"Through the inaRISK Personal application, the public can report cases of deforestation," a disaster analyst from the BNPB's Risk Mapping and Evaluation Directorate, Afif Alfian, said at a dialogue on Wednesday.
He informed that the application was developed by the BNPB in collaboration with the ministries of energy and mineral resources, public works, and housing and settlements; the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency; and other institutions engaged in disaster mitigation.
The app aims to draw public participation in environmental monitoring and encourage reforestation of damaged forests, especially in mountainous areas, Alfian said.
He assured that the agency will follow up on each report filed by the community and take technical actions in consultation with the ministry and other state institutions.
"The inaRISK Personal (app) will also play a role as a provider of disaster risk information, the level of danger in an area, and is equipped with recommendations for anticipatory actions," he informed.
Besides geographical factors, human activity-induced environmental degradation is also responsible for the high levels of vulnerability and disaster risk in Indonesia, he said.
Data from the BNPB shows that Indonesia recorded at least 1,942 natural disasters in the period from January 1 to December 15, 2024. As many as 95 percent of them were hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides, and strong winds.
At least 469 people died, 58 people went missing, and 1,157 people were injured in the disasters, the agency reported.
In addition, the disasters damaged more than 61,500 residential houses, with 10,821 homes sustaining severe damage.
Thus, there is a need for continuous updates on disaster information channels to meet the community's needs for quick access to data and information to increase resilience against disasters, Alfian said.
"With this application, the community will not only become recipients of information, but also become agents of change to realize a disaster-resilient country," he added.
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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