Towards wise coastal management practice in a tropical megacity—Jakarta

Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA) or Jabotabek is one of the most dynamic regions of Indonesia. At present, the JMA is the largest concentration of urban population in Indonesia and seventh largest urban agglomeration in the world. The massive demographic and economic growth taking place in the region have gone hand in hand with environmental destruction and poverty concentration. Jabotabek is experiencing a number of problems related to its coastal location: coastal littering, water pollution, saltwater intrusion, land subsidence, seafood contamination and the loss of habitat for birds, fish and other wild life. Poverty alleviation and the preservation of the coastal environment for sustainable development are becoming critical issues facing the Jabotabek. This is where the concept of wise coastal management practice becomes pertinent, where scientists and managers and local stakeholders co-operate in finding solutions to these various inter-related problems. A multiple-prong approach is employed to improve coastal environmental management among other: scientific campaign on coastal resources management, community-based development for sustainable coastal management including community-based waste management and recycling, social empowerment, and environmental education. The paper also proposes the strategy to strengthen the existing community-based environmental management activities.