Experts say climate change is one of the “push factors” driving the migration of persons in Indonesia, highlighting a need to help people better adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) deputy chairman for humanities and social sciences Aswatini said findings by the institute’s study of Lamongan regency in East Lombok and of North Lombok as a whole showed that migration was the final resort for social groups, especially farmers, who were feeling the negative impacts of climate change.
“Decreases in land production results in harvest failures, which has forced local residents, especially men and/or household heads, to work outside their hometowns to maintain economic security for their families,” he said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Aswatini added that the impacts of a changing climate, including rising sea levels, were being felt by fishing communities in coastal areas.
Such conditions, Aswatini added, negatively affected communities dependent on marine resources and tourism. Moreover, he said, climate change had resulted in the reemergence of vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria in several areas in Indonesia.
