastal erosion due to damage to mangrove swamps, resulting in tides from the Malacca Strait slam against the shore, eroding up to 7 meters of coastline annually.

One of the worst-affected locations is Puak Beach in Teluk Makmur subdistrict in Medang Kampai.

Local community leader M. Nasir Efendi said the land between the coast the main road in the village had receded by more than 250 meters.

“When it was built in 1956, the distance between the road and the coast was around 300 meters, but now, during high tides, seawater reaches some sections of the 5-kilometer road,” Nasir told The Jakarta Post.

He added that residents had repeatedly requested government action to reclaim the coastline to save the village from high tides, but that the local administration had only built a wave barrier.

“What else can we do? The cost of coastal reclamation is too high, but residents still hope a dam will be built along the whole coast,” he said, adding that currently, only on a small stretch of the coast had a dam.

Nasir estimates that Teluk Makmur subdistrict would be washed away in the next 15 years without immediate action.

“If the rate of abrasion is on average 5 meters annually, the sea would reach the village in the next 10 years,” he said.

Dumai Environmental Agency head Zulfa Indra said the pace of coastal erosion in Dumai had reached an alarming level.

Apart from eroding land, he added that the waves could also extend the cliffs along the coast up to two meters inland.

Coastal erosion is not limited to Teluk Makmur subdistrict, he said. The coast along Pelintung Industrial Zone is also undergoing rapid erosion. “A large part of the mangrove swamps that previously served as a coastal barrier have vanished,” he said.

“Changes in land use have caused widespread mangrove forest destruction.

“Mangrove swamps still remain in a number of locations, but they are still young and require special care and supervision,” he added.

Zulfa said his agency faced difficulties curbing the pace of coastal erosion due to limited funds.

Last year, he said, the Dumai city budget allocated only Rp 3 billion (US$330,000) to maintain coastal areas, forcing the agency to postpone coastal barrier projects in a number of locations.

“The available funds won’t cover the length of coast that need to be protected from the waves,” Zulfa said.

He expressed hope that the Dumai municipality would approve the Rp 5 billion budget proposed by his agency for coastal maintenance this year, adding that the funds would be used to continue delayed projects and mangrove reforestation carried out over the past year.

“The budget approval very much determines the pace of mitigation efforts of coastal erosion that has threatened the lives of local people,” he said.

Zulfa said his agency had replanted 10,000 mangrove seedlings in a number of areas prone to coastal erosion, of which only 60 percent would survive, while the rest are expected to die or be swept away by waves.

“Only mature plants can survive the pace of erosion, that’s why we still need maintenance funds for the next several years to ensure the young plants continue to thrive.

“Young mangrove trees cannot mature naturally in current conditions as they could be swept away by waves.

“These young trees are also prone to forest clearing, so they must be tended to and supervised,” he said.

Nasir estimates that Teluk Makmur subdistrict would be washed away in the next 15 years without immediate action.