Community-led coastal resilience: Integrating local knowledge and collaborative disaster management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61511/jdmcr.v3i1.3214Keywords:
coastal communities, community resilience, disaster risk, Oesapa KupangAbstract
Background: The community of Oesapa Fishing Village, Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara Province, has an inspiring experience in facing disaster risks. The community demonstrates resilience and adaptability to disasters and climate change, which is widely appreciated. Methods: This study uses a qualitative method with direct observation, in-depth interviews, and an active participation approach. Informants include internal community members of Oesapa Fishing Village and external stakeholders such as the Pikul Foundation and several government agencies in Kupang City, including the Oesapa Sub-district Government. Findings: The community faces several disaster threats, including high waves, strong winds, drought, and occasional flooding. High waves are mainly caused by the village’s coastal location in Kupang Bay with low topography. This study explores community knowledge of disaster risk, external intervention models and their impacts, as well as behavioral patterns and strategies used by the community to strengthen resilience. Conclusion: The findings show that: (1) the community holds a socio-ecological understanding of disasters, viewing them as resulting from human-environment interactions such as environmental degradation, mangrove destruction, and pollution, with threats originating from both land and sea; (2) external interventions from institutions such as the PIKUL Foundation, BPDAS Benain Noelmina, BPBD Kupang City, and BMKG Tenau Maritime Station have significantly shifted local knowledge from intuitive-based understanding toward more scientific and technology-based systems; and (3) community resilience is strengthened through collaborative disaster management aimed at reducing loss of life, economic damage, and environmental degradation. Novelty/Originality of this article: The study highlights the role of fishing norms as social capital, fishermen livelihoods as economic capital, and mangrove ecosystems as coastal environmental capital in building community resilience.
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