Activist urges East Java to learn from Aceh about value of mangroves

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post 15 Oct 08;

As with other regencies in the densely populated East Java, Tuban is experiencing the gradual obliteration of mangrove forests along its coastal areas because of uncontrolled logging, shore reclamation projects and the absence of strict spatial zoning regulation.

At least 105 hectares of mangrove forests have been damaged because of severe daily erosion, from Sugihwaras village in Jenu district to Sukolilo village in Bancar district. The recent collapse of a long dike, which protected the forest area, has contributed to the severe erosion.

Chairman of the coastal farmers association in Jenu, M. Ali Mansur, said recently the erosion had eaten away at mangrove forests planted in 2006 and 2007, sweeping thousands of trees away to sea.

Farmers and activists have both done much to repair the damage but the regency administration has contributed nothing to finance the mangrove centers to replant the barren coast.

Ali said the mangrove center had spent Rp 750 million since 2004 in its efforts to breed mangrove seedlings to regreen eight hectares of barren coastal areas in the region.

But their work over the past four years would count for nothing if no immediate action was taken to stop erosion, he warned.

Tuban administration spokesman Sukristiono said the administration would help replant the barren areas by making strict policies and regulations and providing financial assistance to help salvage the mangrove forest.

A total of 13,000 hectares of mangrove forests along the province's coastal areas has been damaged due to intensive land reclamation and illegal logging of mangrove trees.

Hundreds of houses and public buildings such as mosques, bridges, shopping centers, factories and bus terminals have been built on forest areas in Tuban.

The same is the case in 16 other regencies including Madura, Sidoarjo and Malang.

"If nothing is done about it, Java could sink," Ali said.

"Nobody will be able to do much if tidal waves like a tsunami occur anytime in the future."

Ali said both the government and the people should learn from the tsunami that devastated Aceh and Nias in 2004, which demonstrated the importance of planting coastal areas with mangroves to protect the people against such devastation.

Aceh authorities classified the land within 50 meters of the coastline as a protected zone and turned it into mangrove forest following the devastating tsunami that claimed more than 210,000 lives and destroyed thousands of houses and public buildings.

Head of the East Java environmental impact management office Hartoyo said his office had launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the issue and encourage locals to plant mangroves in coastal areas.

The absence of a strong spatial zone bylaw, however, threatened the sustainability of mangrove forests along the province's northern coastal areas, providing a loophole for businesses and local authorities to develop industrial, agricultural and housing areas there.

In Sidoarjo, the regency administration has issued a regulation to protect the vast mangrove forests located 400 meters along the coast. The regulation carries a maximum fine of Rp 5 million for felling mangrove trees in the regency.

A recent study conducted by Ecoton, an environmental NGO in the city, found there were 25 species of 12 families of mangrove vegetation that had four basic functions to supply nutrients to the surrounding waters, houses, rare birds and fish and to neutralize pollutant metals.

Almost 90 percent of fish off the coasts of Java and Bali contain mangrove fragments on their intestines, according to the study. Mangroves also prevent erosion and indirectly protect housing on coastal areas from high tidal waves including tsunamis.

Coordinator of the reforestation program in Jenu, Tuban, Mar'atul Muflihatin, praised the regency's reforestation program, which she said could be copied by other regencies and municipalities in the province in a joint force to salvage the deteriorating coastal forests.

She said her office was still campaigning for the reforestation program in order to nurture respect for mangroves among young people and encourage them to plant the trees in their own areas.

Ali said farmers in Jenu had planted more than 15,000 mangrove trees, in a project expected to form vast forests along 10 kilometers of coastline in the regency.

He said the local regency administration had yet to demonstrate a strong commitment to regreening the barren coastal areas and had issued numerous permits for development projects that could seriously threaten the regency's coastal environment.

Trisnadi Widioleksono, an environmental expert from Airlangga University, said the provincial government should take concrete action to salvage the vanishing mangrove forests in those regencies.

"The provincial and regency administrations should set spatial zoning for mangrove forests and make a strong coordinated effort to have the barren coastal areas replanted with mangrove trees," Trisnadi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"Otherwise, people will have serious problems with erosion, disaster mitigation and fisheries in the future."