RI Include Livestock Evacuation In Disaster Management Measure
- ANTARA/Devi Nindy
VIVA – The government of Indonesia, on National Disaster Preparedness Day on Tuesday, incorporated livestock evacuation as a new and important element of disaster management efforts.
Livestock evacuation is closely related to human evacuation efforts considering that livestock are a valuable livelihood asset, therefore, preparing a livestock evacuation route, in particular, can reduce human and animal casualties as well as economic losses, according to a joint press release issued by the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), the Ministry of Agriculture, and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Representative in Indonesia.
Peternakan ayam potong, Foto : (ayamkita.com)
- vstory
On Tuesday, the livestock evacuation drill was made a part of activities for the first time on National Disaster Preparedness Day, which has been observed every April 26 since 2017, the statement said.
"Indonesia’s disaster preparedness has improved significantly in saving the lives of the people. However, in various disaster incidents, the human evacuation process is often hampered by the community, especially farmers who are reluctant to evacuate if they have to leave their livestock, which are valuable livelihood assets," head of BNPB, Suharyanto, said.
"This can increase the risk of fatalities and economic losses, so the government needs to develop a special strategy to handle it," he added.
BNPB recorded 2,800 cattle deaths and 332 human fatalities during the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi.
Around 12.4 percent of the total economic losses of Rp4.23 trillion were reported by small and medium-sized businesses, including those in the agriculture and livestock sectors, according to BNPB.
Besides, the agency recorded at least 156 volcanic eruptions across Indonesia between 2010 and 2020, or an average of 15 eruptions a year.
Director general of livestock and animal health services of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Nasrullah, said that the ministry supports efforts to integrate livestock evacuation with disaster management.
MoA is aware that Indonesia has a high risk of volcanic disasters since this is related to more than 1.2 million Indonesians living around volcanic areas who make a living from agriculture and livestock, especially small-scale family farmers, he added.
