Mountain Partnership

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Indonesia

Indonesia has more than 500 mountains of which 129 are volcanoes (13 percent of the world's volcanoes are located in Indonesia). The natural resources are abundant in the mountainous parts of the islands, but there is limited scope for human settlement because of the difficulty of farming the land. Most of the mountain areas have specific ecosystems and are conserved as protected areas; as national parks, protected forests, disaster-risk areas and watershed areas. The mountains of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Celebes are rich in mineral deposits, such as gold and silver, as well as being important sources of energy. In the lower parts of the mountains there are many public infrastructure developments such as dams that control the flow of water to the lowlands and generate energy for electrical power.

These high-altitude areas are characterized by cool weather, steep slopes and high precipitation. Land slides, fires and volcanic eruptions are also frequent in these regions, and soil degradation has led to many floods in the lowlands - in recent years floods have devastated many cities in Indonesia.

Most of the national parks in Indonesia are now under threat, since vast tracts of the mountain and forest ecosystems have been harmed by uncontrolled human intervention; mining, illegal logging and horticultural activities that harm the environment, and also through the impact of electricity power plants, residential development that does not fulfil conservation requirements, as well as unregulated tourism development. A national strategy for sustainable mountain development is required to restore biodiversity and regulate human exploitation of these areas. Mountain communities also need to be helped to keep alive their traditions and their culture. Mountain dwellers are poor, and as a result communities tend to use natural resources unwisely and unsustainably. These areas lack infrastructures, such as roads, health services and education facilities.

The NGO Nawakamal Foundation is currently planning a series of community-based projects in mountain areas to promote strategies on multisector forestry, environment and mountain areas management planning, awareness raising, capacity-building and developing a database on indigenous knowledge and environmental issues. Konservasi Alam Nusantara (KONUS) is another NGO whose programmes are now oriented entirely towards the sustainable development of mountain ecosystems in Indonesia.

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