Silvofishery benefits people and environment
Silvofishery benefits people and environment
By M. Khazali and Khotib
JAKARTA (JP): Almost all mangroves along the north coast of
Java have been cleared out and converted to shrimp ponds except a
few areas in which ponds are managed and owned by local people.
Usually, mangrove forests are damaged in the areas where
shrimp ponds belong to outside interests whose owners generally
live in cities. These owners usually do not care about the
adverse impact on the mangroves because it does not influence
them directly. They just want to generate as much money as fast
as possible. In such areas, local residents do not want to plant
and conserve mangrove trees because they do not benefit from them
directly.
Besides, local residents, who are usually fishermen, farmers
or unskilled workers, do not have access to the coastal area.
Silvofishery, which utilizes mangrove forests in saltwater
aquaculture and which has been existing for a long time in a few
areas in Java, is a way to save mangroves.
Originally, silvofishery was established by local people to
protect their ponds from erosion. It was then found that their
shrimp yields from their ponds increased. It was an accidental
discovery.
To make such a system work, first, local people must be given
a chance to possess and manage ponds, supported by government
policy. Furthermore, they must be encouraged to increase their
own knowledge and skills on mangrove functions and their
benefits, rehabilitation techniques, aquaculture management and
to study techniques at effective silvofishery sites.
Silvofishery can also become a sustainable resource of income
for local people. Based on research in 1995, local people who
possessed and managed ponds using silvofishery generated larger
incomes than those who lived in aquaculture areas belonging to
outsiders, or those who worked as fishermen, farmers, or
unskilled laborers.
The research indicates that silvofishery can save mangrove
forests as well as enhance the welfare of local people living in
coastal areas. In short, silvofishery can become an important
component in solving the poverty problem in coastal areas.
Essentially there are two silvofishery systems in Java --
government-managed and locally-managed.
In government-managed silvofishery areas, mangrove trees
usually cover 80 percent of the area and the other 20 percent
consists of ponds for aquaculture. Mangrove trees are planted in
the middle of the ponds. The government allows local people in
the surrounding areas to raise shrimp or fish as long as they
responsibly protect the mangrove trees.
In silvofishery areas managed by local people, there is no
definite ratio between mangrove trees and the pond areas. A green
belt of between 100 meters and 200 meters is usually developed.
Ponds are placed behind the green belt and mangrove trees planted
in the ponds. Canals with a width of one or two meters are
created for water circulation.
There are two key technical questions related to the
silvofishery system managed by local people.
First, the minimum area for a green belt which could
potentially save the surrounding environment from erosion and the
intrusion by sea fauna habitat must be determined. Second, the
ratio between the mangrove area and the pond area that yields the
maximum advantage for local people must also be decided.
The second question is very significant, and community
involvement is key to the establishment of local strategies in
silvofishery. If local people cannot generate a significant
income from the fishery, it is difficult to make the silvofishery
system work.
Local people should be given opportunities to learn that
saving mangroves offer advantages to them so that they will feel
encouraged to take measures to conserve mangroves of their own
accord.
In addition, studies on the silvofishery system should also be
conducted on a scientific basis, with the results disseminated to
shrimp pond farmers. Such studies are still very limited at
present.
The writers are working for Wetlands International's
Indonesian program.