Dwindling mangrove forests

Dwindling mangrove forests

President Soeharto has warned that any further plans to
exploit our mangrove forests needs to be thoroughly considered
because many of our mangrove forests have already disappeared as
a result of uncontrolled development of coastal areas. The
President further called on the community and the government to
work together towards rehabilitating those damaged mangrove
forests as soon as possible.

The problem is indeed of real concern to us because it affects
many of our provinces. Of the 12.9 million hectares of mangrove
forests that existed a few decades ago only about 3.1 million
hectares are now left. Experts meanwhile say that mangrove
forests are of vital importance to coastal ecosystems. Apart from
constituting a valuable resource they also function to protect
the ecosystems that lie farther inland, for instance by
preventing abrasion of the coastlines. In addition they play an
important role as protected spawning and breeding grounds for
fish and shrimps.

More substantial efforts to protect our mangrove forests must
be made by local administrations in areas with coastal towns and
cities.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta