TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Asia-Pacific countries urged to cooperate in ecohydrology development

Asia-Pacific countries need to closely cooperate and share experience in developing ecohydrology in their efforts to boost the capacity of ecosystems to provide and save an adequate supply of clean water for the world’s population that has continued to grow, an expert has said

Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post)
Yogyakarta
Tue, November 11, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Asia-Pacific countries urged to cooperate in ecohydrology development

A

sia-Pacific countries need to closely cooperate and share experience in developing ecohydrology in their efforts to boost the capacity of ecosystems to provide and save an adequate supply of clean water for the world'€™s population that has continued to grow, an expert has said.

'€œIn the Asia-Pacific region, population growth coupled with rapid industrialization and urbanization have resulted in an increasing demand for water,'€ the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Indonesia representative, Hubert Gijzen, said in Yogyakarta on Monday.

Gijzen was speaking during the opening of the International Conference on Ecohydrology held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Asia-Pacific Center for Ecohydrology (APCE-UNESCO), which will end on Wednesday.

'€œIncreasing demand for water causes serious destructive consequences. They include water shortage, massive water pollution, water-borne disease, impaired food production, water-related disasters, billions of US dollars in damage and losses, water disputes, increasing threats to food security, the loss of livelihood security and eventually increased economic and geopolitical tensions and instabilities,'€ said Gijzen.

He reminded his audience that the world'€™s population annually tapped around 4,000 cubic kilometers of clean water to use for agriculture, industry and daily activities.

'€œAfter using these vast and rapidly growing volumes of water, we then return it back to the water resources carrying truckloads of solid and liquid-waste pesticides, fertilizers, industrial waste, toxins, sewage and pathogens,'€ said Gijzen.

He said from generation to generation, people had used water that had been purified by the ecosystem. By applying a proper ecohydrology principle, people could improve the performance of the ecosystem in purifying water, improving the quality of water and preserving biodiversity.

LIPI head Iskandar Zulkarnain said ecohydrology did not only talk about water but was a holistic approach towards the ecosystem that could hopefully support life. The approach included cultivating types of trees that could clean pollutants from water.

'€œIf we clean water using sophisticated technology, this will be too costly and the treatment will likely cover only a limited amount of water. But it the water treatment is conducted through an ecosystem, this will be cheaper and can cover a larger amount of water,'€ said Iskandar. (ebf)(+++)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.