Amrit van der Lelij
YEP period 2017 - 2019, batch 11
Young Expert at Deltares - IndonesiaFirst position after YEP
Research Consultant at Deltares, Indonesia
YEP Role
SWF & IKI
The sustainable water fund (SWF) and International Climate Initiative (IKI) are two projects that are very closely related to one another. In a certain way, IKI is a follow up on SWF.
SWF is a large pilot study aimed at testing and refining a method to restore mangrove habitat using “building with nature” (BwN) techniques. The method is tested on the coast of Central Java, Semarang. People living on and near the coast have to deal with increased periods of inundation which also occur more frequently. The reason: coastal erosion and subsidence. As a solution, we proposed a BwN technique: The construction of semi permeable dams which attenuate waves which promotes the settlement of sediment. The construction is stepwise refined as we “learn by doing”.
IKI builds on the foundation laid out by SWF by constructing more of these dams throughout the project site. Coastal Communities are also engaged as their involvement in the project is critical to the success. The communities provide maintenance and are advised not to continue cutting down mangroves for firewood and aquaculture farms. The project offers them financial compensation.
For both these projects, Deltares conducts literature and field studies. Our roll as knowledge institute is to the processes that govern these eroding mangrove systems and how the dams can best be utilized.
NCICD
The National Capital Integrated Coastal Development Project (NCICD) aims to ensure the prevention of flooding in Jakarta. Just like Semarang (and many other cities on Java for that matter) Jakarta is also subsiding. However, unlike Semarang, this is a city with over 20 million people, with 4-5 million living close to the coast.
The main role of Deltares is to understand the hydrological system: The causes and effects of subsidence. Deltares identifies knowledge and data gaps, verifies quality of the data, transfers the knowledge to all parties involved and ensures they are well informed in order to facilitate decision making. My role here is to help set up a means of data sharing, i.e. data management system. I do this in close collaboration with the Indonesian knowledge institute PusAIR. They are in the lead, and we support them.
Click here for more information about my project.
Skills
- Developing plans for Intergrated coastal zone management
- Working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-ethnic teams
- Setting up and conducting in situ biological research
- Developing GIS-based maps and using Based software
- Developing scripts and algorithms using software language: python
- Working closely with experts on many different subjects related to integrated coastal zone management
- Working closely with software developers on subjects pertaining to data science, data analyses, and data dissemination
Nationality: Dutch
Education: Master Marine Biology
Experience before YEP
3 Year work experience at Detlares
1 year freelancer Marine Biologist
