A strategy of local wisdom-based natural disaster management in coastal communities in Barru District

Abstract

Indonesia is a maritime country stretching along the equator. Populations who reside in coastal areas form communities known as coastal communities. In South Sulawesi, especially the west and east coasts, coastal communities occupy areas that are vulnerable to various disasters. Coastal communities in South Sulawesi can survive because they succeeded in developing an adaptive mechanism to manage the failure. Such adaptive capacity is implied in potential is called local-wisdom, containing systems of belief, knowledge and value and habits. The focus of this research is the disaster characteristics that occur in coastal communities, and the socio-cultural potential possessed as a strategy to manage disasters that occur, apply local wisdom as an effort to mitigate disasters, as well as understanding and disaster management. This research is ethnographic with a qualitative approach, conducted in Barru district, South Sulawesi. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and literature review. It found that coastal communities in Barru district recognized some disasters such as tornadoes, drought, fire, and floods. They overcome natural disasters by utilizing the local-wisdom in the form of trust, knowledge, and habits. It concluded that the socio-cultural potential in the form of local wisdom that is owned by the maritime community is an adaptive mechanism in overcoming and mitigating disasters.