Tobasa Geologi

DRAFT: Not for Citation or Distribution Lake Toba
Experience and Lessons Learned Brief for 1

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Lake Toba

Haryatiningsih Moedjodo
Payaman Simanjuntak
Peter Hehanussa
Lufiandi

Introduction
Lake Toba is Indonesias largest lake and the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
Located in the province of North Sumatra, approximately 176 km to the west of the provincial
capital, Medan. Lake Toba can be reached by car from Medan within three hours. By plane,
Medan is only 40 minutes away from Singapore and two hours from Jakarta, the capital city
of Indonesia.
As the largest volcanic lake in the world, the lake is approximately 87 km long from north to
south and the width of 27 km from west to east. Located 905 meters above sea level and the
maximum depth of 529 meters, the lake is one of the countrys important tourist destinations.
The natural beauty of Lake Toba has been internationally recognized. The lakes blue waters,
gracious residents and fascinating Batak culture draw tourists from all over the globe to the
remote destination of Lake Toba
1

In the middle of the lake, laid the wedge-shaped island called Samosir, thought to have
been created by subsequent upheavals between 30,000 and 75,000 years ago. This
spectacular island is one and half times larger than the entire Republic of Singapore.
Traveling from the lakes shore to the island of Samosir is a great adventure for visitors.
The Lake Toba water catchment area covers 3,658 sq km, of which the lake surface accounts
for 1,103 sq km. The remainder of the catchment area can be classified as 43% hilly and 30%
mountainous, with peaks more than 2,000 m above sea level. Biophysically, the cool and
refreshing environment, clean air, fertile soil and protein-rich resources of the region made it
as an ideal place for human settlement. No wonder that centuries ago the ancestors of the
Batak ethnic chose it as their permanent site for settlement. It was here that their descendant
developed into the five ethnic Batak groups, namely the Angkola-Mandailing, Karo, Pakpak-
Dairi, Simalungun and Toba. Samosir Island and the Toba lakeside is the site of the original
Batak culture, containing invaluable historical objects and artifacts, art and culture. In fact,
Batak culture is still alive and present here, preserved in its original form.

The unique geographical position also contained a range of economically significant sources
of livelihood for the population, mainly derived from the abundant fresh water resources and
the dense tropical rain forests. Today, the concentration of the human settlements scattered
all over the Lake Toba watershed are about 130, in the form of small villages to medium
towns. Figure 1 shows the watershed and administrative boundaries of Lake Toba.

1
Annette Souder, The new faces of development assistance, US Council of State Government News, June/July 1999,
page 14.
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Figure 1: The watershed and administrative boundaries of Lake Toba

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The main environmental problem of Lake Toba
Population growth and development have impacted the lakes in many ways. The health of
Lake Toba in Indonesia is severely threatened by pollution on the lake due to household
wastewater, oil spills from boats, trash thrown directly into the lake and streams and the fast
growing water hyacinth that blocks access of the boats. Local people are less aware than
they need to be of hygienic behavior, the cleanliness of their neighborhood and the need to
protect their lake which they use for drinking water and economic activities.

The untreated household wastes that mostly channeled directly into the lake and streams are
considered as the main pollution problem to the lake. For those reason, in 1996, the
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Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Public Works build a wastewater treatment
plant in Parapat-Ajibata town - the most inhabited towns in Lake Toba region with the
investment of 3.2 million USD. Unfortunately, this treatment plant has never been actually used
due to lack of social marketing of the facility. Until the year of 2001, only fourteen households
and two hotels hooked-up, whilst the facility was built with the capacity of 1,600 household
connections. The other environmental threats of Lake Toba includes aquaculture,
hydropower, industrial water supply, polluted run off, point source pollution, toxics and
watershed

This report describes the activities, results and lessons learned of a pilot program to
demonstrate ways of developing and implementing a community-based watershed action
plan. As an on the ground project that was carried out at the local level, this project is heavily
community-centered. Nevertheless, the government from the district up to the provincial
level gave a great deal of support for the success of this project. The other technical support
came from the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program in Indonesia and the Hanns Seidel
Foundation (HSF).

The project history
In 2001, LakeNet partnered with the LTHF to implement a pilot project on community-based
watershed management program for Lake Toba. The one-year demonstration program was
conducted as part of a six-year old sister lakes exchange partnership with Lake Champlain in
the U.S. The Lake Toba-Lake Champlain Sister Lakes Partnership began in 1996 with an
exchange visit to Indonesia by the coordinator of the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP)
at the invitation of the Lake Toba Heritage Foundation (LTHF). The exchange program was
coordinated by LakeNet, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving lakes
throughout the world.

Vermont Agency for Natural Resources (VTANR), in collaboration with LakeNet applied for
and was awarded a second grant in the amount of $40,000 through a special CSG/US-AEP
initiative to help bridge several exchange programs into an implementation phase. With this
bridge funding, project partners conducted a pilot program to demonstrate ways of
developing and implementing a community-based watershed action plan.

The project activities as implemented
Based-on the objectives of the project, on-the ground activities that have been designed
and implemented include:

Selection and training of environmental cadre
In early 2001, LakeNet Indonesia staff selected and trained ten environmental cadres within
Lake Toba watershed communities to serve as local leaders on environmental initiatives
related to Lake Toba. Many of the cadres have demonstrated their ability to help implement
and sustain activities begun during this project.

In-country study tour for environmental cadre
An effective transfer of knowledge for the environmental cadres through a two weeks in-
country study tour to East and Central Java to observe and to study community mobilization
efforts and commitment-building in constructing, financing, managing and maintaining low
cost community-based sewer systems, the new low-cost composting technique in Malang,
and the harvesting & utilization of water hyacinths in Cirebon and Yogyakarta.

Clean lake activities
Completion of clean lake activities along 5 km of the lakes shoreline in five communities.
More than 770 people participated in these activities, some of which involved strenuous labor
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and difficult working conditions.

Training in environmental education & awareness for teachers
LakeNet Indonesia and LTHF staff and the local cadres put on a three day training workshop
in Parapat in environmental education and awareness for elementary school teachers from
six regencies in the Lake Toba area using a specifically developed hands-on learning Water
Module.

Community meetings and action plans
The environmental cadres coordinated meetings involving 188 community members. The
purpose of these meetings was to engage local residents in identifying and discussing
environmental problems and concerns of Lake Toba and to formulate action plans to solve
the problems.

Awareness Campaign
LakeNet Indonesia and LTHF staff and the local cadres prepared, printed and distributed
25,000 copies of an information brochure in Indonesian language to promote environmental
awareness. The brochures were distributed to boat operators, and in community meetings,
the utility bill office, churches, mosques, grocery stores, kiosks, and other public buildings.

The result of implemented actions
The project was implemented efficiently, and it greatly exceeded expectations in terms of
the results and accomplishments. The most important results of the project include:

The clean lake activities by volunteers, which included the removal by hand of large
patches of water hyacinths, opened up landing areas for local fishing and ferry boats that
had been inaccessible for almost three years, at the same time they reduced invasive plant
populations.
The study tour and on-the-job training (through participation in community meetings, clean
lake activities, teachers training and brochure distribution) resulted in the effective in-
country transfer of knowledge to the environmental cadres. Many of the cadres have
demonstrated their ability to help implement and sustain activities begun during this
project.
Teachers and representatives of three universities in the Lake Toba region gained important
environmental knowledge and educational materials.
Detailed resource inventory maps and action plans were completed in five communities
using a participatory approach.
New issues of concern on Lake Toba were identified for the first time, such as the increase in
the number of fish farms on the lake and their potential impact on water quality.
Citizens and the community as a whole gained awareness by participating in community
meetings and clean lake activities.
Boat operators gained awareness of their role in environmental stewardship of Lake Toba as
a result of meetings held with this important stakeholder group.
Local partners learned the benefits of involving people and working with the community in
planning and implementation activities.
Long-term, if fully implemented, the project can be expected to have social, economic
and environmental impacts as improved sewage systems, invasive species reductions, trash
reduction and improved local capacity will improve Lake Toba and community health, as
well as facilitating poverty alleviation.
Publication of results on the Lake Toba Online website and through LakeNets electronic
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forum of more than 900 members on lakes around the world.

