The challenges of West Papua‘s growth are now more often caused by natural disasters that occur. The problem of this loss covers many sectors, the economy, humans, to the environment. Even the government is also aware and asks the public to keep aware.
Regrettably, a very fertile environment is not accompanied by good soil quality and resilience. The result of this lack of quality is natural disasters. Indeed, natural disasters cannot be controlled by humans, but at least there is a way to deal with them.
But the main problem now lies in the surrounding environment which is the producer and driver of the local community’s economy. Natural disasters often occur for various reasons and make the local government firm to remind them to always be aware of disasters.
The effects have already been felt by local people, and now they have to find more strategic ways to overcome them. But until now, people can still live in peace and the economic cycle which is dominated by agriculture is also not harmful.
What are Natural Disasters Happen Oftenly in West Papua
This time, we will start with some natural disasters that often occur in this province. At first glance, there are dozens of types of disasters that are common there. Especially because the geographical location of Papua is an area known as the Ring of Fire.
The Ring of Fire itself is already known as an area that is prone to various natural disasters, and now we will try to look again at what are often threats to the people of Papua and harm the environment. We will list down the natural disasters that often occur below:
- Volcanoes
Ring of Fire equals anything about fire, and volcanoes are one of them. Mount Sabtaji is one of several active volcanoes. Several violent eruptions have also occurred and caused volcanic ash to spread to Papua and Papua New Guinea.
- Floods
Floods are also a common problem in West Papua and often make local communities disadvantaged. The reason is that this flood will destroy all agricultural land and what is being planted, even though the local community is dominated by farmers.
- Landslide
In addition to flooding, the threat of landslides is also an issue that often occurs. Because the ground there is not completely level and there are many cliffs, landslides often fall to the lowlands and cause other big losses.
- Earthquake
Earthquakes are a constant issue that occurs in Papua. As if it has become rampant, now local people seem to not pay much attention to the dangers of earthquakes. Especially for people who live far from tall trees.
- Pest Attack
Because the community is dominated by the agricultural sector, pests are the main enemy. After all, pests are due to environmental factors, so we still include them in the list of natural disasters. Do not ask how much loss is because of this pest.
Government always Announce that West Papua Local to Watchout the Natural Disaster
Realizing that the number of victims due to this natural disaster is increasing over time, the government and competent institutions have begun to take more care of this problem by announcing the dangers and realizing that people still ignore it.
The West Papua Disaster Mitigation Agency or BPBD asked the community to start helping anticipate flood and landslide problems by paying more attention to the environment. Such as reducing littering and stopping cutting trees.
Warnings have been issued so that people no longer undermine the risk of disaster. Because it often happens, the BPBD asks the public to always be prepared about what could happen. Every time there is indication of disaster, BPBD will announce that directly.
Numerous disasters have happened, one of which was the flood in 2019 which caused losses of up to 506 billion with 112 people losing their lives and around 2300 houses destroyed. And that may be the reason the attention to natural disasters is increasing.
The Effect of Natural Disaster on Environment in West Papua
After knowing that various natural disasters often occur there and local institutions have also become more active in making residents aware of this natural threat, then how big is the actual effect of the natural disaster?
The effects of natural disasters on the environment can be from the scarcity of clean water because all water sources will be polluted and the water supply will be decreased dramatically. Moreover, contaminations to the environment will release toxic chemicals.
Wildfire will diminish with some fallen trees or fire from a volcano erupting burning those trees. This is still an environmental problem, not yet a matter of what could happen to the community’s economy because of the natural disasters that are still happening.
Local communities must always be aware of natural disasters and to make them alert, BPBD which is a local institution will give certain indications to the community. The effects of this natural disaster on the West Papuan environment were devastating in many sectors.
