12.4 The management of a degraded environment

• Citarum River Location

  -West Java, Indonesia.

  -Longest and largest river in West Java

  -270km long

  
• Citarum River Facts


  -'Worlds most polluted river'

  -60% of fish species wiped out

  -35 million people need/rely on it

  -10,000 tonnes of rubbish produced by each village per day

  -2,300 rice fields impacted ($866 million economic loss)

  -75% of textiles exported
• Citarum River-Effects/Causes

  -People no longer catch fish (instead sell rubbish).-Water channels essentially open sewers-Government doesn't enforce the 2009 wastewater policy-Untreated toxic chemicals pumped directly into river-Water contaminated with metals, drinking well has 4x amount of mercury in it-1/2 million residents invested water with lead levels 25x higher than it should be.-Water used to irrigate paddy fields (people eat the rice!)\-Diarrhoea particularly prevalent among young children, caused by high levels of sulphate-Only 1 environmental association in the area, so not monitored and sometimes corrupt inspectors.
• Citarum River-Nature of Pollution


  -So bad people have to wear gas masks to stop suffocating

  -Water is different colours, blue, black etc, depends one the toxic pollutant in the water.
• Citarum River-Solutions

  Operation Citarum Harum;-Multi million pound clean up operation-'Clean citarum by 2025'-22 sectors (military commanders)-Keep a check on household pollutionIndonesia's Youth Programme;-Educates young children to segregate waste-Provides incentives and rewards, e.g exchange waste for groceries/phone credit etc.NGO's;-Test water and then share findings with other government communities-Keep check on water pH levelsVetiver Plants;-Planted on the Citarum-Strengthens embankments-Prevents landslides
• Citarum River-General Solutions

  -Only use pesticides when necessary

  -Waste re-purposed so not disposed in streams

  -Catch plastic using nets

  -Sector wise surveillance (educate offenders)

  -Education of general public by the military

  -De-salting garbage before it rains

  -Environmental laws strengthened (prosecution from police)

  -Companies have to send in samples for processing

  -Tree plantation plant launched (filter carbon runoff, reduce carbon in air, solidify the banks, stop river erosion)
• Citarum River-Constraints to Solutions

  -Pesticides have to be used sometimes, especially during the dry season.-Some families have no choice but to dispose of waste in the river.-Wastewater treatment is very expensive (1 plant=$1,000-$1,000,000).-Despite activists/protests the pollution still continues.-Very hard for all factories to have the technology to treat waste.CLEAN CITARUM=$280 MILLION IN ECONOMIC BENEFIT PER YEAR!
• Namibia-Causes of Degradation

  -Driest African country south of the Sahara

  -Sandwiched between two deserts and extreme rainfall

  -4 consecutive droughts

  -29% of it's population live below the poverty line

  -Significant issues in marginal lands (uncontrolled exploitation, only short term thinking, lack of governance).
• Namibia-Communal Conservancy Programme


  -Community based natural resource management with an improving record for wildlife numbers and poverty reduction.

  -Gives rural communities management and use rights over wildlife.

  -Incentives for communities to protect and develop.

  -Began in 1996, now 64 covering 17% of the country.

  -Turn land degradation into land transformation.
• Namibia-Judgement of Community Programme (Socio-Economic)


  -Economic value of conservancy, (selling crafts, tourism, selling hunting concessions, managing campsites).

  -Diversification away from subsistence farming has increased opportunities and incomes.

  -Conservancies work due to local involvement (work together).

  -Conservancy income reaches $1.4 million in 2006.

  -Involvement of women.
• Namibia-Judgment of Community Programme (Environmental)

  -Sustainable fishing industry

  -Less desertification

  -Domestic and international tourism

  -Oryx, springbok and mountain zebra rose x10 as a result
• Namibia-Judgement of Community Programme (Political)


  -Programmes have built flexibility that allows diverse strategies to be used.

  -Support from larger scale institutions, e.g UN, SDG, NGO's, which bring finance, investment and knowledge.

  -Increased income from conservancy has enabled further investment in social development projects.
• Namibia-Up-Scaling Process

  Forest Act 2007-helps communities establish their own forests, to manage and utilise them in a sustainable manner.

  -As many are poor, important they have a say.

  -4m hectares of forest are deliberately burnt each year, so conservancy helped to improve this.

  -Incomes now from marketing products, timber etc.

  -2.8 million hectares of forest land