Stakeholder participation
The most effective programs are those which involve citizens and other stakeholders from the
very beginning. The contribution of stakeholders involved in implementing and designing the
action are:

Grassroots
A total of almost 1,000 community members were involved in the clean lake and community
meetings. Participants included boat operators, farmers, fishermen, small traders, vendors,
housewives, and hotel owners. The ten environmental cadres were chosen from grassroots
participants and were central to all activities. Women were specifically targeted to involve in
the community meetings. The fact that 33% of the participants were women is a significant
achievement due to the very paternalistic local culture. The women proved to be very active
and outspoken in the community discussion and made real contributions to the local action
plans. Many community members made in-kind contributions to the clean lake activities. For
example, one dedicated and innovative community member in East Java spent 2 days of his
time to explain and show his effort in mobilizing the community to build a low-cost sewage
treatment plant and composting techniques and practices.

Government Officials
Government officials from the local Police and Sub-District (Kecamatan) Office were involved
in the clean lake activities. The Mayor of the City of Malang and his staff provided all of the
facilities needed during the study tour of the environmental cadres from Lake Toba. The
Governor of North Sumatra gave his support to the environmental cadres before they
departed for the study tour.

NGOs
The program was led by LakeNets Indonesia Country Director and the local staff of the LTHF
in connection with local NGOs and community groups and other NGOs in the province and
in Indonesia. The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) provided the trainers and the environmental
education training materials for 41 schoolteachers.

Researchers
Three researchers who were involved in formulating an environmental education book for the
elementary school children trained the teachers from the 6 regions of Lake Toba. Local
universities surrounding Lake Toba sent their representatives to the 3 days teachers workshop.

Background
Lake Toba is located at the center of a topographic elliptic culmination some 300 km long, as
seen in the contour lines between 1001,000 m in the topographic map of North Sumatra. This
culmination is called the Batak Tumor that runs parallel to Sumatra Island and the Lake Toba is
located at its very center. This 300 km long Batak Tumor is dissected a little west of its center
by the 1,625 long Sumatra Fault that run from the Sunda Strait to Banda Aceh. The origin of
Lake Toba was first explained as a volcano-tectonic depression (Bemmelen 1949) and later
explained as the result of a series of caldera formations combined with faulting (Nishimura,
1984 and Hehanussa, 2000). The lake water body is 1,129 km
2
in area, Samosir islands in the
lake has a land area of 647 km
2
and a smaller Pardapur island is 7 km
2
. The lake length is 87
km, its circumference measures 294 km.
The total lake basin area measures 1,783 km
2
, which is surrounded by precipitous cliffs with
elevations ranging between 400 to 1200 m above the lake water. The latitude and longitude
of the lake water area range between E 98
o
30'; S 3
o
05' and E 99
o
20'; S 2
o
40'. The surface
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water temperature range between 24.0 to 27.6
o
C. The surrounding catchment area draining
into the lake is 2,445 km
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so that the total lake catchment area measures 4,228 km
2
(this unit
differs from previous reports that mention an area of 3,440 km
2
, which was because the area
of Samosir Island and other smaller islands were not included in the unit area).
Many small to medium rivers from the mountainous area flow into the lake, most of them with
a catchment area of less than 100 km
2
. One single large river, the Asahan River, drain the
lake water to the Strait of Malaka in the east. The lake water is located at about 904.5 meters
above sea level. A maximum depth measured by cable method by Stehn in 1939 reported a
maximum depth of 529 meters, while recent measurements with echo sounder method
recorded a maximum water depth of 505 meter (Hehanussa and Takara 2003). This 24 meters
discrepancy in water depth could be due to deposition of sediments between 1939 and 2003
but may be better described originating in the different measurement method. During this
last (2003) measurement it was observed that many parts of the lake bottom shows a broad
and flat bottom, relative deeper in the north while shallower in the south. The annual lake
water level fluctuation is 1.5 meter although a lake level drop of 2.5 m due to extensive
hydropower production was reported in the late 1980s. The discharge from Lake Toba
through the Asahan River was measured up to 102 m
3
/second.
Evaporation is a critical factor in water balance calculations of a lake; they were measured in
three stations, Palipi, Gurgur Balige, and Pulau Tao (Anonym, 1990). Measurements in Pulau
Tao show average evaporation that varies between 3.5-5.5 mm/day. Evaporation
measurements in Haranggaol were lower because of the wind runs, temperature and
humidity are different then pulau Tao.

Biophysical Features
Biophysical features of the lake and its drainage basin includes:
Biological features
Flora
Emerged macrophytes: Nelumbo nucifera, Nymphaea sp.
Floating macrophytes: Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor, Azolla pinnata,
Spirodella polyrhiza
Submerged macrophytes: Patamogeton malaianus, P.polygonifolius, Myriophyllum
spicatum, Ceratophyllum demersum, Hydrilla verticillata, Chara sp.
Phytoplankton: Amphora, Cocconema, Asterionella, Synedra, Gomphonema,
Orthosira, Navicula, Mastogloia, Pleurosigma, Nitzschia, Genicularia, Botryococcus,
Synechococcus, Anabaena, Oscillaoria
Fauna
Zooplankton: Cyclops, Cladocera
Benthos: Macrobrachium sintangensis, Brotia costula, Thiara scabra,
Melanoidestuberculata, Melanoides granifera, Anentome helena, Lymnaea
brevispira, L.rubiginoca, Physastra sumatrana, Corbicula tobae
Fish: Tilapia mossambica, Aplocheilus pachax, Lebistes recticulatus, Osphronemus
goramy, Trichogaster trichopterus, Channa striata, C.gachua, Clarius batrachus,
C.nieuhoffi, C.sp., Nemachilus fasciatus, Cyprinus carpio, Puntius javanicus,
P.binotatus, Osteochilus nasselti, Lissochilus sp., Labeobarbus sora, Rasbora sp.

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Biomass
Table 1: Submerged macrophytes [g (wet.wt.)/m
2
]
Station Potamogeton
sp.
Myriophylum
spicatum
Others Total
Lotung 2,470 130 < 25 2,600
Onan Runggu 2,800 150 0 2,950
Parbaloan Urat 1,833 310 520 2,663
Tongging 1,947 157 < 25 2,104
Lumban Sitorus 150 1,640 0 1,750
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Hydro-meteorological features of the lake and its drainage basin
Table 2: Climate data at Balige
Mean Temp.
(
o
C )
Precipitation
( mm )
January 19.1 174
February 20.1 167
March 20.9 187
April 20.5 193
May 21.0 133
June 20.7 104
July 21.2 71
August 21.0 116
September 21.0 132
October 20.4 215
November 20.5 188
December 20.2 199
Annual 20.6 1,879
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after Nontji, 1990

Solar radiation: 15.7 MJ m
2
/day
The pattern of wind speed and direction varies, in January to April the wind speed can reach
4m/s, in June 8.8 m/s, and in October 7.1 m/s. If strong wind blows in June to October, big
waves as high as 1.8 m may be induced.
Surface water temperature are: Haranggaol: 27
o
C; Tigaras: 27; Tomok: 26; Simanindo: 27;
Pangururan: 27; Nainggolan: 27; Parapat: 27; Porsea: 26
o
C.
Measurements for pH & COD (in mg/L) at seven stations along the coast of Lake Toba are: in
Lotung: 8.4 & 6.7; Situmeang: 7.9 & 6.8; Bukit: 8.4 & 9.3; Tongging I: 7.0 & 6.3; Tongging II: 7.9
& 7.0; Onan Runggu: 7.6 & 7.0; Parapat: 8.2 & 8.0.

