Half of mangrove forests are destroyed: Observers

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)