The stories recounted in the book are well-aligned with the HKB 2024 commemoration’s focus on coastal community resilience. The book imparts valuable insights for policymakers, specifically with regard to planning coastal area management and conservation programs. With this, it is expected that successful initiatives can be documented and shared with other communities and disaster management activists in coastal areas.
In addition to the symposium, the SIAP SIAGA Program also made a presentation on the Coastal Resilience Toolkit (CRT) it is developing together with BNPB. Built through engaging interdisciplinary practitioners and academics, these tools are intended to promote sustainable resilience among coastal area communities.

During events commemorating Disaster Preparedness Day (HKB) 2024, representatives of coastal communities from different regions in Indonesia shared their disaster management stories. The stories from these coastal communities are hoped to inspire efforts to promote resilient coastal communities throughout regions in Indonesia.
HKB is commemorated every year on 26 April, a date chosen as a reminder of how public awareness of the importance of disaster management has grown since the issuance of the Law Number 24/2007 concerning disaster management on 26 April 2007. Since then, HKB commemorations have been held in different locations each year to introduce and encourage preparedness among local governments and communities in disaster-prone areas.
This year, events to commemorate HKB were centred in Padang City, West Sumatra. Choosing Padang City as the host aimed to encourage greater preparedness considering the high level of disaster risk, especially for earthquake and tsunami, in West Sumatran coastal areas.
For the HKB 2024 commemoration, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) selected the theme ‘Siap untuk Selamat’ (To Be Prepared Is to Be Safe), with ‘Indonesia Tangguh Indonesia Hebat’ (Tougher Indonesia, Greater Indonesia) as a subtheme. In total, 17 provinces comprising 30 districts/cities and 189 Disaster Resilient Villages (Destana) took part in the HKB main event in Padang City.

As a partnership between the Australian and Indonesian governments to build disaster risk management capacity in Indonesia, and to strengthen cooperation between Australia and Indonesia in humanitarian actions in the Indo-Pacific region, the SIAP SIAGA Program gives its full support to the HKB 2024 main event. In line with the selected theme and location of disaster risks in coastal areas, SIAP SIAGA collaborated with BNPB to conduct a panel discussion titled HKB 2024 Symposium: Resilient Coastal Communities.
The symposium featured four coastal communities’ representatives sharing their efforts in disaster management. They were Pati Haryose, founder and manager of Sea Turtle Conservation Jambak Sea Turtle Camp, Community Surveillance Group (Pokmaswas) Samudera Pasir Jambak, Padang City, West Sumatra; Mohammad Mukhyi, conservationist at Rejo Beach, Banyuwangi District, East Java; Jull Takaliuang, initiator of #SaveSangihe and environmentalist, Coastal Area of Sangihe Islands District, North Sulawesi; and Eliza Kissya, Head of Kewang (customary law institution), Haruku Island, Central Maluku District, Maluku.
Other panellists included Eko Budi Priyanto, Coordinator of Wetlands Restoration and Community Development, WetLand Indonesia; Dr. M. Ilman, Director of Marine Program, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN); and Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Notonegoro, Regional Program, SIAP SIAGA Program.
Acting as the responders in the symposium were Fina Ardarini, S.Pi., M.Si., Head of Disaster Mitigation Section, Directorate of Coastal Area and Small Island Administration, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; Risma Sunarty, S.Si., M.Si., Expert Council to Aceh Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (FPRB) and Lecturer of Disaster Management Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Aceh; Dr. Harfiandri Damanhuri, Lecturer of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Universitas Bung Hatta, Padang; and Dr. Raditya Jati, Deputy for Systems and Strategies, BNPB.
BNPB Publishes Stories from Coastal Communities and Launches Coastal Resilience Toolkit
The efforts shared in the symposium of coastal communities to adapt to and mitigate disaster risks in their respective areas will be consolidated into a book titled ‘Masyarakat Pesisir Bertutur: Kumpulan Kisah Inspiratif tentang Ketangguhan Masyarakat Pesisir’ (Coastal Communities Speak: A Collection of Inspirational Stories about Resilient Coastal Communities).
The book Masyarakat Pantai Bertutur tells stories of initiatives guided by local wisdom and best practices from coastal communities in adapting to environmental and economic change, while trying to maintain and restore their villages. The book was compiled by interviewing coastal disaster management advocates and activists, especially those in coastal areas of Sumatra and Java Islands, and islands in Sulawesi and Maluku.

The stories recounted in the book are well-aligned with the HKB 2024 commemoration’s focus on coastal community resilience. The book imparts valuable insights for policymakers, specifically with regard to planning coastal area management and conservation programs. With this, it is expected that successful initiatives can be documented and shared with other communities and disaster management activists in coastal areas.
In addition to the symposium, the SIAP SIAGA Program also made a presentation on the Coastal Resilience Toolkit (CRT) it is developing together with BNPB. Built through engaging interdisciplinary practitioners and academics, these tools are intended to promote sustainable resilience among coastal area communities. The toolkit consists of a set of procedures packaged in a QGIS-software-based system that will be easily accessible by the government and decision makers in different sectors by means of a specially developed app.
The tools are designed to be used down to the village level to map disaster risks and types of potential solutions, develop funding and action plans, and perform continuous evaluations to achieve the desired level of resilience. With the CRT, resilience can be measured based on 5 groups of indicators: physical mitigation, economic development, healthcare services, natural resource management, and protection of productive assets.
Continous Support from the Australian Government
Simon Flores, Counsellor for Development Effectiveness at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia, stated that Australia and Indonesia’s partnership in the Indo-Pacific region, one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world, is crucial for an integrated disaster risk management collaboration. The Australian Government is proud to continue supporting the Government of Indonesia’s disaster risk management efforts through BNPB.

Through the SIAP SIAGA Program, the Australian Government continues to support the documentation of local knowledge and best practices to promote participatory and effective disaster management. Publishing a book that chronicles stories of coastal and small island communities was just one of the ways to achieve this.
Support is also given to the development of the CRT by the Australian Government. This toolkit aims to provide stronger technical analysis and data utilisation as a basis for collaborative disaster risk reduction efforts in coastal areas. ‘By combining local knowledge and science as well as participation from communities, the government, and civil society organisations, we hope to contribute to accelerating community resilience, particularly in coastal areas of Indonesia,’ Simon Flores concluded.

The SIAP SIAGA Program is the Australia-Indonesia Partnership on Disaster Risk Management which aims to strengthen disaster resilience in Indonesia and the Indo-Pacific Region
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