Environmental sensitivity index mapping as a prevention strategy against oil spill pollution: A case study on the coastal area of South Sumatera Province in Indonesia

Abstract

Coastal areas are vulnerable to oil spill pollution from tanker accidents or unappropriated operational procedures from the oil and gas industry. This study was aimed to develop a prevention strategy to minimize damage and to ensure vulnerable natural resources and local community fisheries economic activities in coastal areas are protected. The local community utilizes fisheries resources in coastal waters of South Sumatera Province as their main livelihood. The potential of fish and shrimp resources in this area is quite abundant due to the existence of good mangrove ecosystems and located in the high-organic environment of Musi River estuary. On the other hand, the area is highly potential to be threatened by oil spill accident from the nearby of Bangka Strait just right in front of the Musi Estuary. A model named Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) has been developed to classify the level of sensitivities along the shoreline and habitats of the study area to protect such area. Environmental sensitivity index takes into account the vulnerability, biological and socio-economical characteristics for each coastal environmental feature such as fisheries resources and mangrove ecosystem. These three fundamental ESI elements are transferred into three indexes, i.e. Vulnerability Index, Ecological Index and Social Index. Spatial analysis through the geographic information system of overlay technique is applied to determine each environmental feature to produce ESI Map. The results of the ESI analysis show that coastal waters which are habitat of brackish water fishes and shrimps harvested by passive fishing gear such as Kelong (a combination of Guiding Barrier and Fixed lift net) and Sero (Guiding Barrier) are categorized as the sensitive category, while other offshore waters are classed as moderate level. Shoreline type and mangrove ecosystems classified as very sensitive. As consequences, this area must be a top priority in protecting the area from any of oil spill pollution. ESI analysis can be used as an appropriate tool in the determination of priority area need to be protected from any oil spill events.