CBDRM Programme on Kelud Volcano Area

Summary

A catastrophic eruption of the Kelud Volcano in East Java occurred in 1919, where the hot cloud spread reached 37.5 kilometers from its core and took 5,110 victims. In 1951, 1966, and 1990, small eruptions occurred. However, volcanologists concluded that the Kelud Volcano could potentially have a catastrophic eruption. Meanwhile, communities around Kelud were unable to learn from the 1919 experience and subsequent eruptions. Disaster risk awareness among the communities were low when volcanic activity of Kelud was raised in 2007. Risk awareness efforts were needed, especially in the vulnerable area around the Kelud Volcano in order to enable the at-risk communities to possess sufficient knowledge on eruption danger, have risk perception, and to take awareness steps.

Activities of the Indonesian Community of Environmentalist (Komunitas Pencinta Alam Pemerhati Lingkungan, KAPPALA) and Study Center for Disaster Research and Management (Pusat Studi Manajemen Bencana, PSMB) of the University of Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta (UPNYK) were supported by Oxfam GB (Great Britain) Indonesia in 2007, DIP ECHO, Trocaire in 2009-2011 and PT Sampoerna in 2012. Project activities involved 62 villages in Kediri, Blitar and Malang regency, by involving the Local Agency of Disaster Management (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah, BPBD) of East Java, the Centre for Volcanology and the Geological Hazard Mitigation (Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi, PVMBG) Geological Agency. JANGKAR Kelud is a local organisation for disaster management, which is established in the process of CBDRM and later acted as mandate holder. Project activities started in 2012 and continue to date.  Activities were implemented in the form of training, risk awareness through participatory risk assessment, technical training on preparedness and early warning systems, and organisation and advocacy within the vulnerable area of the Kelud Volcano in the Malang, Kediri and Blitar regencies. This work aimed to reveal the success of residents in eruption-prone area of Kelud Volcano, as well as to obtain another success in applying community-based early warning systems. This research has been implemented through documentaries and explorative studies on community practice and relevant parties both before and after emergencies. Document studies have been implemented by rereading the documents from programs which were implemented together with the people in disaster-prone areas since between 2007 and 2014. An explorative study was done through direct interviews and conducting questionnaires with 90 people in disaster-prone areas and representative team members in Malang, Blitar, and Kediri regencies as representatives.

If we look back to the increase in the status of Kelud until the eruption that produced the lava dome in 2007, there has been evacuation of people to places that are considered safe by the government. The evacuation tends to last from 3 to 7 days. The process of evacuation of citizens and the handling of the evacuation place results in many stories among both the community and the government. When Kelud’s status increase in 2007, KAPPALA, with PSMB UPNYK and Oxfam GB had the opportunity to enter Sugihwaras and Sempu disaster-prone villages in Kediri District Penataran villages and Sumberasri in Blitar District. From the discussion with the people, it was found that the community members had enhanced preparedness by building shelters from woven bamboo in front of their respective houses which will be used to take shelter in case of eruption; the community will not leave their house because after the eruption is complete they will immediately clean the roof of the material so that the roof load is not too heavy. Based on the story of the people, KAPPALA took the initiative to make bamboo ladders, roof cleaning tools in the form of coconut shells which are given long stalks, and head covers of woven bamboo (Javanese: capil) which can be used by residents to clean roofs when Kelud spews material.

In the middle of 2008, KAPPALA together with PSMB UPNVY, Oxfam GB and Troicare built preparedness in the Kelud area. DRR activities are new activities for the community. Since the 2007 eruption there has been no disaster activity in the community. Preparedness activities include:

  1. District level dissemination activities were carried out in three districts of Kediri, Blitar and Malang. The purpose of these activities was to submit an activity plan that will be implemented around Kelud and ask for input in the implementation process.
  2. Village level dissemination was carried out in 10 villages, namely Sumberasri, Penataran, Candirejo villages in Blitar District; Sempu, Sugihwaras, Sepawon, and Besowo villages in Kediri Regency; and the villages of Pondokagung, Ngantru, Pandansari in Malang Regency. These activities included sharing the state of Kelud after the 2007 eruption along with planning the activities to be done. To encourage public awareness, KAPPALA involved PASAG Merapi from the Merapi area to tell what has been done in Merapi in maintaining the preparedness for living in disaster prone areas.

