Blessed with ample rainfall, Indonesia has exploited hydropower to meet its electricity needs, but the supply is sensitive to interruptions in water flow linked to climate variability. Land use practices that don't fill with sediment the natural or manmade reservoirs that supply water to hydropower plants are needed as environmental services.According to conventional wisdom only forests can provide such environmental services. Landscapes used for upland farming can not. Given the size of the Indonesian population, however, ways have to be found to combine hydropower generation with productive land use.A key example of how this can be achieved if the real requirements for watershed functions are understood can be found in Sumberjaya in West Lampung, Indonesia.
Publication year
2007
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
hydropower
Geographic
Indonesia