Geo-physical features of the lake and its drainage basin

The geology of Lake Toba is a challenging topic to study. The formation of this lake is the
result of a mega-volcanic-activity during the Quaternary era or the last two and a half million
years of the earth's geological history. From a very broad analysis, this phenomenon was the
result of two major plates collision beginning during the Eosen era or 65 million years ago, i.e.
the Indian Ocean or the Australian plates in the southwest and the Asian Plate located in the
northeast. This plate collision produced a long subduction zone that was accompanied by a
volcanic chain along Sumatra-Jawa-Nusa Tenggara up to the Moluccas islands. In Sumatra it
resulted in a large and long transform fault, the Sumatra Fault Zone (SFZ) which is over 1700
km long, exposed from the Bay of Lampung in the south to the Aceh region in the northern
end of Sumatra Island. Lake Toba is located not at the SFZ but some 20 km kilometer north-
east of this fault, while the Batang Toru and Renun Rivers are located and flowing along the
fault.
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A wide range of reports on Lake Toba are in fields of geological, limnological, hydrological,
climatological, biological, botany, fisheries, forestry, history and culture, as well as specific
technical reports related to lake water exploitation. Scientific meetings and workshops
related to the hydrology, geology, water resources, sustainable exploitation, fisheries,
industrial development, sustainable resource management, extreme lake water level drop,
and anthropogenic changes has been performed. Due to the large area and diverse
problems, only a very few reports provide a total overview of the lake problems.
There are reports produced by universities in Medan and the lake surrounding area, reports
by departments from the central government, annual reports from local offices or Dinas or
sub-departments, workshops and seminars reports by the non-governmental institutions, and
report from meetings held by non-government-organizations. In the early 1990's geothermal
energy exploration has been executed and reported geothermal fields to the north and
south of the lake catchment. There are international reports as result of international
cooperation, a/o. between LIPI and Kyoto University, and between local NGO's and Monitor
International.
A series of technical reports and books by the Asahan Authority has been produced. This was
related to the planning, construction, production, and conservation of hydro-electricity for
the aluminum smelter plant located in Kuala Tanjung in the east coast of Sumatra. Two
hydro-plants each in Sigura-gura and another in Tangga plant produced a total 403 MW of
power which in the 1980's was sufficient for the region. But lately, vast industrial and urban
developments turn out an increasing need for more power supply that is now supplied by a
natural gas power station in the Belawan area.
Two major explanation of the lake geohistory or its origin was explained as (a) the product of
one single gigantic explosion or (b) product of multiple events. Each of these two hypotheses
was again divided or has branches of its explanation. There were lively debates on the
geological timing of the event, whether they occurred recently (less than 75,000 years ago)
or were it the result of a series of geological up-doming, blasting, faulting, sedimentation, and
up-wrapping which took place since 2 million years ago.
Lake Toba was lately been reported as the largest caldera lake in the world. This conclusion
was based on a report by van Bemmelen who stated the lake as a volcano-tectonic de-
pression. Figure 2 below shows the hypothetical diagram by van Bemmelen, 1949. According
to the hypothesis by van Bemmelen, the lake history started with the formation of a Batak
Tumor with an oval shaped, 275 km by 150 km region, located between the present Wampu
River in the north and the Barumun River in the south. The up doming produced a region with
elevations up to 2,000 m shown by top of mountains such as Mt. Sibuatan (2,457 m) in the NW,
Mt. Pangulubao (2,151 m) in the east, and Mt. Surungan (2,173 m) in the SE, and Mt. Uludarat
(2,157 m) in the west.
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Figure 2: The Hypothetical Diagram by Van Bemmelen, 1949
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Another explanation that used a single mega-explosion origin of Lake Toba was in a report by
Ninkovich, 1975. Radiometric dating by K-Ar method of rock samples collected from the
Asahan River valley combined with the fact that distribution of tuff (fine volcanic product that
was air distributed) found in the Malaysia peninsula and in cores from deep sea drilling
(project) in the Indian Ocean south of Ceylon, brought to the conclusion that the lake was
formed 75,000 years ago by one big-bang or one single large explosion.
In 1976 Tjia published his analyses of a rock sample taken in Tuktuk Siadong, in Samosir Island.
Tjia reported and age of 1.9 million years that was accepted as the lower part of this volcanic
complex. The rock sample shows a dense texture of welded tuff rock specimen i.e. an
ignimbrite was interpreted as the result of welding of hot volcanic products that has flowed
as a 'nuee ardante' or hot cloud. This dense rock was the product of internal welding
occurring in the hot tephra or volcanic products where heat was trapped during sedimenta-
tion and cause welding of the tuff material which was deposited not far from the explosion
vent or fissure.
During late 1960's to the 1980's there were series of international joint research in the SE Asia
region. In north Sumatra region, from the Indian Ocean or sea-ward side, studies along the
Nias Island was done by Indonesia and the Scripps Institution while on-land studies in the
central part of Sumatra Island by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Kyoto University.
These studies have produced major scientific findings and contributed to the development of
the hypothesis on global plate tectonics. The on land study produced reports on gravity
surveys, paleo-magnetism, radiometric dating-fission track and chronology, as well as tephra-
stratigraphic studies.
Combined with previous scientific studies by Marel 1947, Tjia 1976, Karig 1978, Hamilton 1978,
we came to the conclusion that the formation of Lake Toba was not a single event but a
combination of complex of events. It was the product of a series of events occurring east of
the Sumatra Fault. Other similar results were also encountered in study sites in the Lampung
area and Maninjau. These series of events occurred are closely related to the deep seated
occurrence of the Sumatra Fault starting two million years ago. The up doming, caldera
formations, lake formation, lake sediments rich in diatomaceous sediments as well as clastics
from fault scarps, are the product of these series of events and will be shortly discussed in the
next chapter.
The geology of the Toba and surrounding area may first be divided into the Quaternary and
Pre-Quaternary rocks. These Pre-Quaternary rocks are considered as the basement rock of
the Toba Tuffs. They consist of metamorphosed limestone, shist and phylites of Carbon to Jura
Age; a granite batholite of Carbon Age; and conglomerate, sandstone, and claystone of
Tertiary age. These rocks are distributed at the higher mountainous areas of the surrounding
Toba area and on steep slopes of the lake rim they crop-out in the eastern, southern, and
western part of the lake. They are well exposed along the easy access by road in
Sibagading, in Sipiso-piso, and in the Panguruan area. These rocks of Pre-Quaternary age are
exposed at the faulted escarpments of the lake rim.
These Quaternary rocks have been previously described in most geological publications and
maps by one single term, the Toba Tuffs. The Japan-Indonesia joint field works and surveys
during the 1970's to 1980's revealed detailed data that came to a better volcano-
stratigraphic subdivision of the rock units. The volcano-stratigraphy of the so called Toba Tuffs
has been divided into detailed subdivisions as the:
(1) Post-Toba rocks and sediments
(2) Toba consist of: {2a} Younger Toba Tuffs
{2b} Older Toba Tuffs
(3) Pre-Toba sequences

These 'Toba Tuffs' deposits were produced in different geological times and from different
parts of the lake. To draw maps and set up stratigrahic column of these deposits, some of
them are airborne deposits, are not always possible through the 'normal' geological methods.
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Many of these deposits are local in origin and their lateral distribution are selected or
restricted by the paleo-morphology of the area.
Toba Deposits are so called, because their occurrence was during or after the formation of
proto-toba lake. They consist of the older and the younger toba tuffs (2a and 2b). The Older
Toba Tuffs consist of the Sigura-gura Formation and Lower Haranggaol Formation. These rock
units were deposited during 1.3 to 0.8 million years ago. They consist of hard welded tuffs dark
gray in color. Field visits shows that their distribution were along the old Asahan valley and in
the Haranggaol area. In the Asahan valley their thickness may reach a hundred meters in
the deep paleo-valey but their lateral distribution is limited. This unit could be observed along
the winding road between Simorea, Paritohan, ex-Sigura-gura waterfall, and ex-Tangga
waterfall.
Older-Toba Tuffs are the base of these volcanic sequences, they overlay the basement rocks.
The age was measured at 2 to 1.9 million years old. This Tuk-tuk Dacite consist of a lower part,
100-150 m of very densely welded tuffs that cropped out in Tuk-tuk Siadong, Samosir Island.
The middle part which is 100-300 m thick is welded and shows little remains of flow structures.
The upper part has the lowest welding structures, some are rather loose and still contain pu-
mice blocks, and they are about 50 m thick. These sequences may be found at the steep
escarpments of the Samosir Island, near Parapat city at the Sibilating escarpment and the
road to the Partaking Cottage, and the best and continuous sequences are along the
winding road between Pangururan and Tele at the eastern rim of Lake Toba.
The Younger Toba Tuffs (2b) consist of the Upper Haranggaol Formation, Samosir Formation,
Parapat Formation, and Porsea Formation. They range in age between 0.6 and 0.1 million
years. There seems to be no distinct physical break between the deposition of Lower and
Upper Haranggaol Formation. The Samosir Formation are rock units consisting of clastics
overlain by diatomaceous sediments, some are exposed at Samosir Island. Porsea formation
consists of clastic in the lower part and diatomaceous deposits above.
The Post Toba rocks and sediments consist of the younger andesitic/ basaltic volcanic
products formed during the late stage of a ring fault or the lake formation. They were formed
during the last 30,000 years in the northern and western ring faults in the rim of the lake. They
were also the result of erosion and sedimentation processes during this last geologic event.

