Fight the Unsustainable Ecological System in Indonesia via Human Awareness

THIS PAPER HAS BEEN PRESENTED ON 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION 2013

ABSTRACT

One of the major problems in global governance is unsustainable ecological system. All United Nations member states have agreed to achieve Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. Two of these goals are eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability. It means there are international societies’ awareness of global warming threat and the effects of that in short periodic as well as long periodic. The most noticeable effects are famine and drought. It can disrupt ecological system, including human society, and can cause other pandemics.

Indonesia has many huge problems in environmental issues. Illegal logging, mismanagement of natural resources, and species extinction are the examples of these problems. These problems could be preventable if there were awareness from the society. It is not only the government, but also the Indonesian citizens. The aim of this paper is explaining how to fight the unsustainable ecological system via human awareness. The human awareness is the main thing that should be built firstly. Without human awareness, there is nothing to do to fix the better Indonesian environment and fight the unsustainable system in ecology. The construction is going to be happened, but the structure of environmental is often overlooked.

The unsustainable ecological system can be affected to the social and economic system in Indonesia, such as poverty. The term effect of unsustainable system will decrease the balance of the ecosystem and poverty can be happened while the human awareness to redress the imbalance does not exist. That is happening in Indonesia to build the human awareness of restoring the environment, particularly in the part of the important system for human survival. This result of this research is find the another solution to build the human awareness of unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia, perhaps it could be manifested over the world.

 

 

KEYWORDS: Indonesia, environment, human awareness

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

• Statement of the problems: Unawareness of Sustainable Ecological System in Indonesia

 

Global governance is not always talking about pandemic, terrorism, and world peace. One of the biggest problems in the world is unsustainable ecological system. One of the world’s threats is global warming that can be affected human unawareness to taking care of their environment. The rising of average temperature of earth’s atmosphere becomes another problem for ecosystem in the world, particularly in Indonesia.

 

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a United Nations (UN) initiative, has eight international development goals. Two of them are linked with unsustainable ecological system. They are the first, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and the seventh, ensuring environmental sustainability. These are the proof of global governance that is any connection between poverty and environmental sustainability. MDGs have been fighting the unawareness with an initiative that involving all people of the world to join and give contribution. United Nations realized they could not work alone without good cooperation with all people. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, on UN Climate Change Conference in Doha 2012, messaged “There is no time to waste, no time to lose for us.”

 

Jakarta Floods in the beginning of 2013 was the main proof of unawareness ecological system in Indonesia. Joko Widodo, the governor of DKI Jakarta, said in one hundred days of his government that he would like to fix up the two problems of Jakarta: floods and traffic jam. Floods in Jakarta have been happened since 1621, in Netherlands colonialism. As if it had become commonplace, people in Jakarta always was addressing this disaster as their risk as Jakarta citizens. More than that, the antipathy of take the environment care had been decreasing.

 

Jakarta Floods are one of the many cases that caused by human unawareness. Throwing the rubbish randomly, doing illegal constructions that is not in the place, doing illegal logging, etc. has been creating the major problems to ruin the ecological system. Indonesian citizens have been unaware of the damage of unsustainable ecological system. It would influence the epidemic diseases, other disasters, and the fatal environmental damage that could not be regenerated.

 

If this case is allowed continually, the environmental damage would not prevented and raise the serious problems in short-term and long-term. The environmental damage that could not be prevented will bother social life, not only the government but also the citizens’ welfare. The human unawareness in Indonesia could not be ignored. It is the Indonesian citizens’ responsibility for creating the awareness of caring the ecological system in the present and the future.

 

• Objectives

 

The objective of this inquiry is to explain the human awareness in Indonesia and the unsustainable ecological system that involving all people in Indonesia. Unsustainable ecological system is a serious problem that all countries in the world facing. The impacts of this problem could bother citizens’ life. Environment could not leave to create sustainable. Environment, social, and economic should be balanced in the life.

 

Unsustainable ecological system is not only the government’s task, but also the responsibility of citizens. The awareness to improve the ecosystem should be built together. Human awareness is the most important thing that must be exists as the foundation of doing the improvement. Without awareness, there will be nothing because the threat of unsustainable ecological system would continue but is could not be equilibrated by human.

