ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 393

Indonesia is considered the world’s third fastest growing country after China and India. World
Bank data stated that in 2012, population in Indonesia was 256.9 million, GDP of 878 billion US
dollar. As a developing country, Indonesia’s economy is centred on agriculture and industry. Unfortunately, the expense of development had negative impacts on the environment such as air
pollution, deforestation and the depletion of peat land, making Indonesia world’s third largest
emitter of green house gases. The average income rate in Indonesia is lower middle. In a developing country high population is considered an obstacle for the country’s economy, making it
harder for the income, therefore income gaps are reflected on both urban and rural area’s of the
country.
This paper draws attention to the long-term consequences of population density in Indonesia
and it’s relation to the current environmental problems. Indonesia’s economy is gradually progressing, and this has created a gap between the rural and urban areas, causing the low-income
rural areas to fall closer to the poverty line. According to (Rural Poverty Portal 2014), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) states that half the population in Indonesia live
above national poverty line, which puts this category exposed to be massively affected by food
price increase, environmental hazards, health risk, which can drive them to poverty.
As mentioned earlier, high fertility rate is an important part of the cycle, which has a huge impact
on the environmental degradation. In the cycle this not only increases poverty, but also at the
same time increases the burden on the economy and the environment with more people to feed
and a higher environmental footprint. Indonesia as an Island is rich with natural resources, which
has the capability to achieve great agriculture efficiency and incorporate that into its economy
through its people and government in the form of stewardships. For example, people can be encouraged to make better use of the land with the help of government aid in terms of rebuilding
environment degradation and use of sustainable business practices. This would in turn also help
the global impact of greenhouse gas emission.

2. Methodology
Data was collected from various sources of literature review and updated resources (such as
World Bank) for accurate details of Indonesia’s economy and environmental resources. The main
objective of this paper is to first identify the consequences of rapid urbanization in Indonesia.
Stewardship strategies and planning will be presented based on case studies from developed
and developing countries with similar environmental concerns.

3. Problem
Being the third largest country in population, Indonesian not only suffers from over population,
but also due to the instability of the economy and low income, many Indonesian had to choose
work than education. Lack of stable job opportunities and good income forced many Indonesian
to immigrate to other neighbouring countries. Moreover, children quit school and work to support their families. Population density in urban and rural areas and income difference between
the people living in urban developed parts of the country and rural area. World Bank stated that
in 2009, 14.2% of citizens in Indonesia are living in poverty.
By far, the most human caused disaster in Indonesia is deforestation. As mentioned earlier, Indonesia’s most important natural resource is forests. 463,000 square miles of forests covers Indone-

Environmental impact of population, affluence and development on Indonesia

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