Environmental and Natural Resources

Human activities around Lake Toba are intensive with: (1) land use for rural and urban areas,
(2) agricultural, (3) tourism, (4) industrial, (5) fisheries, and (6) as educational centers. Parts of
the higher lake rim area consist of forest land with pines trees and shrubs. The western far end
of the lake catchment toward the Renun River consist of (7) tropical rainforest which presently
are partly being exploited for its wood/logging. Fisheries in the lake water and rivers was
formerly on (8) traditional local fish (ikan Toba) which was three decades ago invaded by
alien-species (gurame) and lately again invaded by other fish species in fish cages breeding
(ikan nila) in the lake. A (9) pulp factory and a (10) drinking water bottling industry has
developed in the southern end of the lake.

Infrastructure and industries were developed during the last four decades in surrounding Toba
area. Along the Asahan River were build three dams, one regulating dam and two power
generating plants with construction started in 1978 and completed in 1981. The first
commercial electric production was in 1982 used for the Tanjung Balai aluminum smelter
plant that can produce 225,000 tons of aluminum annually. The energy hunger aluminum
plant consumed the firm output of 403 MW of electricity produced by the two hydropower
plants along the Asahan River. A pulp factory was build a decade ago at the mouth of
Asahan River west of Porsea and bottled drinking water plant was reported in the Balige
area. Agricultural activities produced fruit and vegetables for Medan area and export to
Malaysia and Singapore, pineapple and tea plantations, markisa plants, and onion grows
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well on the slopes surrounding the lake. A relative smaller in scale activities are cattle and
poultry. Flowers are grown in the high elevation areas in the northern part of the lake.

Table 3: Land use in the catchment area (1981)
Natural
Landscape
Area (km
2
) ( % )
Grass (alang-alang) 955.00 40.6
Scrub 59.24 2.5
Forest 159.66 6.8
Reforestation 388.70 16.6
Regreening 228.28 9.7
Agriculture land 512.08 21.8
Plantation 20.88 0.9
Others 23.56 1.1
Total 2347.50 100.0
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Main type of woody vegetation: Tropical high mountain forest, Pines merkusii forest,
Macadamia hilbrandii forest
Main type of herbaceous vegetation: Imperata cylindrica with Rhodomyrtus tomentos,
Melastoma sp., and Gleichenia linearis
Main kind of crops: rice, sweet potato, maize, vegetables
Level of fertilizer application on crop fields: moderate

Political and Socio-economic Features

The establishment of Regional Autonomy Act has some impacts on the political, social and
economic condition to the local governments, including the Lake Toba region. Through
regional autonomy, six districts in Lake Toba region have a larger authority in the
management of their area, including in preserving the Lake Toba region. Other than that,
local governments also have a better chance to work directly with the international
agencies.

The jurisdictional features

Based on Act No. 22 year 1999 on Regional Autonomy, the Province is responsible to
coordinate certain issues involving two district or more. In this case, the management of Lake
Toba involves 6 Districts: Toba Samosir; North Tapanuli, Simalungun; Karo, Dairi and Humbang
Hasundutan. Lake Toba has also indirect influences on two other Districts, namely Asahan
and Tanjung Balai which are located at the down stream of Asahan River.

Administratively, by far the largest part of the Lake Toba water catchment area (87%) is
situated in the North Tapanuli District (Kabupaten, or District), with the balance divided
among the regencies of Simalungun (8.4%), Karo (2%) and Dairi (2.5%). Naturally the North
Tapanuli District also houses the largest part (81%) of the total 517,050 inhabitants of the Lake
Toba water catchment. The same district has also the highest population density, with 185
people per sq km, followed by Simalungun (l4l people per sq km), Dairi (93 people per sq km)
and Karo (57 people per sq km).

The political significance and implications through its history

Lake Toba region has been proposed by UNESCO to be designated as a Biosphere Reserves,
focused on three main activities: conservation of bio-diversity; economic and social
development; and preservation of associated cultural values. With the biosphere reserves
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status it was expected that Lake Toba will receive international attention and invite
international participation in its development and preservation.

According to the Act No.24, 1992 about the Spatial Planning, the Biosphere Reserves is
identical with Special Region, a region with prioritized spatial planning. Designation of a
region as a Special Region needs a Presidential Decree. Two aspects that have to be
considered if Lake Toba region will be designated as a Special Region through Presidential
Decree are:

- The spirit of the Law No 22 of the year 1998 should be obviously reflected with the
emphasize on community empowerment in the development process and preservation
of Lake Toba region.
- The availability of adequate instruments for the implementation of the Presidential
Decree.

The last aspect become very important to be considered in designating Lake Toba as
Special Region in view of the fact that in Indonesia the implementation of a policy with or
without juridical status are very weak. This situation could make the policy in designating Lake
Toba as special region turn out to be meaningless. Some examples of the weak policy
implementation in Lake Toba region are:

- In 1990, the provincial government of North Sumatra issued the regulation of the
management of Lake Toba region which prohibited the building construction within
tens of meters from the shoreline. This regulation have never been implemented, it was
loyally stayed in the librarys bookshelf for long time.
- The government had issued Presidential Decree No 96 of the year 1998 concerning the
prohibition of foreign investment for aquaculture in inland waters. Obviously, most of the
cage aquaculture in Lake Toba is owned by foreign investors.

The past social and economic development history and trends

Lake Toba is the major ecosystems of North Sumatra, a priority region for development
planning in Indonesia. The primary economic sector (64%) in Lake Toba region is agriculture,
mostly rice field as rice is the staple food in the region. Forest and plantation (cocoa, coffee,
and tea) are other main natural resources that have been contribute to the economy of the
region beside tourism due to the beauty of the lake and culture that surround it. The blend
between scenic beauty of the region with its ecological significance on the one hand and
the fact that the area is the site of the original Batak culture on the other is an eco-cultural
tourism attraction worth further development in the future.

In the period of 1996-1997, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia has been
increased significantly, from 596 million to 613 million people. Along with the economic crisis
that hit Indonesia in 1998, the number of the incoming tourists to Indonesia has been
declined, including to Lake Toba region. The number of incoming foreign tourists to Indonesia
is still far below its number to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, even though Indonesia has
larger tourist area and attractions. The tourism potential in Indonesia has not been optimally
managed.

The economic potential of the region first became significantly obvious in 1982 with the
construction and operation of PT. Inalums aluminum plant. The plant required large amount
of electrical energy, which is obtained very economically by PLTA Asahan (hydro-electric
power generation) through utilizing the potential energy of the lake water resulting from the
height differential between Lake Toba and the foothill region. Since 1985, PT. Inalum spends
2.6 million US dollars for the use of Lake Toba conservation programs. This Inalums annual fee
was provided as a contribution for the Lake Toba preservation since they have used the Lake
Toba water to support the operation of the aluminum factory. The fund has been prioritized to
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be used for the management of critical land in the Lake Toba watershed, Asahan River and
the District of Tanjung Balai.

The forestry potential was also developed since 1985 with the presence of Indorayons pulp
mill and rayon plant, using, as raw material, wood from the forests in five kabupatens
(districts): Dairi, Karo, Simalungun, North Tapanuli and South Tapanuli. The operation of
Indorayon was based-on the Joint Decree signed by the Research Minister and
Environmental Minister to give the green light for the plants construction and operation in
1986. Indorayon has produced 1.8 million tons of pulp within ten years, during the period of
1988 to 1998. Whereas from 1993 to 1998 it has produced 0.25 tons of rayon fiber as the raw
material for textiles. These productions were estimated to have consumed around 10 million
cubic meters of wood. Indorayon has offered 1% of their net income or about 6.6 billion
rupiahs to the Toba Samosir District to be used for the environmental management.

Institutional and Managerial Features

Preservation of the Lake Toba region as the natural resources that has the values, function,
and benefits for its inhabitants depend on who and how the lake is managed. Until now, Lake
Toba region has no management committee that is administered in a conceptual,
professional, systematic, and integrated way, taking into consideration that this lake covers
the area of six different local governments.

The political, legal and institutional frameworks

The concept of management committee for Lake Toba has been proposed by various
stakeholders, from government, private sector, NGOs up to the community which aimed to
the optimal development and preservation of Lake Toba. It has never been materialized, due
to different perceptions and interests among the stakeholders. The formation of the
management committee for Lake Toba is vital for the coordination of the stakeholders.

The absence of the management committee led to the absence of the agreed vision on the
preservation efforts of Lake Toba region. All efforts or activities were partially conducted by
government, NGOs, private sector and community groups. As the result, the impact of these
efforts is too small to be recognized. More than that, the character of the program that tend
to be a crash program shows the lack of planning and sustainable implementation of the
program.