 

Explaining the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia is an author decision that based on Indonesia’s environment reality. Indonesia is one of the highest environmental damage countries. If it continued, the effects of unsustainable ecological system could be fought harder than the awareness of the threats could be felt now. Disaster, natural resources crisis, poverty, hunger, climate change, global warming, etc. has been waiting as the unsustainable ecological effects. Explicating the connection between human awareness and unsustainable ecological system is necessarily discussed in this paper.

 

This paper has four parts. The first part explained about the background of unawareness ecological system in Indonesia, scope of the study, the benefit of the study, and the literature review as the basic theories of this paper. The second part explained about the methodology that would be used in this research. It has three sub-parts; research question as main target of this research and the hypothesis of, data collection, and data analysis. The third part explained about the results of this research. The last part explained the synthesis of the study and recommendation for government and citizens, especially in Indonesia.

 

• Scope of study: The State Minister for The Environment and Indonesia Citizens

 

The connection between the unsustainable ecological systems in Indonesia with human awareness has addressed by the researcher. In some researches about the Indonesian environment, that mentioned the disaster in some cases in Indonesia caused by human. For example, Centre of International Forestry Research has published Fire Brief on October 2004 titled “Fire, livelihoods and environmental degradation in the wetlands of Indonesia: A vicious cycle”. It was analyzed by Unna Chukkalingam and Suyatno. In Unna Chokkalingam and Suyanto’s research, they had found many facts of causes of fire ignitions. One of the causes of fire ignitions is there were many sights of community that saying the fire in the forest was not a problem in generally small. Another problem of fire is the dispute between the community that living around the forest and a company that having a right to use that forest.

 

The newest problem of unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia is the Sumatra forests fire that giving impact to Malaysian and Singaporean. On 19 June 2013, NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites captured images of smoke from illegal wildfires. It was beginning from Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia. The haze was affecting several countries around Indonesia. The most affected countries are Singapore. Singaporean could not do their activities well caused by the haze around their air. They should wear maskers and the government decided to stop their activities for anticipating the negative effect of haze. Indonesian government was busying to bonnet in Sumatra forest, especially in Riau. This case could be happened predictably caused by the forest burning from a company that wanting to make a free land for infestation.

 

On October 2012, the State Minister of Environment, Mr. Balthasar Kambuaya, said the cases of environmental damage in Indonesia were still on the high level. In 2012, there were around 300 cases of environmental damage. Unfortunately, these cases were increasing year by year. These conditions, in his opinion, caused by economic factor that making people would do anything to raise the money although it was contrary with the law. Furthermore, another cause was the abuse of authority that done by the governors and the regents. Indonesian government has still been doing something to decrease the number of environmental damage cases, such as creating new policies and specific laws for environment.

 

Table 1. The Level of Public Knowledge about Environment in 2012 (Research by Indonesia Ministry of Environment)

 

Generally, based on this data, the public knowledge of environment is in average. They have known well about environment. Almost in every island, 50 percent publics have had well environment knowledge, especially in Java. However, there is the contrary in some islands. It was the effects of education, access of information, and culture. Some of them would give impact of the awareness of taking sustainable ecological system care. It would be homework for government and another public to teach how to build awareness.

 

In Indonesia, it would be the State Ministry of Environment’s jobs and should be supported by Indonesian citizens. It is a shared responsibility to taking the sustainable ecological system care in Indonesia. It would also help the United Nations missions, Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

 

 

• Benefit of the study

 

Fight the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia via human awareness would give another perspective in seeing one of major problem. Environment could not uncounted from human life. In Chinese philosophy, there is a term named Yin Yang. Yin Yang explained about the equality in human life; there are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world.

 

Based on Yin and Yang, human awareness in Indonesia should be built so then the continuity of ecological system in human life could be maintained. Human awareness is the basic thing that should be there before many things of projects that government and other organizations would do. Without human awareness, there is nothing to do because the awareness will make the public know, feel, and see the present and the future well.