Efforts to build synergies were conducted through district-level workshops, series of trainings and capacity-building and drafting the working groups of each district.

  • District-level workshops were carried out in each district, in the form of the first meeting between the community and government representatives. The discussion was surrounded the handling of Kelud in the aftermath of the 2007. From this activity it was agreed who should be involved in the upcoming activities in terms of representatives from the government and from the community, as well as the process of delivering invitations.
  • A series of trainings and capacity-building activities were implemented, including capacity-building on disaster management, emergency management, gender in DRR, training of contingency planning and mapping of digitisation were conducted jointly between government and community representatives. The training aimed to build synergy in disaster reduction activities between the government and society. The process of building synergy between the community and the government was also done outside the training room by exercising together. This activity was carried out in the hope of removing the partition between government and society.
  • Working groups were established in each district to strengthen the relationship between the community and the government and scheduling meetings to formulate a work plan that can be done.

Capacity-building processes and awareness-raising on disaster risk management in the community started in 12 villages with local trainers at the village level. Facilitators of DRR actors were selected to encourage public awareness. PASAG Merapi was asked to be a facilitator and also a motivator of Kelud residents to conduct community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) activities. PMI (Indonesia Red Cross) is requested to run First Aid trainings (Pertolongan Penderita Gawat Darurat, PPGD) in cooperation with the Community Medical Service (Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat, Puskesmas) and community, along with other elements in DRR activities. These trainings resulted in the risk analysis document, evacuation plan, Standard Operation Procedure (SOP), mapping and formation of a village alert team. Work at the community level continues through the establishment of local facilitators, developing villages, integrating DRR materials in schools, and building models and props, with the following details:

  • Local facilitators. The knowledge spreader of CBDRM becomes an option to speed up and simplify the process. Representatives of village alert teams are trained to become facilitators of knowledge spreaders in new villages with CBDRM and PPGD materials.
  • Developing a village. The training was conducted in villages around Kelud, facilitated by members of the village alert team who had trained as facilitator. From the initial 12 villages, the village alert team developed into 36 villages. In addition to the new villages, local coaching was done in the old villages in order to increase the alert team.
  • Integrate DRR materials into school subjects. To become a disaster-prone area is not enough with the activities in the village; all parties in the Kelud area need to be involved in DRR training, including schools and teachers in order to better analyse their school risks and prepare preparedness plans as well as integrate DRR into class subjects.
  • Developing properties in children’s DRR. Dolls become one of the tools for delivering DRR materials to children. Kindergarten and elementary school teachers practised together, playing puppets as a method to convey DRR to their students.
  • Compile modules. By practising and recording what has been done, the facilitators wrote their experiences in facilitating the local training into a joint module. This can be used as guidance and reading materials for other people to do local training.

