As the world is finally getting back to normal after the long global spreading of COVID-19, the activities of the International Flood Initiative (IFI) in Indonesia have been brought back to action, and the Second High-Level Meeting of the Platform on Water Resilience and Disasters in Indonesia was held on April 22, 2024, via online. More than 30 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from partner organizations in Indonesia, such as the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), the National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), and a basin-level organization, Balai Besar Wilayah Sungai (BBWS) Bengawan Solo. The main purposes of the meeting were to (1) review the past IFI activities in Indonesia; (2) share recent activities and issues to be solved in the Solo River basin; (3) report the results of ICHARM’s research in the Solo River basin; and (4) discuss collaborative activities and the implementation plan, including designing the pilot projects.
At the start of the meeting, the opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Ir. Muhammad Rizal, the Director of Water Resources Engineering Development at PUPR; Mr. Zaenal Arifin, the Director of Disaster Management Strategy Development at BNPB; Dr. Urip Haryoko, a Principal Engineer of the Deputy of Climatology at BMKG; Mr. Catur Basuki Setyawan, the Deputy Director of Watershed Management at KLHK; Dr. Haris Syahbuddin, the Executive Secretary of the Agency for Agricultural Instrument Standardization at MoA; Mr. Priyanto Rohmattullah, the Director of Environment at BAPPENAS; Mr. KONAMI Takahiro, the Director of the International Affairs Office in the Water and Disaster Management Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT), Japan; and Mr. TSUCHIYA Takumi, an Assistant Director of Disaster Risk Reduction Team 1 in the Global Environment Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Following the opening addresses, Chief Researcher KURIBAYASHI Daisuke of ICHARM briefly presented the past IFI activities in Indonesia.
In the presentation session, Mr. YAMAMOTO Hiroyuki, a JICA Expert in PUPR, introduced a basic concept of flood control measures and flood management practices in Japan. Mr. Priyanto Rohmattullah from BAPPENAS explained climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in Indonesia. Then, representatives from Indonesian participating organizations presented their activities and issues focusing on the Solo River basin, including Dr. Ir. Muhammad Rizal from PUPR, Dr. Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, the Director of Disaster Mitigation from BNPB, Mr. Echa Rezza, a Senior Technical Staff of the Deputy of Climatology from BMKG, Mr. Catur Basuki Setyawan from KLHK, Dr. Haris Syahbuddin from MoA, and Mr. Ali Rahmat, the Head of Integrated Water Resources Infrastructure Development from BBWS Bengawan Solo.
Following the presentations, ICHARM researchers introduced their research activities and results in the Solo River basin project. Senior Researcher USHIYAMA Tomoki explained projected changes in monthly and extreme precipitation in the future due to climate change. Senior Researcher Mohamed Rasmy presented a seamless modeling approach using the WEB-RRI model, including estimated changes in flood discharge, inundation, and root-zone soil moisture in the future period under climate change scenarios. Research Specialist Badri Shrestha spoke about quantitative approaches for flood damage assessment under climate and social changes and analysis results regarding the Bengawano Solo basin, focusing on flood damage to rice crops, residential buildings, and household items. Senior Researcher MIYAMOTO Mamoru delivered a presentation on IFI activities in the Philippines and Thailand as examples of collaborative research activities, including the concept of the Online Synthesis System for Sustainability and Resilience (OSS-SR) and facilitators, as well as the development of a flood early warning system using OSS-SR. Finally, Kuribayashi proposed a collaborative framework of IFI activities in Indonesia, emphasizing an end-to-end approach, an integration approach covering the entire project process from data collection, assessment, and prediction of natural phenomena to socio-economic impact assessment. He also explained the expected roles of core partner organizations.
In the discussion session, while serving as the moderator, Executive Director KOIKE Toshio emphasized the progress in developing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, an inter-agencies collaboration framework, and integration activities in Indonesia by the collaborative partners. Based on the collaborative framework using an end-to-end approach, the executive director introduced two collaborative activities for IFI in Indonesia: i) climate change impact assessment and adaptation planning in the Solo River basin and ii) the pilot project design as a first step, “Early warning for All in Solo River basin”. At the end of the discussion, the participants agreed to develop a draft of the integrated implementation plan based on inputs provided by Indonesian organizations at the meeting. The draft will be prepared by ICHARM and shared among the partner organizations of IFI in Indonesia for their confirmation, after which the implementation plan will be executed. The discussions and input from Indonesian organizations will help us develop an integrated implementation plan, including collaborative activities of the IFI Indonesia project.
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