Indonesia as an archipelago country and located in the fire ring is vulnerable to the natural disasters such earthquake, sea level rise and tsunami, landslide, floods and other climate disaster events. The earthquake and tsunami that occurred on 26 December 2004 in Aceh resulted in significant loss of human life, houses, local business and public facilities and the damage of settlements. The World Bank (2005) reported that more than 100,000 died, 127,000 houses were destroyed, leaving approximately 600,000 people homeless and jobless.
NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE
During the last decade, the climate change affected sea level rise that causing totally village lost and community settlement sink in many areas of Indonesia. Annual floods occur frequently in several areas of the upper-, middle- and lower river basin. The fatal impacts when land erosion and annual floods hit the settlement areas in both watersheds resulted in loss over 123 human-life, destroyed 14.455 houses and caused 179.659 local people homeless and jobless during last 3 years (source: BNPB, 2019).
What we do
- Our team provide emergency response when there are any natural disasters that close to our project sites
- We set-up workshops and meetings on disaster management and prevention in each project component
- We signed Agreements with Ministry of Village – Republic of Indonesia and Provincial Governments in Java and Sumatra develop Village Resilience on Climate Disaster, as a legal basis for our operations in the fields.
Participation in post-Aceh tsunami recovery
After the 2004 tsunami, we organised a mangrove planting ceremony on the coast of Banda Aceh, which was severely damaged by the tsunami. To raise the spirit and awareness of the community, we involved elephants in the mangrove planting ceremony.
The elephant attraction during the mangrove planting in the area was a highlight and created excitement in the community. Apart from being a concrete step to introduce the benefits of mangroves as tsunami barriers and amplifiers, the activity also aimed to provide entertainment for the people who were still traumatised by the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in their area.
In a joint effort to rehabilitate areas affected by the 26 December 2004 tsunami in Aceh, in collaboration with the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), we took an innovative step by mobilising a team of elephants to assist in the removal of debris following the disaster. This decision was part of an overall effort to provide humanitarian assistance and support reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the natural disaster that struck the Aceh region following the tsunami.
We showed creativity in its disaster response by mobilising its elephant team to help clear debris from the tsunami-hit coast. The elephants are specially trained to help move heavy materials and reach hard-to-reach areas. The elephants use their natural skills to help move heavy debris and access areas that are difficult for heavy machinery to reach. The use of elephants brings uniqueness to the clean-up effort, creating an environmentally friendly and effective solution.