Process

In collaboration with KAPPALA and PSMB UPNYK, JANGKAR Kelud, conducted community capacity-building programs for disaster risk reduction. These included: - Community-based disaster risk reduction training. Local training activities conducted in each village aimed to understand disasters, recognising threats and threat characteristics, analysing risks, capacities and vulnerabilities, creating village disaster management protocols/SOPs, creating action plans, creating district maps, and agreeing on a early warning system. - Local emergency response workshops. PPGD is the strengthening of community capacity in subscribing to patients before getting medical treatment. With this activity it was expected that the community had the ability to provide first aid properly before being handled by the medical team. - Mapping of disaster risk areas. Each village mapped its territory to determine the location, boundaries, vulnerability, distance from threats, capacities and vulnerabilities from 6 aspects of life (human, social, political, infrastructure, economy, environment), as well as evacuation routes, becoming a source of information for the community as well as other parties. - Institutional strengthening of Village Alert Teams. In community-based disaster risk reduction activities, institutions have an important role. Village alert teams, a team of people who already have skills and knowledge about CBDRM and PPGD, lead on the coordination and handling of disasters at the village level. - Working group JANGKAR Kelud. The working group is a place to gather and discuss all elements of society, government, business, and mass organisations involved in disaster risk reduction around Kelud in Blitar, Malang and Kediri districts. The group recognised a need to develop a work plan and implement activities to enhance preparedness for future Kelud disasters - Field Simulation and Field Rehearsal. From village alert teams who have skills and knowledge in DRR activities, together with all elements of the community, joint exercises were conducted to test the SOPs that have been developed and also to hone the skills and preparedness of the village alert teams. By conducting regular field activities, it is desirable to have sensitivity from all elements of society in an emergency. - School Based Disaster Risk Management Training. The number of schools located in the disaster prone area poses additional challenges surrounding the ability of the schools to handle disasters. Therefore, was a need for school-based disaster risk reduction activities. Activities undertaken include capacity-building of teachers on DRR and PPGD, preparing school protocols, and preparing early warning systems (EWS) in schools as well as integrating DRR material into subjects. - Early Warning System. Ensuring information is fast and from the right source is very helpful in the preparedness of people who are in disaster prone areas. For preparedness, Jangkar Kelud has an agreement for communication line by using handy talky (HT) and community radios. There are 120 HT spread in 36 villages and 9 community radios that joined in the Radio Community Network of JANGKAR Kelud. Eliminating dependency can only occur if the institutional sustainability in the community and disaster risk management activities are carried out continuously. For that to be done, there is a need to share trigger activities in the form of the Disaster Preparedness Team at Joint Open events and Halal bi Halal/Eid Al-Fitr: - Standby team meetings. These meetings consisted of joint training on the readiness of competing PPGD between villages. There was also a competition to raise the activities of village alert teams, and given a gift of tools such as megaphone and HT. - Open together and Halal bi Halal. In the month of Ramadhan the members of the JANGKAR Kelud team perform an open event together. This event involves coordination, whereby one of the members at home aims to establish togetherness and awaken the spirit of the standby team. Site selection is usually chosen by less active villages in the hope of them becoming more active in the future. Halal bi Halal is used as a meeting place for alert team members in 3 districts to know each other and learn together. The event was held to invite stakeholders of BPBD at the district and provincial levels, PVMBG and other parties who had joint activities both institutionally and individually. - Establish a community-style early warning system. Quick information and from the right sources are also a means of communication between the village alert teams that have expanded around Kelud, and are becoming a common need. To meet these needs, there are HT and community radios. There are 2 HTs in each village managed by the village alert team and 3 radios mounted on the slopes of Wilis (west side), on the slopes of Kawi (east side) and on the slopes of Arjuno for the north side. The community radio that is managed by JANGKAR Kelud has 9 transmitting stations. There is hope that it can be used as a means of information and campaigning on DRR when the conditions are safe, and used for early warning when there is an increase in the status of the mountain. - Build networks. This activity is done by visiting each other (Sambang Sedulur) and sharing experiences with other regions and other groups. Sambang Sedulur is an activity to visit and study together with other communities, which is often done in every activity. Some communities that have been visited include PASAG Merapi, Panjer Manikoro and Kobar Bromo Semeru. Experiences are shared with other regions and other groups. Sharing experiences is a medium for learning together with other areas to increase knowledge and increase awareness in disaster management. Some areas that have been studied together include the flood-prone community of Ngasinan (Panjer Manikoro), the watershed in Trenggalek regency, the community of Bromo and the Semeru Disaster Prone Area (Kobar Bromo Semeru) in Malang, Pasuruan, Lumajang and Probolinggo districts. Banser Training of Kediri Regency, Bagana (Banser Siaga Bencana) of Madiun Regency, and Jawi Wetan Church Community of Pagu Sub-district of Kediri Regency.