 

• Literature Review

 

For literature review, the researcher used two theories: the theory of sustainable and the theory of awareness. It would support this research well and sharp to the main problem of unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia.

 

• The Theory of Sustainable

 

In Oxford Dictionary, sustainable means able to be maintained at a certain rate or level and able to be upheld or defended. Sustainable should be said in many contexts and depended on the circumstances.

 

Theories of sustainability attempt to prioritize and integrate social responses to environmental and cultural problems. An economic model looks to sustain natural and financial capital; an ecological model looks to biological diversity and ecological integrity; a political model looks to social systems that realize human dignity. Religion has entered the debate with symbolic, critical, and motivational resources for cultural change.

 

Sustainable development in ecology is a hard to resolve. Ecology has two parts as a system: natural and social. Natural and social could not be separated. Global Compact Cities Programme has divided the circle of sustainable into seven elements of ecology: materials & energy, water & air, flora & fauna, habitat & land, place & abode, constructions & settlements and emission & waste. However, there is other domains that giving the impacts in human life besides ecology. They are economics, politics, and cultures.

 

Table 2. Circle of Sustainable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3. Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts

 

Unsustainable ecology can cause the problem of peace and welfare, national growth and the quality of human, the problems of poverty and unsatisfying human needs, the problems of population growth and the resource base conversation, technology and its risks. United Nations has realized about the problems of unsustainable ecological system. That is why in Millennium Development Goals, there is one point about ensuring environmental sustainability.

 

• The Theory of Awareness

 

In Oxford Dictionary, awareness means knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. There are many concepts about awareness. To explain this research, the researcher has used self-awareness to be the subject of the theory of awareness.

 

In the philosophical view, there is a Latin Proverbs from Rene Descartes, “cogito ergo sum”. It means I think, therefore I am. Descartes realized a reality about human in their existence. With cogito ergo sum, the awareness of the existence will be built. It will be the foundation of human interest of something happen in their life.

 

Another self-awareness is self-awareness theory. Self-awareness is the capacity to take oneself as the object of thought—people can think, act, and experience, and they can think about what they are thinking, doing, and experiencing. In social psychology, the study of self-awareness is traced to Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund’s (1972) landmark theory of self-awareness.

 

• METHODOLOGY

 

• Research questions and the central hypothesis

 

Based on the main aim of this research, there is one research question that mutually sustained to analyze the ecological system in Indonesia and the connection between ecological system and human awareness. The question is how is the human awareness can be the answer of the resistance of the unsustainable ecological system?

 

The hypothesis of this question is human awareness is the main thing that should be built firstly. In this context, the development of human awareness should be started from the government as the promoter of many ideas and the supervisor of the projects that they do. The self-awareness theory helps to answer the happened phenomenon in this case. Environmental damage that made by humans was giving the different explanations.

 

To help analyzing this phenomenon, the researcher has created a drafted diagram that showing how the human awareness can fight the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia. Before that, the researcher has considered the ecological situation in Indonesia. That is why Indonesia was chosen as the country that should be analyzed in this research.

 

HA à ES à S

 

Abbreviated explanations for the central hypothesis

HA      Human awareness will be built as the main foundation of the problem and also the solution

ES       Ecological system as the target of this research

S          Sustainability that will be developed

 

Fig. 1. Diagrammatic view of the central hypothesis (prediction).

 

Two questions as the auxiliary will continually help this research better. First question is why was Indonesia being chosen for this research? Second question is how dangerous is Indonesian environment now? After considered what happened in Indonesia and another country around it, the researcher have known well to choose Indonesia as the object of this research and the hypothesis could be created by these questions.

 

These questions will drive this research deeply in two sectors: ecological system in Indonesia and human awareness in Indonesia. In addition, they will help the researcher to analyze the basic condition of Indonesia environment.

 

• Data collection and research participants

 

The collected system of unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia was taken by Indonesia Ministry of Environment in the beginning of 2013. The Ministry of Environment has released the executive summary titled “Perilaku Masyarakat Peduli Lingkungan” (Environmental Care Community Behavior). They were using survey as the system of data collecting.

