ION HTE RITIATI IIIAL H F E RE ]I O OO OE TRADIT ONAL CU TT: H :,TiT::::ffi::I; May29,2010 lclcn I U,lrdom for CharacterBuilding t ffi I f i, l r5I i f, @ OF LANGUAGES A N D A RTS LOCALWISDOM FOREARLYWARNINGSYSTEM ON THE ERUPTIONOF MOUNTMERAPIDISASTER Poerwanti Hadi Pratiwil Abstract Local wisdom about the volcano disaster preparednesshas been practrced from generation to generation by Kinahrejo community living on the slopes of Mount Merapi, Sleman, Yogyakarta.Some examplesof local knowledgepossessedamong other things, the ability to obserue,anticipatq adapt to, and communicateabout the symptoms that arise when Mount Merapi would erupt. Based on the examplesobtained, showing that most people develop a lot of practice and local wisdom about the eruption of Mount Merapi, preparedness,and this knowledgeacts save lives and reduceproperty loss. However,local wisdomis often underestimatedonly by externalparties, both nationallyand internationally, which tend to only pay attention to scientifrcknowledgefrom outside, Waythat can be doneso that local knowledgecan be effectivelyutilized to document the local wisdomis that a systematicbasis.Documentingsteps include: (1) Basicinformation gathering, (2) verificationof the strengthsand weaknesses,(3) review of the possibilityof its application in varrous contexts (physrcal, socral, cultural, and economic), and (4) classificationtechnologymay be appliedbasedon specificcriteria Keywords:Local Wisdom,Disasters,Mount Merapi A. Introduction Thesestudiesin the fieldof development showsthat the success and sustainability of development effortsat the communityleveldependson severalfactors.Thesefactors include:the existenceof culture,knowledgeand practicesof indigenouscommunities that can be harmonized with new ideasto createinnovation, Knowledge and practicesof indigenouscommunities not only contributeto the successof development efforts,but moreon the sustainability of theseeffortsin the longterm. In recentyears many peoplewere interestedto study the relationshipbetween localknowledge and naturaldisasters. Recentdiscussions in this regardfocuseson the potentialof localwisdomin improvingthe policiesof disasterrisk reductionthroughthe integrationof localwisdomin disastereducationand earlywarningsystems.In the realm of literatureon disasterrisk reduction,there are four basicargumentsthat supportthe importanceof localwisdom.First,variousspecificstrategiesand practicesof indigenous peoplescontainedin the localwisdom,whichhas provenvery valuablein dealingwith 1The lectureof Yogyakarta StateUniversity,Facultyof Socialand Economic Science, Departmentof Sociology of Education StudiesProgram. E-mailaddress:pratiwi65@qmail.com .HistoryEducation,