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This is the second story in our two-part photojournalism series “Parched and Drenched” on the water crisis in Indonesia by Garry Lotulung. Read the first story here.
In Indonesia, two islands have already disappeared and thousands more are at the mercy of the oceans as global sea levels rise and threaten coastlines.
But even one of the largest islands of Indonesia can’t escape this fate. While villages in the Yogyakarta province of central Java get ravaged by drought, coastal villages in Karawang in western Java and Pekalongan in central Java have slowly been eroding due to the rising seas.
Cemarajaya Village in Karawang has experienced material damage from sea level rise. The eight km-long coastline of the village has slowly and steadily been eroding for two decades, costing the village over 500 to 800 meters of land. Over 300 households have been displaced due to abrasion with more to follow.
Rudi Candia, village head of Cemarajaya, still remembers the fish ponds, housing complex, and small soccer field that have now been engulfed by the ocean.
“By 2003, the land was still about 200 meters jutting out into the sea from where we were standing. There were still hundreds of stalls thriving at that time; now, there are none left,” he said.
In Indonesia, sea level rise puts at risk the 150 million who live in its coastal areas. Experts say that the villages and towns along the Kawarang shoreline are becoming inundated due to a grim combination of environmental degradation and climate change. The immediate effect of sea level rise shows up through tidal flooding, which means the banks of coasts are getting swept away with time.
Villagers are seeing their homes, farms, and fishing spots slowly disappear, leaving behind only visions of a bleak future ahead.
One of the worst episodes of abrasion experienced by the region took place in 2016, when significant sections from Cemarajaya to Pisangan Beach were eroded by increasingly fierce waves.
“My house was lost and swept away by abrasion and high waves. All household appliances were swept away, and then high waves swept away the bamboo walls, roof, and finally, the foundation,” said Jusyang, a resident of the nearby Pisangan village.
“As many as 20 families lost their homes at that time,” he said.
The Pisangan beach tourism project used to bring the village IDR 80 million every month (equivalent to $5,045 in present day) in the 1990s. Now, that is just a memory from the past.
Since March 2023, the main road connecting the villages in Cemarajaya to other villages on the north coast of Karawang has been cut off at several points due to erosion and waves. Only pedestrians can now make their way through the remnants of the asphalt, which disrupts the daily activities of the residents.
“The waves hit very high, causing power outages, and the main road was submerged to a depth of one meter. Only the living room was left of my house,” Jusyang said.
But this year, that disappeared too.
“Now it is not visible at all; the murky waves cover it, and the ponds are gone without a trace,” he said.
Mekarjaya Village is one of the most remote areas in the region and is known for its diversity and religious secularism. The only remaining temple in the village is run by Camrad, who said he has guarded it from seawater flooding for 11 years.
"Ten years ago, since the temple's owner died, I was asked to take care of it," he said. Although he practices Islam, he doesn’t see an issue being the administrator of the temple; to him, the most important thing is for people to respect each other.
But the recent recurring episodes of coastal abrasion have been forcing him to reconsider his decision to stay in his homeland and continue on as the guardian of the monastery.
He said his house was affected by abrasion four months ago and “my family and I were forced to temporarily move to the land owned by this (temple) owner.” Now, as the waters rise to higher levels and threaten the temple doors, he still remains reluctant “because it has been here since long ago. [I was] born and raised here.”
Yusuf, one of the younger residents of Cemarajaya village, said the abrasion is also deteriorating the natural environment. The mangroves, which tie up the coastal soils, can no longer withstand the intense and rising waves of the ocean; as a result, the subsidence was inevitable.
“Where else can we go? We can't afford to buy land in other areas. We are used to high tides and high waves. At most, we evacuate for a few days; after that, we return here again,” he said.
Residents of these villages have built dams and raised their houses to prevent flooding. The government has also placed long breakwaters and sandbags along the coastline, but success against the rising sea levels seems to be a pipe dream.
In Simonet, a hamlet in Pekalongan in central Java, the coastline is rapidly getting closer to the residential areas. Historically, the Pekalongan coastal area has experienced a sea level rise of 5 mm per year, which is higher than that of the Java Sea at 3.9 mm per year, which makes it particularly vulnerable.
Some residents chose to flee because their homes were being damaged. Others continue to live with the flood.
Rasali, one of the residents, is still holding onto his house. “In the past, the distance between the sea and the house was 100 meters. Now, the land is shrinking, and the sea's edge is now in front of the house's terrace,” he said.
But for this fisherman, leaving is also not an option.
“I will still stay here because leaving my livelihood in this location is difficult. My life and my family depend on the sea as fishermen,” he said.
Severe abrasion in 2005 and then again in 2021 has caused the village to become cut off from the mainland and become an island. It is now only accessible by boat.
According to the village head Joyo Kusumo, Simonet Hamlet used to be inhabited by 265 people. Only nine heads of families, or 25 people in total, still remain.
“The conditions are very concerning, especially when the sea water rises. If we have time to evacuate, then evacuate; if not, we are surrounded by seawater," Kusomo said.
Farmers have lost their fields to the floods, which cause crop failure, while fishermen have seen so many boats get damaged that they are uncertain about when it is safe enough to go out to the sea.
The government is preparing to relocate the remaining households. However, relocation is also tricky because most of the population works in the fisheries sector and must live along the coast to support themselves and their families.
Will things get better for this region? It seems unlikely.
Heri Andreas, a geodesy researcher from the Bandung Institute of Technology, said that in the next ten years, the coastal area of Pekalongan, including the Simonet area, will be the first inhabited area in Indonesia and the world to sink rapidly.
“We know that the Pekalongan area is coastal and lowland,” Andreas said to regional publication Kompas TV. “If the lowlands and land continue to sink, one day it will be under the sea.”