 

Table 4. Information Sources about Environment 2012

Information Source	Regional						Indonesia
	Sumatera	Java	Bali-Nusa Tenggara	Kalimantan	Sulawesi	Maluku-Papua
Leaflet	1.7	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.4	2.1	0.9
Newspaper	10.6	8.2	7.7	6.2	9.4	9.7	8.7
Magazine/tabloid	1.8	0.7	1.9	0.9	1.0	2.5	1.5
Radio	3.5	1.7	9.2	0.9	3.1	3.3	3.9
Television	45.1	53.7	33.1	60.9	34.5	45.2	45.2
Village officials	16.4	8.0	15.6	3.8	12.1	10.0	11.3
Teachers	1.6	0.6	5.9	0.6	0.3	6.0	2.7
Tomas/toga	2.1	5.6	7.2	0.0	10.4	8.3	6.0
Counseling	5.6	9.5	8.5	1.3	3.9	6.3	7.0
Friends	5.6	7.4	6.3	10.1	14.2	2.7	7.0
Family	4.7	2.0	2.6	12.3	7.3	1.7	3.7
Relatives	1.1	0.6	0.3	2.8	2.9	0.7	1.1
Other	0.2	1.5	1.3	0.1	0.3	1.5	1.0
Total	1587	3015	2015	682	1143	1739	10181

 

 

Table 4. Information Sources about Electricity Saving Behavior 2012

Electricity saving behavior	Regional
	Sumatera	Java	Bali-Nusa Tenggara	Kalimantan	Sulawesi	Maluku-Papua
Saving	58.2	42.2	81.3	51.8	74.0	57.4
Not saving	41.8	57.8	18.7	48.2	26.0	42.6
Total	100.0 (N=846)	100.0 (N=779)	100.0 (N=743)	100.0 (N=438)	100.0 (N=457)	100.0 (N=861)

 

 

Table 5. Environment Carrying Behavior 2012

	Environment Care Behavior
	Energy Consumption Behavior	Trash Throwing Behavior	Water Utilization Behavior	Fuel Utilization Behavior	Carbon Emission Behavior	Healthy Living Behavior	Environment Care Behavior Index
Java	0.79	0.68	0.43	0.33	0.61	0.67	0.60
East Java	0.80	0.64	0.43	0.35	0.62	0.74	0.60
Central java	0.82	0.67	0.41	0.31	0.61	0.64	0.58
West Java	0.91	0.67	0.41	0.31	0.63	0.62	0.59
DKI Jakarta	0.89	0.75	0.47	0.34	0.68	0.69	0.62
Sumatera	0.97	0.66	0.40	0.32	0.62	0.64	0.60
North Sumatera	0.98	0.65	0.39	0.34	0.63	0.66	0.61
South Sumatera	0.94	0.66	0.40	0.31	0.61	0.61	0.59
Bali and NTT	0.94	0.59	0.39	0.24	0.60	0.69	0.57
Bali	0.96	0.66	0.44	0.34	0.67	0.69	0.63
NTT	0.90	0.52	0.34	0.15	0.52	0.70	0.52
Kalimantan
West Kalimantan	0.63	0.63	0.37	0.28	0.61	0.62	0.52
Sulawesi
South Sulawesi	0.99	0.65	0.40	0.25	0.58	0.65	0.59
Maluku and Papua	0.90	0.59	0.44	0.21	0.53	0.64	0.55
Maluku	0.93	0.57	0.42	0.17	0.50	0.65	0.54
Papua	0.86	0.5	0.46	0.26	0.56	0.62	0.56
National	0.84	0.64	0.41	0.28	0.59	0.66	0.57

 

 

Environment carrying community behavior index has been fathomed influenced by many factors. These many factors are age, sex, education level, marriage status, number of household members, knowledge about environment, and the behavior of environment linked to environmentally friendly behavior. In generally, Indonesian citizens have had the knowledge about environment well.

