Replanting the mangroves along Indonesia's coasts

Replanting the mangroves along Indonesia's coasts

Sukristijono Sukardjo, Jakarta

The long-neglected mangrove coastal areas of Indonesia are
once again in the news, although thankfully not because of any
natural disaster, but due to the announcement of plans to
redevelop a mangrove belt along the coast, especially in Aceh.

"Take a long look at the mangroves in Aceh, it may be the
last you may see," says an article: de vloedbosschen in Atjeh, in
the Dutch scientific journal, Tectona of 1923.

This is like a bad horror movie; the mangroves in Aceh face
almost certain doom. Today it has come true in Aceh in 2005.

The recommendation of the article in Tectona also states: "The
preservation of the existing mangrove swamps in Aceh and a
regulation to stop their exploitation is urgent."

Protecting this vast area from environmental destruction by
the planting of mangrove plants and/or other coastal flora (both
Calophyllum (mangrove) formation and Cemara, (Casuarina
equisetifolia) along the seafront had thus been mooted before."

The coastal area of Indonesia is approximately 108,000
kilometers long and covers almost 50 percent of the country's
total land mass. Indonesia stretches over 5,000 km from Sumatra
to New Guinea, its coastal zones are home to about 65 percent of
the total population of the country and provides the natural
resources base on which such a broad range of human activity
depends. It therefore is vulnerable.

The importance of protecting these areas with mangroves must
be firmly underscored. Moreover, this important fauna is the
nation's first line of defense in times of natural calamities, as
evidenced in Aceh, which this newspaper has made the point of
stressing so far to focus attention on this neglected resource
and the importance of its redevelopment.

The saddest part of the whole thing is that the coastal areas
of the country once boasted some of the densest and largest
mangrove forests in the world. Again, Aceh is in fact an example
of the brackish water ponds (tambak) development policy. The
question should be: Is it necessary and relevant to use mangrove
areas for tambak development?

Although the country still has the most mangrove stands, they
are very depleted at present, and suffer from environmental
neglect on a huge scale, having been sacrificed to the avarice of
man and poorly conceived economic policies. Look at the Mahakam
delta in East Kalimantan, the mangroves have been nearly wiped
out.

This is in contradiction to the spirit of both Agenda 21 and
the Rio de Janeiro Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of
June 1992.

Most recently, Aceh was decimated by a tsunami. Mangrove
reforestation has been touted as a possible preventative measure
against future tsunamis.

The denuding of the mangrove forests, which is mostly illegal,
has destroyed the natural habitat of marine life, important to
the fishing areas of Indonesia. Scientific reports say more than
450 varieties of commercially important fish species depend on
mangrove stands for their food sources, breeding, nurseries,
feeding, spawning grounds, as well as nesting sites for a variety
birds.

Inopportune construction of tracts of land reclaimed from the
sea and conversion for settlements etc. in Jakarta, for instance,
has led to the shifting of estuaries and greatly disturbed the
ecological balance -- driving many fish to extinction.
It is not only an environmental crime, but also a loss of social
ethics and morality. Now mostly choked, these reclaimed tracts
also aggravate seasonal flooding.

I do not want to see Jakarta end up like Aceh. With mangrove
swamps already reduced to less than half of their volume in a
period of only four decades, and the rest threatened by
increasing salinity and soil erosion, there is a crying need to
attend to this urgently.

A long-term plan of structural measures designed to contain
tidal surges and to protect life and property along the coast was
envisaged some years back but could not be implemented due to
resource constraints. Land reclamation schemes in the coastal
zones were once also a much-talked about idea, and recent reports
indicate this is part of an overall plan taken up by the
authorities in Jakarta.

In this regard, people should be made aware that reclaimed
land must be given over to mangrove afforestation for a period of
not less than 10 years before it can be used for purposes of
business and/or agriculture. The authorities must, therefore, be
on guard against encroachment for it will be this waiting period,
which will be the hardest for people starved of agricultural
land. However, if this waiting period is not observed, the whole
purpose will be lost.

Preservation of the mangrove coastal regions is essential for
economic development, for the inter-dependence with the uplands
and the marine life in the vicinity has long-term socio-economic
importance for the people. For Aceh, my concept will be the
"hinterland development-friendly mangrove belt".

This concept is an ecosystem approach as the primary framework
for action under the CBD convention (decision V/6) at the Fifth
Meeting in Nairobi 2000. The choice of mangrove trees (based on
aut-ecology) must also be given the concern and attention it
deserves to prevent more mistakes. Coconut and/or palm trees in
beach areas in the ecotone-mangrove belt in both swampy and muddy
areas, have always been excellent for use as wind-breakers in
storms.

If good sense prevails, the coastal zone can be successfully
transformed into the finest mangrove green belt we could wish
for, but care will have to be exercised to see that the growing
trees are properly protected from human predators lest the green
belt be decimated before it has a chance to grow.

Aceh, you are the excellent example for us to learn from.
Thanks must also go to the tsunami; because it removed our
blindness and now many people in Indonesia appreciate mangroves.
But will our government officials, lawmakers and development
planners listen to these voices speaking up for Indonesia's
diminishing mangroves?

The writer is a Professor of Mangrove Ecology at the Center
for Oceanographical Research and Development, Indonesian
Institute of Sciences. He can be reached at s_sukardjo@yahoo.com.