REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The intensity and frequency of natural disasters have increased in the country, because the pace of environmental damage is much faster than its recovery. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) revealed the fact on Monday.

"The pace of environmental damage has, on an average, reached 750 thousand hectare to 1 million hectare per year. The government's capability to rehabilitate lands and forests, on an average, has only reached 250 thousand hectares per year," the agency's Head of Center for Data, Information and Public Relation, Sutopo.

The rivers tend to undergo degradation and the watersheds are in critical condition. Currently, the country has 24.3 million hectares of critical land.

The environmental damage is caused by, among others, an increased demand for land for agriculture, industry, as well as housing, which could not be managed through disaster-based spatial planning and urbanization.

"In addition, people's attitude regarding the environment, in this case illegal logging and littering, is yet to change," he noted.

In addition to human factors, the environmental damage is also caused by global warming, climate change, and extreme climate, which have exacerbated the impacts of the disaster.

"The capability of disaster mitigation, in general, is not adequate yet, both in structural and non-structural aspects," he added.

During the January to February period, 513 natural disasters have hit the country, with a total damage expected to reach trillions of rupiah.

Within this period, the authority has recorded 182 whirlwinds, 157 floods, 137 landslides, 15 land and forest fires, 10 floods, 7 incidents of high tide and abrasions, 3 incidents of destructive earthquakes, and 2 incidents of volcano eruptions. 

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