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Floods And Landslides In RI: Complex And Many Factors At Play

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When it comes to public discussions, oil palm plantations are often attributed to natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, and forest fires. But actually, such  environmental realities involve many interconnected factors.

It is crucial for the public to gain a more comprehensive understanding by examining the issue based on scientific data and more comprehensive field conditions.

Very often conflicting opinions arise. For example, some say that oil palm hinders water absorption, while others say it drains groundwater and can  trigger drought.⁽²⁾ These two conflicting views highlight the need for a more structured, evidence-based explanation.

Hydrological Reality: Many Factors Influence Disasters

According to environmental experts, hydrometeorological disasters are not determined by a single type of land use. Several factors are often at play, including:

  • Inconsistency of spatial planning with environmental carrying capacity.
  • Deterioration of watershed (DAS) quality and river sedimentation.
  • Human activities in the upstream watershed, including illegal logging.
  • Expansion of settlements and economic activity on riverbanks and steep slopes.
  • Extreme rainfall due to climate change.

Given this combination of factors, explaining the causes of floods and landslides requires a more comprehensive study and should not just attribute them to a single commodity or sector.

Scientific Fact: Oil Palm is water-efficient plant

A number of researchs have revealed several important findings on the hydrological characteristics of oil palm plants:

  • Oil palm is water-efficient as it only requires lower quantity of water if compared to sugarcane, rice, soybeans, cotton, and other vegetable oil crops.
  • The water footprint of oil palm is one of the lowest among vegetable oil crops.
  • Oil palm roots can increase infiltration and help recharge groundwater. ⁽³⁾.

The strong root structure and dense canopy of oil palm trees also help reduce erosion and maintain soil moisture. Certainly, based on these data, oil palm is not a crop that causes drought or inhibits water absorption.

Forest Fires: Causes Identification Should be done carefully

Forest and land fires (karhutla) are a complex issue that are strongly influenced by weather conditions, land management, and human activities. Productive oil palm plantations have a fundamental interest in preventing fires, as they have the potential to cause significant losses to the growers.

Several studies have found that the primary sources of fires are often related to the following factors:

  • Illegal land clearing.
  • Dry peatland conditions during prolonged dry seasons.
  • The emergence of hotspots outside plantation areas, which were then spreading.

Therefore, each karhutla incident needs to be analyzed based on the location and context on the ground concerned, rather than based on initial assumptions.

Academic view: Extreme Rainfall as main trigger

Academics and official institutions have noted that the intensity of  extreme rainfalls is the major factor that caused the flooding and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra provinces.

Prof. Budi Mulyanto from the Center for Palm Oil Studies said that the rainfall in a single day reached the level that typically occurs in a month and a half. This results in the soil being unable to absorb water optimally.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) also noted that the extreme rainfall phenomenon in late November 2025 was the main trigger of flooding and landslides in the regions.

Meanwhile, Prof. Sudarsono Soedomo emphasized that forest degradation in Indonesia has a long history and involves various factors, including illegal logging and weak forest area monitoring long before oil palm plantations were developed.

Oil Palm Role In Sustainable Development

When managed properly according to the principles of sustainability, oil palm plantations can provide a number of benefits, such as:

  • Sequestering significant amounts of carbon⁽⁶⁾.
  • Producing large volume of oil from relatively efficient land use⁽²⁾.
  • Supporting the income of independent smallholder farmers and the economy of rural communities⁽⁴⁾.

With its high productivity characteristics and sound management principles, oil palm can be part of a development strategy with special attention to the social and environmental aspects.

Natural disasters such as floods and landslides are multifactorial phenomena. Therefore, their analysis should include aspects of spatial planning, weather, and land management. Oil palm plantations require a relatively low quantity of water and are primarily intended to support infiltration, rather than cause drought. Forest fires often originate from external factors, including human activities and environmental conditions, rather than from productive oil palm plantations. Public discussions on oil palm should be based on scientific data and comprehensive studies.

With more objective understanding, the general public can see the environmental issues more holistically and avoid conclusions that are inconsistent with the real facts on the ground. (*)

[1] Siregar, H., & Susanti, E. (2020). Sawit, Tata Ruang, dan Risiko Banjir di Sumatra. Jurnal Pengelolaan DAS Indonesia. [2] Hoekstra, A. Y., & Mekonnen, M. M. (2012). The Water Footprint of Humanity. PNAS. [3] Hidayat, N. (2018). Konservasi Tanah pada Perkebunan Sawit dan Dampaknya terhadap Pengendalian Erosi. Jurnal Tanah Tropika. [4] Corley, R. H. V., & Tinker, P. B. (2016). The Oil Palm (5th Edition). Wiley-Blackwell. [5] Purnomo, H., et al. (2019). Fire, Oil Palm, and Land Governance. Forest Policy and Economics. [6] Yusoff, S. (2006). Renewability of Palm Oil: Its Sustainability in Question. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. [7] Beritasatu.com (2025). Pakar Perkebunan Tepis Dugaan Kebun Sawit Pemicu Bencana di Sumatera.

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