Impact

The impact on the process of building resilience showed that all aspects of the early warning system had been accomplished by the community and local authorities. Those four aspects are: (1) risk knowledge, (2) monitoring and warning service, (3) dissemination and communication, and (4) response ability. A systematic data collection and risk assessment showed that hazard and vulnerability are known well. Patterns and trends of each factor are known. Furthermore, data provision and risk mapping had been widely arranged. In 2013, BNPB contracted PSMB UPNYK to arrange a blueprint on the disaster management plan of volcanic eruption and targeted Kelud as one of the priorities. PVMBG were always monitoring and researching it. At the community level, risk assessment, hazard introduction, and influencing factors had been implemented since 2008. Meanwhile, series of disaster management training, emergency response training, school-based disaster management, community-based disaster management, aids on emergency patients, workshops and training on risk mapping and disaster contingency were implemented within the period of July 2008-May 2010. PVMBG, together with KAPPALA and PSMB UPNYK were always involved in every capacity strengthening activity of JANGKAR Kelud. Those series of trainings were understood in terms of the relationship between volcano status and community responsiveness in relation to that status. PVMBG’s recommendations and priority activities in the community led to Community Based Volcano Disaster Preparedness (CBVDP) Training with PVMBG, PASAG Merapi, PSMB UPNYK, and KAPPALA. Monitoring and early warning systems were used as a strong and scientific basis to make predictions and created accurate and on-time warnings. PVMBG implemented some information dissemination. Spatial dissemination has been delivered in Kelud disaster risk mapping. In 2014, information was disseminated accurately. A status change from Normal into Advisory was delivered on 2 February 2014; from Advisory into Watch on 10 February 2014; from Watch into Warning on 13 February 2014 at 21.15, and eruption occurred at 22.30. Communication and early warning systems have ensured that the warning can reach everyone impacted. Thus, disaster risk and its warnings can be understood, and have clear and useful information. At the community level, early warning system training in every river stream had been delivered by January 2009. Management, broadcasting, and community radio technique training was implemented from December 2011-June 2012. Meanwhile, radio information operating systems and their communication tools (handy talky) were implemented in April 2011. A good information system flowed from one source through a specific way. The community can receive the information as one meaning and one interpretation, afterwards. A good information system flowed from the communication radio, community radio, and cell phone. In the 2014 eruption, the monitoring post of Kelud communicated some changes from Watch into Warning to amateur radio organisations, such as the Amateur Radio Organization of Republic Indonesia (ORARI), or Radio Antar Penduduk Indonesia (RAPI) Kediri, and to JANGKAR Kelud. Furthermore, JANGKAR Kelud disseminated the information through phone, communication radio, and community radio into second order communication. Short communication orders from the monitoring post to the community were delivered well. There are 13 community radios, 9 of them are Community Radio Network of JANGKAR Kelud, prepared by KAPPALA in 2010. Meanwhile, Kediri has community radios located in various locations; Sugih Waras village (Kelud FM), Siman village (Adevo FM), Sempu village (Sempu Raya FM) and Satak village (JKS FM); In Blitar, they have community radio at Candirejo village (Candi Kelud FM), Modangan village (Lintas Kelud FM) and Soso village (Estu FM); Then, in Malang community radios are located in Pondokagung village (Pandawa FM) and Ngantru village (Smart FM). Each of them are supported by communication radios (handy talky). In 2013, there were 25 villages that reached by communication network, and now there are 63 villages. The radio is held by a coordinator and representatives of each Standby village, as each of them have 20 members within the village. To ensure that information can be received, those communication radios are united by three repeaters which are managed by JANGKAR Kelud on the downhill of the Wilis, Kawi, and Ngantang mountains. Meanwhile, Kediri has one repeater which builds on Kelud. Building community responsiveness has been done by ensuring the response plan is always up-to-date. Then, local wisdom and knowledge can be utilised as they are ready to respond the warning. The communication network within the 63 villages may enable them to work well. Simulation and training activities were implemented by communities in the various villages: Sempu, Sumbersari, Pondokagung, Besowo, Candirejo, Pandansari, Ngantru, and Kepung. Those activities were held together with KAPPALA from 2009-2012 and Banser NU in 2012 as their readiness to encounter the eruption.

Other

Success of organisation, capacity strengthening, and network widening by JANGKAR Kelud provide hope for CBDRM to continue implementing activities in the vulnerable areas surrounding the Kelud Volcano. JANGKAR Kelud now is widely known by government, private, and community organisations. Teamwork built within JANGKAR Kelud and these actors contributed to acknowledgement that may strengthen them. Volcano status and community alertness are among the tools which have been tested and successfully applied in this community.