 

In Millennium Development Goals 2015, Indonesia has three targets to guarantee the sustainable ecology. Central Bureau of Statistics Indonesia has published three targets and their indicators:

1. Integrate the principles of sustainable development policy and the national program of environmental resources and restoring the lost.

Indicator:

• Proportion of land area covered forest
• The area ratio of protected areas to wide area
• Energy used (barrels equivalent in metric tons) per Gross Domestic Products (GDP) (millions of dollars)
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita
• Number of ozone substances consumption (metric tons)
• Proportion of the population using current or the Household Solid Fuel for Cooking

2. Decreasing half of community proportion without access to drinking water resources that be secured and continually and the basic sanitation facility in 2015.

Indicator:

• Proportion of population or households with access to improved drinking water resources protected
• Proportion of population or household with access to adequate sanitation facilities

3. Achieve meaningful improvements in the life of poor people in slum in 2012
   • Population proportion of households by status or permanent homes and secured
   • Proportion of households with residents or access the permanent housing in urban areas and secured
   • Proportion of households by land ownership certificate of the National Land Agency (Badan Pertahanan Nasional)

 

The above results is contrary with Jaringan Organisasi Tambang (JATAM), a non-governmental organization that working in mining advocation. In press release 28 March 2013, this NGO wrote “flood, landslide, pollution, and water contamination, almost happened in every Indonesia regional, seemed vying to show themselves due to severe environmental damage.” This JATAM statement has been supported by Indonesian Supreme Audit Board (Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan – BPK) that claiming Indonesia has been in emergency of natural resources and environment. Ali Masykur Musa, the fellow of Indonesian Supreme Audit Board, in 25 March 2013, said the cause of this case is many mining and forestry businesspersons less accountable to the detriment of the country and environment. Furthermore, another main problem that faced by this country is poor spatial as the base implementation of development.

 

Hanns Seidel Foundation wrote a challenge that must be faced by Indonesia. “As a newly industrialized country, Indonesia has faced various problems in regards to its environment, mainly from industrial waste, greenhouse gases and land-use changes. As a result, Indonesia has gotten prone to potential environmental disasters. Also, the temperature in Indonesia has been increasing steadily in the last ten years. For these reasons, greener industry and economy is desperately needed in order to combat potential disasters.”

 

• Data analysis

 

Based on the data above, there are some problems in the sustainability ecological system in Indonesia. Many NGOs have still declared their statements about unsustainable ecological system and have done some projects to help increasing human awareness in Indonesia, especially for environmental awareness. Indonesia has released the targets of sustainable ecological system in Indonesia to achieve Millennium Development Goals 2015.

 

The information sources about environment, the highest score that people could have the environment information is from television. The second one is from village officials. Range between television and village officials is too far (around 33.9). This was proofing Indonesian more concerned in front of television than others.

 

In some tables, especially in environment carrying behavior, more than half of samples have done carrying of their environment. The most carrying regional in Indonesia is Bali. However, it is not always a good thing that should be defended. There are six indicators that determining the environment carrying behavior. First, energy consuming behavior index was measured by energy-efficient lighting that using in a house. Second, littering behavior was measured by waste sorting mechanism before throwing and household behavior to secondhand goods. Third, water using behavior was measured by equipment used to regulate the use of water when bathing, washing clothes, and how often the household let the water flow without using. Forth, carbon emission behavior was measured by least once to test vehicle emissions and engine maintenance in the last year. Fifth, healthy behavior was measured from defecating habits, utilization of solar light in the house, water supply catchment area, and water resources in the house. The last, behavior of fuel use was measured by amount of consumption of fuel per capita.

 

In Indonesia Ministry of Environment executive summary, there are many factors that making high score of ecological awareness; such as the energy saving campaign or movement that promoted by the local government. Furthermore, culture value gives another effect of this score. For example, Papua and Maluku have high score index in water using awareness that caused by their culture. They believe water is the life resource and this value has been attached in their life.

 

3. RESULTS

 

Data analysis has explained the connection between unsustainable ecological systems in Indonesia with human awareness. The explanation of the research question and the hypothesis of this research will be addressed in this part. Section 3.1 will explain how the human awareness can be the answer of the resistance of the unsustainable ecological system. Section 3.2 will explain the researcher’s decision to choose Indonesia as the country that chosen for this research. Section 3.3 will explain the condition of Indonesian environment now.

