Indonesian Environment Ministry declared the ongoing flood in the capital city an ecology disaster as it was incited by massive ecology destruction in upstream area of Ciliwung river that runs through the city, calling for integrated effors to overcome the flooding that occurred annually in the city, an official said Monday.

According to the ministry, the forest canopy in Ciliwung upstream area located in Bogor regency West Java has been severely reduced 7.14 percent in a decade, from 9.4 percent in 2000 to only 2.3 percent in 2010. Rampant housing and resort constructions in the areas were blamed for forest degradation in Ciliwung upstream areas.

Besides, degradation also persisted along the river with erosion and sedimentation commonly seen in many parts of the river.

The fluctuation of water debit gap may reach up to 300 times fold since landslides often occur in areas where the river passes through, according to the ministry. "The Environment Ministry supports efforts demonstrated by regional governments to restore functions of forest ecosystem around the Ciliwung upstream areas, returning it as water absorber so as to make the nature well preserved, averting further nature disasters,"Indonesian Environment Minister Balthazar Kambuaya said during his inspection in Ciliwung upstream area.

The minister stressed the need to undertake integrated efforts on"One River, One Ecosystem, One Management"basis to address this issue. The efforts should involve all stakeholders in a bid to restore upstream and downstream areas of the river, the minister added.

Balthazar said that besides deteriorating ecosystem condition in the upstream area, the flooding was also caused by careless conduction of people in the city who dump wastes into the river.

The ensuing flood currently occurred in several parts of the capital city's downtown areas was caused by the spillover of Ciliwung river following torrential rain in the past weeks. The flood inundated houses and roads and forced people to flee from their houses, seeking refuge in shelters.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that eight people have died in the flooding in the capital city, which also displaced more than 60,000 others.

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