Vulnerability assessment of ecological conditions in Seribu Islands, Indonesia A.R. Farhan a, b, * , S. Lim a a School of Surveying and Spatial Information System, Engineering Faculty, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia b Research Center for Marine Technology, Agency for Marine and Fisheries Research, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia article info Article history: Available online 7 May 2012 abstract The sustainability in the marine and coastal environment was conceptualized significantly since the Earth Summit in 1992 where Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) was proposed as one of the solutions that can support the decision makers to work together and provide decisive actions for the better coastal management. A right balance between the socio-economic growth and the environmental protection is the most important goal in the coastal management. In order to achieve the goal, a framework-based strategy, financial planning and policy enforcement must be implemented in the coastal management. Indonesia as one of the archipelagic states has adopted this concept within two Indonesian cooper- ation laws which were intended to enable the Indonesian government to manage the coastal areas more responsibly and accountably in the aim for the improved environment for future generations. Since the endorsement of those laws, however, the implementation has been lagging and the Indonesia govern- ment’s focus is rather on the land-based development despite the consequence of the negligence in the coastal management. This is evident in the impact on the coastal environment that is caused by rapid and ill-planned developments in Indonesian coastal regions. As a result, Indonesia already lost four islands associated with Seribu Islands by 1999. It proves that Seribu Islands lack in the policy enforcement and were unnoticed by both the central government and the local government. This paper aims to assess the ecological vulnerability with a focus on coral reefs in Seribu Islands using Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing technologies. From the study results, it can be summarized that the urban pressures and pollutants from four main rivers in Jakarta Bay and Banten Province played a significant role in the environmental degradation. Most of the islands associated with Seribu Islands are at risk, if the urban development continues. The vulnerability analysis of Seribu Islands can assist the decision makers to prepare pivotal actions in order to adapt the changes and develop essential recovery programs for the region. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Ecological crises are the main concern of sustainability in developing countries. Ambiguous policies, environmental prob- lems and economic activities are the common obstacles that lead to the marine and coastal environment degradation. The population growth, poor sanitation and inadequate waste management are the pressures to the environment as well. Lack of education in the coastal communities and the unreliable technologies being used are also the common issues in the developing countries. Based on the United Nation resolution on the Agenda 21, the integration of social, economic and environmental sectors are important to be pursued in order to implement the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Many strategic approaches to implement ICZM are studied (Allmendinger et al., 2002; Burbridge and Humphrey, 2003; Douven et al., 2003; Dwarakish et al., 2007; Fabbri, 1998; Garmendia et al., 2010; Hildebrand and Norrena, 1992; Shipman and Stojanovic, 2007; Varghese et al., 2008; Cicin- Sain, 1993; Cicin-Sain et al., 2000) but yet in developing countries it is very difficult to implement this program due to the inadequate strategy and the financial burden. One of the methods to understanding how well balances of socialeeconomic and environmental is to assess its vulnerability. The term of vulnerability is a widely accepted concept that can be summarized as the tendency of object to damage and the opposite of this is the resilience, which means the ability to adapt (Kaly et al., * Corresponding author. School of Surveying and Spatial Information System, Engineering Faculty, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Tel.: þ62 2164711583. E-mail addresses: arfarhan@gmail.com, riza.farhan@gmail.com (A.R. Farhan). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Ocean & Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman 0964-5691/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2012.04.015 Ocean & Coastal Management 65 (2012) 1e14