 

 

• The hypothesis confirmed

 

Human awareness will become the answer to fight the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia. The increasing score of environmental carrying behavior is affected by environmental awareness from the human. In Indonesia Ministry of Environment explanation, the awareness has become the main point of the causes of increasing score. Awareness serves people to be aware in every single condition. It is supported the self-awareness theory that pushing on awareness.

 

For this case, government will sit as the guardian and the promoter of ecological awareness. To achieve the two goals of Millennium Development 2015, Indonesia should raise the awareness for human. Indonesia may only increase the index score of environment carrying behavior, but there should be aware of the environment damage. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) wrote, “Comprising more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels and floods, while erratic weather patterns impact agricultural production, especially among small-scale farmers and fishermen. Indonesia is also a major emitter of greenhouse gases, largely caused by deforestation and the burning of peat lands. These practices contribute to global warming and threaten livelihoods, biodiversity, peace and stability. Political decentralization has brought decision-making closer to the people, but it has also exposed technical and administrative capacity gaps at local levels of government, especially in less developed regions.”

 

Human awareness should be built firstly. It is the foundation for many things that will government and public do. Without it, the threat or the damage of environment could not be perceived. At last, human awareness will do raising of threat and damage alert. The global threat could not be waiting, public should aware with this condition. If left unchecked, the global threat can interfere another constituent parts of people’s life, such as politics, economy, social, etc.

 

It is not only government’s problem should be exist. Unsustainable ecological system is a common problem. Government could not work only on a side, as well as the public. If there is no vis a vis between government and public, many projects that has been planned could not be success well. The awareness of environmental damage in Indonesia should be criticize well and wisely. High environmental damage is a high seriously problem in Indonesia.

 

• Why was Indonesia being chosen for this research?

 

Indonesia was being chosen for this research because the researcher consider the fact in the Indonesia area and the reality that reported by television, radios, and newspaper. The Indonesian environmental damage was increasingly day-by-day. If it did not stop, the life system in Indonesia would be disturbed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 6. Number of climate hazards by type (right) and by year (left) Source: Indonesia Second National Communication)

 

The high intensity of disaster in Indonesia made the researcher deciding to analyze the major problem of this case. Human awareness is one of many solutions that could be planned by government and public. For Indonesia, creating ceteris paribus between environment, social, and economy is necessary. Indonesia is a country that increasing in the economic level, but it could be dissolved because there is no awareness to carrying the environment. Environment is the huge circle for stability and sustainability.

 

• How dangerous is Indonesian environment now?

 

Table 7 will explain how dangerous Indonesian environment is. The number of natural disaster events was increasing year-by-year. The number of climate hazards has been increasing. UNDP, in Climate Risk Management: an integrated approach for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia, wrote many facts about the dangerously Indonesian environment now. Indonesia could not prevent these conditions. Natural disasters are likely to occur because it is trivial, such as littering and wasteful in energy use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 7. Natural disaster events and their adverse impacts in Indonesia 1980-2010 (Source: DIBI-BNPB)

 

 

Disaster in Indonesia every year is a serious problem, but people tend to assume the disasters are common. The awareness in Indonesia for ecological system tends to be lower. This should be sharply criticized. For example, Jakarta have experienced flooding since Dutch colonial until now. The flooding cycle is the beginning of year. For Jakarta citizens, flood is commonplace and should be received as the consequent to be Jakarta citizens. The Millennium Development Goals 2015 will achieve harder if public could not control their awareness. Disaster is not a commonplace and could not go unpunished.

 

 

 

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
   • Synthesis of the Study

 

Human awareness in Indonesia could be the solution to fight the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia. Based on table 4, 5, and 6, human awareness is the main thing that could not be ignored. In that context, awareness becomes the cause of the index score increasing. This also proves how the awareness affecting public to fight the unsustainable ecological systems. We could not ignore the awareness for fighting the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia. However, the system of information and the impact that felt today should be more than enough to make the awareness increasing.