Nevertheless, the absence of the Lake Toba management committee not becomes a
constraint for the cooperation between some active NGOs with various international
organizations such as:
- Based on collaborative work carried out by UNESCO with the Lake Toba Heritage
Foundation during 1996 and 1997, three field projects were launched in the Lake Toba
area from 1998 into 1999 that focused on communication and education to build local
capacities for community-based conservation/alternative income generation.
- Lake Toba has joined LakeNet, where numbers of large lakes allover the world is
interconnected for the integrated sustainable lake management.
- Cooperation with Hanns Seidel Foundation for the capacity building in the Lake Toba
region through practical environmental education for the youths and elementary
school children.
Due to the lack of the management committee, all of those cooperation efforts were not
adequately disseminated, the progress of the efforts were hardly recognized, especially by
the government agencies and other organizations.

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The level of institutional development and managerial capacity

The official institutions that are supposed to be responsible for the preservation of the Lake
Toba region despite the issues of formatting a management committee are the provincial
government of North Sumatra and the local governments of the six Districts in Lake Toba
region, in this case the Bapedalda of North Sumatra (Provincial Environmental Impact
Management Agency) and the Bapedalda of the six Districts. Up till now, Bapedaldas
activities still focused on the study of the environmental condition of the Lake Toba region
whilst to coordinate the preservation efforts moreover to initialized the partnership with other
organizations have not been performed yet.

The level of interest group and community awareness and involvement

Environmental problems are the problems of all components of the stakeholders.
Cooperation at the local level between the communities, NGOs and other environmentalists
has to be supported with community empowerment as the foundation of the preservation
efforts in Lake Toba region. A number of problems have been encountered in increasing the
involvement of the community and the available NGOs such as:
- The community groups and NGOs as mostly the case in Indonesia tend to work partially
or fragmentatively without having basic or general strategy relevant to the problems
they try to handle.
- Lack of the community awareness in Lake Toba region about their environmental
problems, while the outside world are more concern and active in campaigning the
preservation of Lake Toba
- Low level of the social and economic condition of the community resulted in the
insensitivity to the environmental problems.
- Environmental education has not been incorporated in the local substance of the
elementary school curriculum in Lake Toba region.
- The proper participatory method has not been widely implemented in facilitating the
community to work together with the local governments and other institutions towards a
dialogic system, a harmony between the bottom-up and top-down approach.

Nevertheless, there are numbers of successful implementation of community programs at the
local level, supported by local government, the national and international NGOs also
international agencies such as UNESCO. The pilot project of the community-based watershed
management that was conducted by LakeNet in association with LTHF is one example. The
other examples that could be recognized are:

The cooperation between the Bappeda (Planning Board) of the North Tapanuli District with
HSF in reforestration of critical land with the planting of coffee and cinnamon tree in the area
of 9 hectares in Palipi village; the use of water hyacinth for cattle food (pigs) and composting
in Pangururan village, Samosir island; and solid waste management of Muara town in the
southern part of Lake Toba. All of those activities involve the local community and has been
contribute to the improvement of communitys income.

In the last recent years, UNESCO have supported three local NGOs in Lake Toba region, i.e.
YAPIDI (the Pijer Podi Foundation), YES (the Sumatra Eco-tourism Foundation), and GKPS (the
Simalungun Protestant Church Organization). YAPIDI work on Human resources participatory
development in Sikodon-kodon and Tongging villages project, which focused on micro
credit, organic farming, tree planting and training for women groups. This NGO prepared to
get involved in the development of community radio under UNESCO communication project
in Indonesia. YES proceeded with its activity in improving the economics through
conservation of critical land in Paropo village, a town in the northern part of the lake
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shoreline that was also included in the LakeNets watershed management pilot project. GKPS
made a good progress in its Environmental preservation in Nagori Sihalpe village. The
success of the villages tree planting won the first award in the Simalugun Districts
Environment Day and received a badge of appreciation from the President of Indonesia.
Success is also on organic farming, cage fishing and waste management in the villages.

There are certainly some more activities at the grassroots level in Lake Toba region that has
been implemented by other NGOs or community groups. Unfortunately, there is no record on
the numbers of active NGOs in Lake Toba region moreover an adequate documentation or
reporting system of their programs as a reference. For those reason, in early 2000, UNESCO
sponsored a national workshop on Strengthening communication and local capacities for
community-based participatory environmental management of Lake Toba in Samosir Island.
This workshop was administered by LTHF, 20 out of 70 participants are representative of local
NGOs. The rest were representative of universities, LIPI (Indonesian Research Institute), local
government agencies, press and international agencies i.e. UNDP and UNESCO.

The final report from this workshop included a comprehensive directory of local NGOs that will
be further updated in an UNESCO Lake Toba Handbook for sustainable natural resource
management.

Biophysical Environment

The changes in Lake Toba region such as the reduction of the water level and pollution of the
lake affected not only the social and economic situation of the region, also affected the
biophysical environment.

Past and Current Conditions
Currently only 70 out of 202 rivers that discharge into Lake Toba flow all the year round.
According to historical data studies by Sastromijoyo, 1990, the discharge from Lake Toba
have shown a decrease during three phases:
Period 1920-1932, average inflow discharge to Lake Toba was 110.4 m
3
/s
Period 1957 - 1975 average inflow discharge to Lake Toba was 104.4 m
3
/s
Period 1976 - 1988, average inflow discharge to Lake Toba was 90 m
3
/s
Water level of Lake Toba between 1984 and 1987 suffers a continuous decline in water level
of 2.5 m. The outflow from the lake is used for power electric generation which provides sole
supply to an aluminum smelter.
The rainfall data are too poor a quality to show whether there has been any significant
change, but indications are that a decline of the order of 10% may well have occurred.
(Anonym, 1990). Other factors such as land use change may have contributed to the
change.
The first topographic map of the lake region was measured in 1887 by F. van Brenner and van
Mechel. In 1909 and 1913 the Porsea and Siruar region was washed by severe floods. These
events were followed in 1915 by the blasting of Batu Bongbong near Siruar that have
obstructed the Asahan river flow. In 1918 it was first planned by the Dienst voor Waterkracht
en Electriciteit to construct a hydropower plant in the Asahan River. After several failed work
plans, in 1978 physical work started for building the Sigura-gura underground power plant
followed in 1979 for Siruar regulating dam located upstream. The work concluded at end of
1982 by the operation of Tangga hydropower plant which is located downstream of Sigura-
gura on the 1st of January 1983.

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In December 1957 the lake water level stood at 905.61 m. In December 1987 it was at 903.65
and in 1990 mi was 902.70 m. Because of this continuous lake level decline the Asahan
Authority reduced water flow to the hydropower from 102 to 82 m
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/s. This decrease
consequently have an effect to the aluminum smelter production lines in Kuala Tanjung, an
investment of 2 billion USD, from 225,000 to 185,000 ton/y. The cause of this water level
decline is unknown whether it is geologic of origin, climatic change, or increasing
evaporation due to land use changes.
Pollution from domestic waste has affected the water quality of the lake. In the 1970s there
were no signs of water hyacinths on the lake but since 1990s they were observed in the
Parapat area. Secchi disk reading of the water column in the center of the lake in 2001 was
11 m while in the Bay of Parapat near the Ajibata harbor it was less than 2.8 meters. Fish
cage culture started to develop since mid 1990 and has contributed to the pollution of the
lake water. Now, in the year 2003, north of the Bay of Sigapiton, in Tomok, Simanindo, and
Pangururan at Samosir Island, and in Haranggaol there were extensive fish cage culture
developments.
At the mouth of Asahan River a pulp and paper factory was build in south Toba area, at a
location between Porsea and Siruar regulating dam. Rejection by local population because
of the smell produced by the factory have temporary closed the plant. The plant was
temporary shut down and is now reducing its total activity to only producing pulp with a
promise to provide better waste water treatment plant.

Lake and drainage basin resource conflict
Introduction of alien fish species. Local government/farmers have introduced fish of alien
species that will infiltrate (swim) into the whole lake area. These alien species have to
adapt to their new ecosystem. Adapt might also mean will dominate the ecosystem. The
other problems came from the cage aquaculture. The fish food poured into the lake adds up
the water pollution problems. The cage aquaculture owned by foreign investors such as from
Sweden is estimated to reach 150,000 units. There is no data on the community own cage
aquaculture.
The construction of a hydropower plant. The construction of the hydropower plant south of
Silalahi at the west coast of Lake Toba took water from Renun River that flows some 13 km
west of the lake. This is an example of interbasin water transport that has not been sufficiently
explored on its Physico-bio-chemical effects. It will transport a minimum of 7 m
3
/s water that
fall from the lake rim down some 300 m to produce 90 MW of electricity and add additional
water to the lake.
The construction of pulp and rayon industry, Indorayon. A pulp and rayon industry was
constructed in Porsea village of Toba Samosir District with the investment of 40 million US
dollars. The Indorayon plant required 400,000 cubic meters of water per day for processing,
which was taken from the Asahan River. The used water was returned to the Asahan River,
undoubtedly mixed with various toxic materials derived from the processing chemicals and
substance originated from the wood, as well as substance produced from the reaction of
both sources of chemicals. Of particular concern are toxic substances of the AOX category
(Adsorbable Organic Halides), such as dioxin, pentachlorophenol and trichlorophenol. These
are the sources of substances in the liquid effluent.
2

Apart from the above toxic substances, during the processing of pulp, rayon, and the
production of process chemicals, various gases and vapors were released into the air, the
majority of which were toxic and foul-smelling. Although at that time the most objectionable
effect felt by the community was the odor, over the long term, the toxic effect is the most

2
The impacts of PT. Inti Indorayon Utamas Operations on the Environment of Lake Toba, LTHF, 2000, page 6
17
alarming. The majority of gasses released from the pulping process is collectively known as
Non Condensable Gasses (NCG), especially H
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2S and MMC (Methylmercaptan).

However, from the beginning, the presence of Indorayon was felt to bring negative impacts
on the natural surrounding and the human population, in the form of damage to the
ecosystem of Lake Toba region and sufferings to the community living in the area. These
impacts have, of late, become more oppressive, which must be monitored and managed in
an integrated and professional manner in order to alleviate human sufferings and preserve
the environment of Lake Toba region.

Management Environment

The preservation of Lake Toba is closely related to the other aspects, including the peoples
behavior and the local culture. In ecology, which meant the rules in a household is not only
consists of the house itself, but the people who live in the house and their activities are also
included. The meaning of ecology has to be thoroughly understood by the businesses,
beaurocrats and the lakes community. A numbers of factors that led to environmental
degradation of Lake Toba region are:
The spatial planning of Lake Toba region has not been adequately addressed.
Imbalance outflow of water, due to the total volume of water that has been use for
Asahan hydropower is far beyond the water inflow to the lake and the obstructed
hydrological cycle due to the deforestration.
An environmentally friendly effort in increasing the productivity of land has not been
implemented yet.
Lack of a thorough understanding about the local socio-cultural characteristics that led
to the pollution of the lake due to the waste disposal both from the household and
industries; the use of chemical fertilizer; and the cage aquaculture.
The fast growing water hyacinth.

Lake Management Programs and Processes

The local regulation about the Management of Lake Toba region has been issued by the
Provincial Government of North Sumatra in 1990. However, the spatial planning of Lake Toba
region has never been developed. The preservation efforts were implemented independently
by the government, NGOs, private sectors and community groups. Some of the preservation
program that has been done in Lake Toba region is among others:
The plan to create the Lake Toba management committee as a vehicle to develop a
vision which then elaborated in the spatial planning of Lake Toba region agreed by all
of the stakeholders.
The water quality of Lake Toba has been deteriorated during the last decade; therefore
re-forestration has been selected as the priority. The reforestration program covers 50%
of the total area of Lake Toba region.
Promote the organic farming system to discourage the use of chemical fertilizer.
Increase the awareness and community involvement in the preservation of Lake Toba.
Management of the household and industrial wastes.

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The physical development in Lake Toba region has created some negative impacts for the
environment. The negative impact that could be easily detected is the degraded water
quality due to the wastes generated from the developed area that were channeled directly
into the lake.

Parapat-Ajibata wastewater treatment plant. Parapat is one and the busiest tourist center in
Lake Toba region. The tourist area of Parapat located on the shores of Lake Toba has an area
of 140 hectares. The planned residents total 16,000 not including the tourists themselves
increases the problems of sewage from households and businesses. Almost all of the
untreated household waste disposed directly into the lake. The quality of water has been
reduced to the point that it is necessary to institute immediate steps to solve the problem with
the construction of a waste water treatment plant. In 1994, water quality in the surrounding
rivers exceed a level of pollution with a measured amount of 28 mg/l BOD (5 mg/l is
considered good) and is estimated to increase 1.5 times by the year 2010. The level of
pollution in the lake along the shore is 6.9 mg/l to 52.2 mg/l BOD and is estimated to increase
1.5 times by 2010.

The development of the sewerage system was started from the dense population around the
lake, the area of hotels and restaurants by using a conventional sewerage system. The
wastewater from households, hotels and restaurants channeled to a main wastewater pipe.
From the pipe it is then processed and put into the aeration ponds. Construction of the
Parapat-Ajibata wastewater treatment plant began in the month of October 1994 when
funds from an OECF sector loan in the amount of 7.3 billion rupiahs equal to 3.2 million US$
was available. Most of the constructed 1.5 km main and secondary sewer pipes located at
the Parapat sub-district of Simalungun Regency while the 2,010 m
3
capacity of sewage
treatment plant with aerated lagoon system located at Ajibata sub-district of North Tapanuli
Regency. This facility is equipped with pump lifts at three sites each with a capacity of 60-
l/second and 5.3-m head, and with a pressure pump in one site with a capacity of 60
l/second and 41.94 m head.

The Parapat-Ajibata treatment plant was constructed with the capacity to serve 17,400
people with an addition of about 4,500 tourists per day in the high season. Due to the lack of
the social marketing of the facility, only 2 hotels and 14 households were connected. Lakes
pollution due to the untreated domestic wastes is households and community issues, and,
thus requires recognition of specific situational social and cultural factors.

There is no data on the investment for the reduction of lake stresses that were channeled
through the NGOs working in Lake Toba region. Nevertheless, the fund from various sources
for all of the program implementation in Lake Toba under the sister lakes partnership between
Lake Toba and Lake Champlain, including the program implementation at the grassroots
level that has been invested is 129,000 US dollars.

Environmental Status
The water quality in Lake Toba during the last few years has been obviously deteriorated. The
oil content of the lake water reached the level of 7.5-35 mg/l. biologically, the lake water
pollution obviously indicated by the evidence of pathogen bacteria such as faecal coliform
of 1,000 mpn/100ml and total coliform of 20,000 mpn/100 ml of water.
3
The Parapat-Ajibata
wastewater treatment plant seems to be a wasted investment, unless a pro-active social
marketing of the facility were implemented. Maintaining a clean environment is one aspect
of the Lake Toba watershed management program which is highly related to the behavior of

3
Parlagutan Siahaan, Pesan danau Toba (Message from Lake Toba bulletin), September 1999, page 8
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the people in the surrounding communities. The way the community treats its environment
depends on its level of understanding and knowledge.

Enabling Environment
The visions of the Lake Toba preservation that were agreed by all stakeholders become a
critical point that has to be solved. With this vision there are a number of expected
advantages for the preservation of Lake Toba, i.e.:
The efficiency of allocated resources for the preservation efforts of Lake Toba region
The impact of existing efforts on the preservation of Lake Toba could be easily
recognized by the community
Law enforcement is expected to be improved as it is supported by all stakeholders

In order to formulate a decent spatial planning of Lake Toba region which based-on the
agreed vision, there are needs to conduct some research and obtain the complete an
accurate data. The availability of adequate and reliable data is very important for the holistic
approach of the preservation of Lake Toba that led to the success with significant impacts for
all of the stakeholders.

The increase in awareness and community involvement are not limited only on the
implementation stage but has to include the preparation and design of the programs. With a
dialogues approach that combines the bottom-up and top-down approach in the program
preparation, it is expected to increase the community commitment in the preservation of
Lake Toba. The cooperation with international organizations has to benefit all sides involved in
the program, mainly the community. Therefore, there will be more effective result of the
cooperation.

