Environmental Problems In Indonesia

The scope of the environmental problems in Indonesia is huge and has been reported to have a deteriorating natural environment in all aspects, due to an unattended legislation that focuses on the natural resources and environment of Indonesia. Although the legislation was enacted, it was not meticulously enforced, resulting to the country experiencing an environmental degradation problem during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

This situation of environmental problems in Indonesia worsened with the financial crisis that hit Asia in 1997. With Indonesia’s government trying to revive its local enterprises, it set aside its industrial behavior regulations leading to firms pursuing cheaper but additionally environmentally-damaging ways of producing and harvesting.

On top of that, the environmental problems in Indonesia was aggravated with the turbulent political condition that made environmental protection complicated; it’s government’s lack of clear authority, both local and regional, contributed to producing weak regulatory organizations.

Accounts on sites of Indonesian forests being illegally logged, is among the biggest environmental problems in Indonesia; this problem originates from the abundance of Timber and the relative poverty of most of Indonesia’s populace, as well as the weakness of law enforcement. Logging affects the environment of Indonesia in many various ways, such as landslides and floods resultant from unregulated logging and deforestation. One particular landslide in November 2003 claimed the lives of at least one-hundred-fifty people.

Another negative effect of illegal logging is connected to a very serious problem of air pollution in Indonesia. The “slash and burn” method of illegal logging intensifies the already high levels of motor vehicles and industry emissions, leading to air pollution and smog that affects its neighboring countries. Deforestation is also linked to industrial “runoff” that contaminates the water supply of Indonesia.

Air pollution and water pollution is perhaps the biggest environmental problems in Indonesia, which have a chain effect on not only its economy but its inhabitants as well. It does not only impose cost on the Indonesian economy, which reaches about $400 million per year, but it also has a very severe impact on the health of its public.

It is undeniable that Indonesia possesses valuable and exceptional natural environment; the country is the abode of the biggest reef system of the world and the world’s biggest rain forests as well. Its forests functions as among the world’s major “carbon sinks” which means that it naturally sequesters world carbon releases and becomes a very essential aspect in stopping climate change. Indonesia’s legal system would have to improve environmental regulations, as well as its stricter enforcement to better the current environmental condition it is in. This may be a big challenge for the Indonesian government, but they have already taken initial steps to recover and save its deteriorating environment.