 

It should be known it is not only government’s problem. It is also public problem. That is why government and public should work together to make it better. Many things can be the solutions. For Indonesia, high environmental damage should be a serious problem. Furthermore, the awareness of the global threat will make Indonesia be careful of what will they do for environment. The effect of global disaster is not only long-term; it could be in the short-term.

 

It is a good polar that the increasing of score index for environmental carrying behavior has followed the increasing numbers of natural disaster events. The level of awareness in Indonesia has been increasing to be more concerned with ecological problems. Based on many tables above, the analysis of the connection between unsustainable ecological systems in Indonesia with human awareness is answered.

 

The unsustainable ecological systems in Indonesia are not only always from the natural, but also from the human interactions to the nature.

 

• Contribution/Recommendation: Future Projects for Indonesia

 

Indonesia can do some projects for fight the unsustainable ecological system and raising the human awareness of the importance of ecological system.

 

• Government contributions/Recommendation

 

United Nations as the spark of Millennium Development Goals 2015 will support all countries that want to achieve the goals. Indonesia, under President’s Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight, has been working with UN-REDD+ (The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries).

 

REDD+ should be continued to help achieving the Millennium Development Goals 2015. Ministry of Forestry in Indonesia has supported this project. Centre of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has evolved online mapping tool to reveal the impact of forest fires. REDD+ is a first step between government and United Nations to work together to decrease the effect of environmental disaster.

 

In their website, REDD+ was explained,” Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. “REDD+” goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.”

 

It is a good step if the government wants to continue the projects what also involves the public to participate. As we know, Millennium Development Goals could not stand alone in government hands only. It would not work well without vis a vis between government and public.

 

• Indonesian citizens contributions/Recommendation

 

Actually, for Indonesian citizens, it is no need a project to fight the unsustainable ecological system in Indonesia. It is only the awareness from every single people of the damage of environmental system. Also, supporting the government projects are the best choice to make everything better day-by-day.

 

Dispose of waste in place, using recycled materials, and many simple things can support decreasing effect of unsustainable ecological system. This awareness should be built by campaign, social system, and education as fast as Indonesia can. It is not only government’s problem, also it not only citizens’ problem. That is why supporting between government and citizens are so needed.

 

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

The author would like to thank to Mira Permatasari, S.IP, M.Si to help this research better, Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM) for the environment data in Indonesia, and National Institute of Development Administration as the host of International Conference on Advancement of Development Administration 2013. The author would like to thank to people whom contributed for this research, knowingly or unknowingly.

 

REFERENCES

 

[1]   Barbier, E., “The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development”, Environmental Conservation 14, 1987.

 

[2]   Center for International Forestry Research, Fire livelihoods and environmental degradation in the wetlands of Indonesia: A vicious cycle <http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/firebrief/FireBrief0403.pdf> Retrieved 13.06.13

 

[3]   Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, Strategi Pembangunan Indonesia Menghadapi Perubahan Iklim: Status dan Kebijakan Saat Ini, Jakarta: Friedrich Naumann Stiftung

 

[4]   Global Compact Cities Programme, Circles of Sustainability, <http://citiesprogramme.com/aboutus/our-approach/circles-of-sustainability> Retrieved 15.06.13

 

[5]   Indonesia Ministry of Environment, Executive Summary: Perilaku Masyarakat Peduli Lingkungan (Survei KLH 2012), Jakarta: Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup, 2013.

 

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[8]   Suara Merdeka Cetak, Terjadi 300 Kasus Perusakan Lingkungan <http://www.suaramerdeka.com/v2/index.php/read/cetak/2012/10/25/203206/Terjadi-300-Kasus-Perusakan-Lingkungan> Retrieved 14.06.13

 

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[10] United Nations Development Programme Indonesia, Climate Risk Management: an integrated approach for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia, <http://www.undp.or.id/pubs/docs/Climate%20Risk%20Management%20concept%20paper%20-%20September%202012.pdf> 2012. Retrieved 12.07.13