Socio-economic causes of recent environmental changes in Cidanau Watershed, West Java, Indonesia: effects of the 1997-1998 Southeast Asia economic crisis on the regional environment

摘要

Conservation of water quality and quantity is needed in Cidanau Watershed, West Java of Indonesia, for the sake of agricultural and industrial development. It is necessary to understand the mechanism of land use change, in order to propose proper plans for land use management and to decrease soil erosion from the watershed. This paper first aims to find some causes and a mechanism of environmental degradation induced by land use change, using some census data at the desa (village) level and intensive field investigations and interviews. Investigation of data was mainly focused on the period of economic crisis in 1997-1998. After discussing the effects of the economic crisis in Southeast Asia from 1997 to 1998 on the socio-economic status and the natural environment in this area, this paper discusses some important aspects of effective environmental policies, including economical land use management countermeasures in this watershed.