Central Java DPRD Backs Mangrove Planting to Tackle Coastal Erosion in Demak

The pilot project was marked by the planting of mangroves by Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) and Governor Ahmad Luthfi. Those attending included Central Java Provincial DPRD Commission D Chair Nur Saadah, also known as Ida; Head of the Java North Coast Management Authority (BOPPJ) Didit Herdiawan; Demak Regent Eisti’anah; Kendal Regent Dyah Kartika Permanasari; Semarang Deputy Mayor Iswar Aminuddin; and members of the public, including students.

“Timbulsloko used to be a prosperous village. There were rice fields, dry fields and fish ponds. People earned money every day from prawns in the ponds, then harvested rice, chillies, maize and milkfish every four months. After coastal erosion struck, it was all destroyed,” Ida said in a written statement on Wednesday (21 October 2026).

Local resident Nadhiri said the village government had in fact prepared a relocation plan for residents. But economic circumstances led people to return to their former homes. Many residents were unable to find work or earn an income in the new location.

Despite enduring these conditions, the people of Timbulsloko have continued trying to adapt by making use of the natural environment around their homes.

“Residents who cut down one mangrove tree have to plant 10 new ones; when someone gets married, they plant 10 trees; and if livestock eat mangroves, the owner has to plant 10. This is still going on today,” Nadhiri explained.

Another resident, Masripah, told a similar story. Over the years she has had to raise the floors of her home several times to stop high tides from entering.

In response to residents’ concerns, the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development and the Java North Coast Management Authority (BOPPJ) have pledged to protect Java’s northern coast with a natural coastal barrier, using nature-based solutions that include mangrove planting, while awaiting the realisation of a giant sea wall.

The pilot project to protect the northern coast is designed to involve coastal communities.

“The President has instructed BOPPJ to optimise ecological protection and the development of community economies along the northern coast. One area to be managed is the Semarang Bay, Demak and Kendal region,” BOPPJ Head Didit Herdiawan said.

He said mangrove planting on the Sayung coast was not merely a greening project. It was an initial step towards developing a coastal-protection model that combines ecosystem recovery with community empowerment.

“Community involvement is definitely part of it. Partnership and community empowerment are indeed BOPPJ’s main objectives. In its broader concept, the giant sea wall is about community empowerment and involvement,” Didit said.

Governor Ahmad Luthfi said BOPPJ’s initiative was in line with the ‘Mageri Segoro’ programme, which has been implemented in various coastal areas of Central Java. Coastal protection, he said, could not rely solely on physical infrastructure.

Central Java has a coastline measuring 1,127.85 kilometres. Of this, about 651.47 kilometres lie along the northern coast, 343.50 kilometres along the southern coast and 132.88 kilometres in Karimunjawa.