WALHI records 359 natural disaster in 2008

More than 350 natural disasters took place in Indonesia last year, according to data from the Indonesia Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

This was a significant jump from the 205 which occurred in 2007, Walhi executive director Berry Nahdian Furkon said in Jakarta on Friday.

“This was just the number of disasters registered with Walhi. The figure could actually be much higher than that,” Berri said. The increase in natural disasters, such as landslides, floods, earthquakes and others, was mainly due to environmental neglect by the government, he said. 

Some disasters occurred due to a massive surge in deforestation, with two million hectares of forests converted for various purposes every year, Berri added.