Jakarta , Oct 27, 2021 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has set an ambitious target
of restoring 600 thousand hectares of mangrove forests across the
country by 2024.
The world’s largest archipelagic country sees the preservation of
mangrove forests as crucial because of their role in providing habitats
for aquatic and terrestrial fauna and flora, protection from strong
winds and waves, soil stabilization and erosion prevention, nutrient
retention and water quality improvement through filtration of sediments
and pollutants, flood mitigation, sequestration of carbon dioxide, and
protection of associated marine ecosystems.
As high carbon storage ecosystems, mangrove and peatland ecosystems play
a strategic role as nature-based solutions for climate change
mitigation and adaptation. Peatlands and mangroves store up to 2 to 10
times more carbon than forests.
Given the significant role of mangrove and peatland ecosystems, the
government has recently converted the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG)
into Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM).
Mangroves, however, have been disappearing more quickly than inland
tropical rainforests, particularly due to clear-cutting for shrimp
farms.
The loss of mangroves has led to a decline in fisheries, degradation of
clean water supply, salinization of coastal soils, erosion and land
subsidence, as well as an increase in gas emissions, among other things.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), while visiting Tana Tidung district,
North Kalimantan province, on October 19, 2021 had revealed that the
country’s existing mangrove forests covered a total area of 3.6 million
hectares.
Rehabilitation efforts are being undertaken to protect coastal areas
from sea waves, seawater intrusion, and preserve the habitat of species,
including birds, fishes, crabs, monkeys, and other flora and fauna,
living in and around the mangrove forests, according to him.
Accompanied by several foreign ambassadors, Widodo planted mangrove
trees in North Kalimantan as part of the mangrove restoration program.
The program’s funds were derived from various sources, including state
and regional budgets, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of
private and state-owned companies, and the community in general, he
noted.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Preserving Indonesia's mangroves to nurture blue carbon potential by Fardah
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Preserving Indonesia's mangroves crucial for climate change mitigation by Fardah
Based on data recorded in 2011, about three million hectares of mangrove
forests can be found along 95 thousand kilometers of Indonesia’s
coastal areas, constituting 23 percent of the world’s mangrove
ecosystem. Papua, Kalimantan, and Sumatra Islands are considered the
most crucial regional mangrove ecosystems.
This year’s ambitious mangrove rehabilitation program, which will be
carried out particularly in critical and tsunami-prone areas, was
announced by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister,
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, during a recent coordination meeting held to
discuss the accelerated program.
The online meeting was attended by Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Wahyu
Trenggono, representatives from the Home Affairs Ministry and the
National Development Planning Ministry/Bappenas, and head representative
of the World Bank for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Satu Kahkonen.
About 84 percent of the funding for the 2021 mangrove rehabilitation
program will be sourced from the State Budget (APBN), including from the
Additional Assistance Budget (ABT), through the National Economic
Recovery Program (PEN), while the remaining 16 percent will be derived
from non-APBN sources.
Pandjaitan has urged local governments across the country to support the mangrove rehabilitation program.
"We urge the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate, so that the
provinces and districts will also help maintain the mangroves, and they
will also reap the fruits of this program, as it creates jobs," he
remarked.
The minister also discussed the carbon credit potential that could be
optimized through the program. To this end, the Ministry of Environment
and Forestry will identify suitable locations to serve as pilot projects
for carbon trading, and regulations are also being prepared to regulate
carbon trading activities, he said.
Meanwhile, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Nurbaya has
emphasized the importance of the public gaining a comprehensive
understanding of the program that has drawn international attention
owing to its effect on the climate change agenda.
"The good news is that climate change in Indonesia is considered to be
in the medium category. We have nearly become a role model country for
good (mitigation of) climate change," she affirmed.