Environment Minister Launches 'Kelana' Programme, Invites Youth to Tackle Eco-Anxiety
Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat has launched the Kenali Lingkungan Bareng Anak Muda or Kelana programme. This initiative aims to encourage the younger generation to engage directly in actions to save the Earth, particularly in preserving mangrove ecosystems.
The launch was accompanied by a screening of the documentary film titled ‘Menjaga Akar Negeri: Mangrove Indonesia untuk Dunia’ at Pos Bloc in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (13/5/2026). In his presentation, Jumhur stated that environmental issues are the only resolve capable of uniting various backgrounds across generations, ethnicities, and religions.
“I believe there is no single resolve that can unite across generations, religions, and ethnicities, except the resolve to collectively save the Earth,” said Jumhur.
Jumhur explained that the choice of the theme ‘guarding the roots of the nation’ in the documentary was not without reason. Mangroves, he said, are seen as a symbol of Indonesia’s resilience and play a vital role in protecting coastlines from abrasion while providing shelter for life.
“Mangroves are not just part of vegetation; they are a unique structure that grips mud amid tides, protects coastlines from abrasion, and provides protection for life beneath them,” Jumhur clarified.
“Indonesia possesses 3.45 million hectares of mangroves spread across 37 provinces, accounting for 23% of the world’s mangroves. This figure is an honour, but on the other hand, it becomes a moral responsibility to the world,” he continued.
Jumhur assessed that currently, the legal foundation and technical instruments for protecting coastal ecosystems have been strengthened through Government Regulation No. 27 of 2025 on the Protection and Management of Mangrove Ecosystems.
Additionally, through Ministerial Decree No. 3438 of 2025, the government has established the National Mangrove Map as a single reference data source. The Ministry of Environment is also finalising the National Plan for the Protection and Management of Mangrove Ecosystems (RPPEM).
“This is a major roadmap for the next 30 years in managing mangrove ecosystems nationally. These documents are technical instruments, but no matter how sophisticated the policies, they will never be sufficient without breath on the ground. That breath is the support from all of you, fathers, mothers, and siblings,” he added.
Regarding the Kelana programme, Jumhur wants to change the way environmental communication has been perceived as boring. Kelana is designed as a transformative learning medium for students and pupils through three pillars: direct field observation, listening to coastal community wisdom, and creating creative narrative solutions.
Jumhur then addressed the phenomenon of eco-anxiety or the collective unease among young people witnessing environmental degradation. He urged the youth not to be paralysed by this anxiety.
“I want to speak from heart to heart. Many of you are experiencing eco-anxiety, a sense of suffocation seeing nature’s degradation. I say, make that the starting point. We must move from the old view that sees nature as an object of exploitation to the awareness that nature is a subject with the right to endure,” he stated.
Therefore, Jumhur invited young people to become digital ambassadors who fill cyberspace with real solutions for environmental preservation.
“Be the frontline, be digital ambassadors who fill cyberspace not with complaints but with narratives of hope and real solutions,” Jumhur urged.
“Let us agree on one thing: we prepare regulations and resources, you bring innovation. We guard the policies, you guard the actions on the ground. Great change does not always start from giant policies we create; true change is born from small steps taken consistently in respective areas,” he added.