NTB's Small Islands Face Chronic High Tide Impacts Amid 'Living With the Sea' Culture

A visit to Medang Island, a small island in Sumbawa Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Indonesia, is met with the pungent aroma of dried shark meat. Beneath the stilts of residents' homes, remnants of past high tides (banjir rob) still pool, creating an unpleasant smell. However, for the residents, this scene is not unusual. It is so commonplace that they do not consider high tides as disasters. This is attributed to their identity as the Bajo people, known as the 'sea nomads,' who live in close proximity to the ocean. Consequently, they tend to build their houses closer to the sea, while the rest of the island is utilized for farming. Administratively, Medang Island is divided into two villages: Bajo Medang Village on the eastern side, dominated by the Bajo community, and Bugis Medang Village on the western side, with a majority of Bugis residents. In Bugis Medang Village, houses line the village road, while in Bajo Medang Village, houses are concentrated on the southeastern coast, with some built over the water. 'This is how we Bajo people live. It's normal for the sea level to rise, the only disturbance is when seawater enters the wells,' Jufrin, the head of Bajo Medang Village, told Mongabay. On this island, which takes two hours by wooden boat from the main island of Sumbawa, not all houses are made of wood. Some are permanent structures, and their building materials, including coral stones for foundations, are sourced from the sea. 'We collect dead coral,' the village head added. Being located on a small island, isolated from the mainland, the cost of living here is relatively high due to the island's limited carrying capacity.