Mangroves in Indonesia: Holding it together

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post 11 Aug 09;

Once upon a time, before the mangrove forests were grown, any crops sown in the fields around Tirtohargo, in Kretek, Bantul, were doomed.

Up to about one kilometer inland from the coastal area, plants generally had one of two fates: If the spray of seawater didn’t kill them, the coastal wind would dry out their leaves.

On top of that, at high tide, the seawater washed over the land, often penetrating more than 500 meters from the coast. The water took soil away with it, eroding the land, and damaged hectares of fields, making them unsuitable for agriculture.

But now more than 50 hectares of what was once desolate space is a changed landscape, with a range of crops growing in the area, and growing well.

Behind the difference is another kind of plant: Mangroves. All along the beach at Tirtohargo, tens of thousands of mangroves are now thriving, forming a natural barrier along the shore line that protects the inland fields and prevents erosion.

“Look at that area where there are no mangroves,” said Warsono, a 71-year-old farmer and resident of the area, waving a hand at the empty fields. “See that crop of hard plants. Their leaves have been dried by the wind and salt spray.”

Warsono is one of those actively involved in watching over and taking care of the mangrove trees. He and Samperno, a resident of Parangtritis in Kretek, decided to start planting mangroves in the south beach area of Bantul out of concerns for the environment and the dire state of local agriculture.

In 2001, they planted 50 mangrove seedlings; buffalo came through and ate every single one of them.

The same year they planted again, first 100 mangrove seedlings then 500 mangrove seedlings. But each time the results were the same: None of the plants survived. The seedlings were trampled or eaten by buffalo, cut down or blown away.

What they realized was that for the mangroves project to survive, the two men needed the whole community behind them – the community had to be made aware of the need to preserve the mangroves and work together to look after them.

In 2003, a self-supporting community NGO called Relung joined the mangrove project, offering support in the form of training and coaching members of the community.

To create a feeling of good will among residents, Warsono offered up 3,000 square meters of his rice fields to be planted with seedling mangroves. Relung set about planting the land, and this time with success. About 400,000 mangrove seedlings were successfully planted and grown along the beaches of Bantul, Kulonprogo, Purworejo and Kebumen.

Warsono and Relung then provided seedlings and invited residents to take an active role in planning them. They included other members of community by giving them the job of packing the mangrove seedlings in plastic, for which residents were paid Rp 50 (less than 1 US cent) per seedling.

The NGO also offered incentives for members of the community to plant and care for their seedlings: They offered a reward of Rp 100 for each seedling a resident grew.

On Bantul beach, around 250,000 seedlings were planted, but of these only 100,000 seedlings survived. Currently, there are about 30,000 plants growing, mostly in the Tirtohargo area in Kretek, Bantul.

“Mangroves can live and grow well here because there is support and awareness from the community, the village people and community leaders,” says Karjono, the Tirtohargo village head. “In other subdistricts, mangrove tend to be cut down for livestock feed and aren’t looked after. And that’s really because the people there haven’t been made aware of the importance of mangroves.”

Recently, to help raise community awareness, representatives of the Indonesian Red Cross in Bantul, the German Red Cross, the Bantul Regency government and local government officials, together with the community, carried out the planting of 5,000 mangrove seedlings.

They also spread out thousands of crab eggs around the area, with the idea that the crab community would grow with the mangroves and thrive in the area, thus creating a potential industry and source of income for the surrounding communities.

“So straightaway, if there is a chance to make money, the community will support it with volunteers,” said Karjono.

Karjono said that by working with various related institutions and NGOs, in the near future local people would be trained to farm crabs in bamboo cages. The dual aims of the project are to improve the local economy and preserve the environment.

“Crabs are happy if there are mangrove plantations,” Karjono said. “The development of crab farming automatically ensures that the residents watch over the mangroves because they get the financial benefit.”

To preserve the mangroves already growing on the 50-hectare area and to care for the thousands of seedlings, the Tirtohargo village leaders are currently drafting a Village Regulation (Perdes) designed to protect the mangroves.

The Village Regulation, Karjono explained, will set out penalties for anyone found to have destroyed plants or broken the laws prohibiting cutting down mangroves for animal feed.

According to Karjono, the regulations are needed as people continue to cut down mangroves. “The people who are looking for goat feed come from outside Tirtohargo,” he said.

As a further initiative, the local tourism department is preparing a strategy to develop a nature tour through the mangrove forests in Bantul, with the aims of contributing to the local economy, raising awareness of the relevant issues and ensuring the protection of the natural environment.

To complement the mangroves in creating wind barriers along the Bantul coast, local residents have also started planting casuarinas, a hardy tree that thrives in the beach environment.

Casuarinas have been successfully planted along a 10-kilometer stretch from Samas Beach to Pandansimo. Although before 2003 the sandy area was infertile, it now supports tens of thousands of casuarinas, which create an effective wind barrier, offering protection to the agricultural crops grown in the coastal area.

Bantul Regent Idham Samawi added that his administration would always give whatever support was necessary in order to develop the mangrove forests along the coastline.

As part of this commitment, the Bantul Regency government has been providing related training in farming saltwater fish, the success of which is also closely associated with the mangroves.

And as Idham points out, ignorance remains the main barrier.

“According to many accounts, there is a certain level of failure in the planting projects because many residents are still not aware of the issues,” he said.

“But with hard work and support by village people and community leaders such as those from Tirtohargo village, the future will keep bringing success.”