TEMPO.CO, Kupang – Prof. DR. Rizaldi Boer, the executive director of Center for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management (CCROM) in South Asia and Pacific, said the results of a CCROM survey had revealed that several areas in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) were likely to turn into deserts.

“A number of regions in NTT are at risk of turning into deserts if the environment is not well-preserved,” Rizaldi said in Kupang on Tuesday, May 5, 2015.

According to Rizaldi, the desertification was now evident in the low intensity of rain in some regions.

Rizaldi said other contributing factors to the desertification were the exploitation of ground water and land clearing for mines. Thus, he went on, mapping out mine sites and disseminating information on the danger of climate change were necessary to tackle the phenomenon.

“It should be governed as to which locations are allowed for mining and which are not,” he said.

According to him, desertification was now obvious at least in two regions in NTT: Sabu Raijua and East Sumba, where the dry season was longer and rain intensity was low. “If rain does not occur in Sabu Raijua and East Sumba in the next four months, they will become even drier.”

NTT Environment Agency head Ferdik Tielman said the survey results were a warning to locals to better take care of and manage their environments. “Environmental management efforts should be done to deal with climate change. Those areas can become deserts if we fail to take immediate action,” he said.

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