Half of mangrove forests are destroyed: Observers

JAKARTA (JP): Almost half of the country's mangrove forests have disappeared since 1982, causing land abrasion by the sea and threatening biota living in that environment, activists said on Tuesday.

In a discussion on mangrove forests, the program coordinator of the Indonesian Non-Governmental Organizations Network for Forest Conservation (Skephi) Ruddy Gustave said there are only 2.4 million hectare of mangrove forests left today from 4.25 million in 1982.

Mangrove forests function as natural sea barriers preventing land abrasion by the sea.

Observers reported in October that some isles in Mentawai Islands, 90 kilometers east of West Sumatra's capital Padang, had vanished due to erosion.

It happened after thousands of hectares of mangrove forests were damaged following rampant tourism construction projects and arbitrary slashes by locals for firewood.

Director General of Natural Protection and Conservation Harsono said that the destruction of the mangrove ecosystem was strongly related to, among others, "the uncontrolled clearing for shrimp and fish ponds."

Early this month, 85 percent of approximately 12,000 hectares of mangrove forests in Lampung were reported to have been severely damaged by locals who used the wood to build traditional hatcheries. They claimed the forests was nobody's land therefore they were free to exploit it.

Ruddy said that the government had allocated 800,000 hectares, mostly in mangrove forests, for the shrimp hatchery industry. He said about 390,000 hectares had been used for the purpose.

"We can be sure that next year we will see a further decrease in mangrove forests," Ruddy warned, learning that the number of big shrimp hatchery companies are increasing.

Harsono said that the country has already enacted Environment Law No. 23/1997 to protect the mangrove ecosystem. However, Skephi in its statement said that law enforcement remains unsatisfactory.(08)