From the institutional aspect, the Presidential Decree about the Management of Lake Toba
Region was almost signed on March 15, 1999 when the President planned to visit Lake Toba
to launch the tree planting program. The concept of the Presidential Decree was drafted by
the Department of Tourism, Art and Culture. The socialization of the draft Presidential Decree
to the related stakeholders raised different perceptions amongst them and led to a
disagreement which became the reason for it to not being signed by the President. The main
discrepancies in the perception towards the concept of the Presidential Decree were among
others:
The Lake Toba region will never be designated as conservation area where the Batak
people could not do anything in their own land. However, some parts of the Lake Toba
region such as the steeply sloping riverbank or mountain side which are critical to
landslide have to be protected.
The Lake Toba region do not refuse the existence of industries, on the contrary it invites
them for the shake of the regions prosperity. Only industries with negative impact to the
environment that will be rejected.
The planned Lake Toba Management Body (LTMB) is not an authority or the like; but
an institution responsible for coordinating the planned programs; implementation of the
preservation program; harmonious development of Lake Toba region; and serves the
respective five regencies by providing high level human resources also in-country and
international networking capacity.
LTMB is supposed not become a new beaurocracy in Lake Toba region, it has to be an
institution that encourage the local community participation even international
community to dedicate their maximum efforts to Lake Toba through information,
coordinative support and real case.
LTMB is not a new superior of the respective five Bupati (Head of the Regency) or an
institution that takes over the authority of the local government, but a partner that is
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able to assist in integrating the use of various natural resources.
LTMB do not have the intention to designate Lake Toba region as the Worlds Heritage
site since its create more disadvantage than the advantages. The more suitable status
for Lake Toba region is as a Biosphere Reserves.
LTMB will not only be partnered with the government, but with all of the stakeholders:
governments, NGOs, local organizations, traditional society, industries, universities, press,
churches, international agencies, investors and individuals.

The accountability and transparency in financial management in the preservation of Lake
Toba region is a must. The experience in the past where the financial aid of 50 billion rupiahs
or about 5.8 million US Dollars per year (current exchange rate of Rp.8,500 per USD) from PT.
Inalum that was intended to be used for the preservation of Lake Toba has gone with the
wind. Since 1982, the Inalum Company has the obligation to the Department of Finance to
pay an annual fee of 5.8 million USD, based-on its production and the price of aluminum at
international market. The use of this financial aid was unclear.

Despite the pro and cons about the Lake Toba management committee that never been
materialized, the Governor of North Sumatra, in 2002, has established the Coordinating Board
for Lake Toba Ecosystem Preservation. The structure of the Board is based on ex-officio
representation i.e.: chairman (Governor of North Sumatra); vice-chairman (vice Governor of
North Sumatra); secretary (Head of Provincial Environmental Impact Management Agency);
vice-secretary (Head of Provincial Planning Board); and members (representatives of the 8
Districts, representatives of LTHF and representatives other NGOs)

The Coordinating Board has the following functions of coordinating the environmental control
of the Lake Toba ecosystem; monitoring the environmental impacts of the Lake Toba
ecosystem; coordinating the environmental quality recovery in all Districts surrounding Lake
Toba; and mobilizing peoples participation for the conservation of Lake Toba ecosystem.

Under the board, the governor also established a Technical Advisory Committee, consists of:
Head of Provincial Environmental Impact Management Agency as the chairman; Head of
Provincial Planning Board as the vice chairman; Deputy Head of Provincial Environmental
Impact Management Agency as secretary; and the relevant provincial Technical Agencies
and Bureaus also the Asahan Aluminum Authority as members.

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Figure 3:
Organization Structure of Coordinating Board
for Lake Toba Ecosystem Preservation
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Figure 4:
Technical Advisory Committee
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Key Lessons Learned

If environmental policies are to make an impact at the community level, it makes sense to
conduct research at the community level and to involve the community as the major
stakeholder to the possible extend.

During the past three decades, the government of Indonesia has used centralized, top-down
approach in many development sectors, resulted in lots of abandoned infrastructures and
facilities with large investment. The political changes in 1998 have created a bigger
autonomy for the provincial and the local governments and so opened a wider chance for
community direct involvement in development activities.

Community-based activities with profound participatory approach such as this one hopefully
could bring into the policy development process the voices of usually excluded principal
stakeholder group the community. From the experiences of this project, policy makers can
draw insight what works and why, and use that knowledge to create strategies to bridge the
gap between national policy and local practice.

From the experience of applying a community-based approach to manage a large lake
watershed in a developing country, a number of key lessons have emerged both on the
successes and failures, led to a more interesting learning of what might we have done
differently with hindsight. The project partners believe that the experience and knowledge
gained from this project has important implications for the future of Lake Toba as well as other
projects in Indonesia and beyond.

Sustainability

Changing attitudes and behaviors, involving citizens and stakeholders, raising awareness
about environmental issues and reaching consensus in a community on a vision and action
plan are all aspects of successful watershed management that take time and require and
ongoing effort. A community-based approach offers the most promising strategy for
sustainable watershed management of Lake Toba. Whether planning a wastewater
treatment facility, solving water supply problems, implementing measures to improve water
quality or trying to change personal hygiene behaviors, the most effective programs are
those which involve citizens and stakeholders from the very beginning and are relatively
simple and low-cost to implement.

The main obstacle to project sustainability is the security of funding, both to implement the
water action plans that have been formulated by the communities, and to replicate the
activities in other area of the region. The program is highly replicable, and the methodology is
already being applied in eight other lake regions throughout the world through a LakeNet
technical assistance and exchange program. This community-based program provides an
outstanding example of moving from vision to action as described in the Framework for
Action.

Partnership, participation and stimulating ownership

The involvement of environmental stakeholders at all levels is indispensable, one of them
being the grassroots community. The Lake Toba watershed management is impossible
without the involvement of the communities living in it.

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The adoption of participatory approaches into the development projects in Indonesia has
been increasing over the past several years. Field observations have convinced many,
including development practitioners, that the participation of the client community in the
decision-making process greatly influences the implementation and sustainability of the
project. The participatory approach is an effort to solve common problems through building
and use of community knowledge upon matters related to the problem. The dynamic,
demand-based and change-oriented participatory approach improves care and capability
of the community by giving them skills to analyze and solve their own problems. The
participatory data and information collection and inventory process by the community
stimulates the sense of belongings and involvement in the implementation of the plan they
themselves developed.

However, the community alone could not solve all of the environmental problems since many
parties from the government, businesses, industrialists, researchers, environmentalist even
politicians has their own interest in Lake Toba region, there should be a willingness to
communicate to each other and work hand-in-hand in saving this worlds treasure.

Community motivator

Community members are the best influencers and communicators for change. People are
more easily convinced by their neighbors experiences and tend to trust those they live with
rather than outsiders. When a new facility such as the community-based wastewater
treatment plant is introduced, its pros and cons must be fully understood before it gets
accepted. Explanation by outsiders may serve to inform people, but they trust and accept
the information to be true only when a relative, neighbor or a local leader checks it out and
confirm it.

Many of the ten environmental cadres who were selected from the local respective
community included in the project have demonstrated their ability to help implement
activities begun during this project. However, the sustainability of their willingness to be the
community motivator after the project is over could not be guaranteed as it is a very high
dedicated work. A more thorough selection process of the environmental cadres as the
indigenous potential change agents is needed. At least three months or more is necessary to
devote to the exploration of the dedicated, committed and trust worthy indigenous potential
change agents. A scheme of small incentives is important to support the environmental
cadres for the time and energy they devote to promoting environmental awareness and
initiatives.

Resource availability

There is a considerable resource, initiative and understanding of Lake Toba environmental
problems amongst professionals, at all levels: national, provincial and district. Appropriate
processes and opportunities are required, for this resource to be tapped and its potential
realized. Many researches have been done, which unfortunately have not been widely
disseminated moreover understood by the community as the principal stakeholders. They
need to be translated into a more communicable and understandable language for the
community.

Recommended initiatives

Implementation of the community action plan
The community action plans that have been prepared by the community need to be
implemented. The real participatory process in preparing the community action plan is the
seed of sustainability that need to be maintained. The unmet expectation of the community
that usually happened in the past has to be avoided. If the community is successful in
implementing their action plan with a little financial and technical support from outside it will
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become a very good real example that could trigger other community to replicate the
process.

Continuation of environmental education training

Behavior change does not happen until people realize or experience the benefit resulting
from the change. Behavior can be said to have changed only when newer behavior
patterns replace older one consistently and are sustained thereafter. Measuring the change
of behavior as a result of environmental education of schoolchildren would certainly take a
very long time, but the results can be far more effective and sustainable.

Training for the elementary school teachers on the practical environmental education (PLH)
have to be continued and expanded to cover more teachers and community leaders in
Lake Toba region. The implementation of environmental education is a very appropriate
means for raising awareness at the elementary school level because the subject is filled with
social, cultural and ethical norms that are most likely learned in the structured environment
found in schools. PLH is urgently needed to help students develop an attitude of caring for
the environment and avoiding behaviors that hurt the environment in their early years. PLH
can also help students begin to realize that they themselves are an inseparable part of the
environment and to feel a sense of stewardship and moral commitment to environmental
conservation.

Environmental education at the elementary school level is not an independent subject at the
current time. It is generally taught as part of other subjects such as social science, natural
science and family welfare. As a result, environmental awareness tends to be low among
school-age children. At the later stage, mainstreaming the PLH into the local curriculum of
environmental education would be a great advantage for the health of Lake Toba.

Support the LTHFs Clean Lake Activities on an ongoing basis

Global Environment Facility invested $750,000 in the control of water hyacinths on Lake
Victoria with limited results to show for it. In this project, clean lake activities in five key
shoreline areas cost less than $2,000 and yielded tremendous results, both in terms of
improvements in the environment and a heightened awareness in the communities. The
main difference between the approaches on these two lakes was the application of a hand-
pulling technique on Lake Toba versus mechanical and other techniques on Lake Victoria
where the problem is said to be much more severe. Even so, a simple, community-based
approach works in the case of water hyacinths on Lake Toba.

Create the Lake Toba Science & Education Center

Declining environmental quality, including water quality degradation due to untreated
wastewater entering the lake, is evident in the region. A better informed and more involved
citizenry and improved cooperation among the numerous public and private stakeholders in
the region are key to successful implementation of conservation and sustainable
development initiatives. Creating a center which can serve as a clearinghouse of information
and place for learning about Lake Toba will be an important step toward addressing these
needs for the region.

Establish a research and monitoring program for Lake Toba

Until today there is no research and systematic monitoring program has been established on
Lake Toba. Several research studies have documented some of the basic characteristics of
the lake and watershed, but these have been exclusively reconnaissance surveys. Along with
the development of educational programs for the Center, a plan should be developed for a
research and monitoring program that would be conducted at the center and through
partner institutions.
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Study the impacts of commercial fish farming on water quality in the lake

From several community meetings that have been held, community members especially the
boat owners and drivers questioned the existence of karamba (basket put in the lake for
raising fish) in 5 locations of Simalungun and Toba Samosir Regency. They estimated that
about 10 tons of fish food per day is poured into the lake and protested that all of their
cleanliness efforts would be meaningless.

Obviously, cage aquaculture in Lake Toba during the last couple years continues to expand
and intensify, most of them are owned by foreign investors. From the economic stand point
especially under the recent economic crisis in Indonesia it is often viewed as desirable as it
can generate employment, income and food, support for other activities also increase the
local government income. On the other hand, cage aquaculture has its disadvantages too.
Wastes from cages are freely released into the environment, potentially interacting with the
entire water body. Intensive cage culture, when unregulated, can cause severe
environmental problems. Cage farms in lakes and reservoirs are thus vulnerable, both to
general pollution and to self-inflicted water quality-related problems, not to mention the
social conflict due to social inequity. A detail study of the impacts of the existing cage farms
on water quality in the lake is needed.

Formation of Lake Toba authority

One purpose of doing this pilot project was to demonstrate community-based watershed
management with the assumption that an agency would be in place to support the
implementation of action plans and apply the techniques within other communities. The
formation of this agency has to be initiated and based-on the agreement reached by all
stakeholders. Neutrality has to be the spirit of this agency; therefore it should not belong to
the government. It should has the ability to establish partnerships at all levels, from
community organizations to central government bodies, leading financing agencies and
international agencies; and strong ability to comprehend and deal with diversity. It should
also have the ability to influence policies and major investment projects through persuasion
and demonstration rather than taking over. To be respected by all stakeholders it should has
honesty, transparency and fairness in dealing with all partners.

The Coordinating Board for Lake Toba Ecosystem Preservation has been established by the
Governor of North Sumatra. Almost all of the members are government officials, therefore
does not represent all sides of the stakeholders of the Lake Toba region. The most important
starting point for the preservation of Lake Toba region is the existence of the same vision
among the involved stakeholders. Without an agreed vision, there will be no direction in the
preservation of Lake Toba. A vision that accommodates the conservation of bio-diversity, the
ecologically economic and social development for the welfare of the people and
maintenance of associated cultural values.

References

Anonym, 1989, Danau Toba (Lake Toba), Data Book of World Lake Environments, Survey of
the State of World Lakes, edited by Lake Biwa Research Instituite and
International Lake Environment Committee, Otsu, Japan.
Anonym, 1990, A Study of the Decline in Water Level of Lake Toba, Indonesia, a report
prepared by the Overseas Development Admonistration, UK for BPPT Teknologi,
Jakarta
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Propinsi Sumatera Utara, Direktorat Binlak Wilayah Barat, Direktorat Jenderal Cipta
Karya, Departemen Pekerjaan Umum
Bemmelen, R.W. van, 1949, The Geology of Indonesia, Vol. 1a., 732 p., Governmental Printing
Office, the Hague, Netherlands.
Borre, Lisa, 2000, Feasibility Study for the Lake Toba Science and Education Center, for the
Lake Toba Heritage Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia
Deepa Narayan, 1996, Toward Participatory Research, World Bank Technical Paper number
307, the World Bank, Washington DC, USA
Deepa Narayan, 1995, The Contribution of Peoples Participation, Evidence from 121 Rural
Water Supply Projects, the World Bank, Washington DC, USA
Hehanussa, P.E., 1981, Sejarah Geologi Tufa Toba, dalam Seminar Bendungan Asahan,
Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan.
----- , 2000, Lake Toba, a Multiple Caldera Depression, North Sumatera, Indonesia, in
Report of the Suwa Hydrobiological Station , p.3-8, Shinshu University, Japan.
Hehanussa, P.E. and Takara, Karuo, 2003, New Findings of a Step-Like Flat Lake Bottom, Lake
Toba-Indonesia, presented at the 10
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UNEP, Chicago, USA, 22 - 27 June 2003
Haryatiningsih, 1999, Wastewater Management in Lake Toba: Social Marketing of the Existing
Wastewater Treatment Plant and Community-based Sewer System, Project Report
for Stone Environmental Inc., Vermont, USA
Karig, D.E., Suparka, G.M. Moore, Hehanussa, P.E., 1979, Structure and Cenozoic Evolution of
the Sunda Arc in North Suamtera Region, Geol. and Geoph. Inv.of Cont. AAPG,
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Operation on the Environment of Lake Toba, Lake Toba Heritage Foundation,
Jakarta, Indonesia.
Nishimura, S., Abe, E., Nishida, J., Yokoyama, T., Dharma, A., Hehanussa, P.E., Hehuwat, Fred,
1984, Gravity and Volcanostratigraphic Interpretation of Lake Toba Region, North
Sumatera, Indonesia, p.253-272, Tectonophysics, Elsevier Science Publ.,
Amsterdam.
Nontji, Anugerah, 1990, Review of the Limnology of Lake Toba, International Conference on
Lake Toba, 1990, Jakarta.
Nilanjana Mukherjee, Christine van Wijk, Sustainability Planning and Monitoring in Community
Water Supply and Sanitation. (2000), the World Bank
Sean Foley, Anton Soedjarwo, Richard Pollard, 2000, Of the people, by the people, for the
people, Community-Based Sewer Systems in Malang, Indonesia, World Bank
Water and Sanitation Program, Jakarta, Indonesia
Sastromijoyo, Suryatin, 1990, Some Hydrological Aspects of Lake Toba, Inst. of Hyd. Eng. Dept.
of Public Works, Bandung.
Sinamo, Jansen H, Dairi, 2000, the Hidden Prosperity
Tjia, H.D. and Kusnaeny, K., 1976, An Early Quaternary Age of an Ignimbrite Layer, Lake Toba,
Sumatera, Sains Malaysiana, 5, p.67-70, Kuala Lumpur.
Yokoyama, T. and Hehanussa, P.E., 1981, The Age of Old Toba Tuffs and Some Problems on
the Geohistory of Lake Toba, Sumatera, Indonesia, in Paleolimnology of Lake
Biwa, Japan Pleitocene, Vol.9 p.177-186, Kyoto.
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Web addresses:
www.gefweb.org
www.hsfindo.org
www.kompas.com
www.menlh.go.id
www.unesco.or.id
www.worldlakes.org

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