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| Conservation, Education, Research, Campaign and Documentation of Mangrove |
| Seedling of change |
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 Most
people in Teluk Awur Jepara, Indonesia - many of whom work as
woodcarvers and fishers - know little about how important mangroves are
to their lives and their environment. They do not realize that
mangroves stabilize the coasts and riverbanks. So they fell mangrove
forests for firewood and other uses and, assuming the forests have no
value, dump rubbish in them. There is no spirit of conservation, and no
programme for replanting what is cut down. Since around 1960, both the
quality and quantity of the forests in the area have been declining.
The local government has been trying to restore the forests without
success, partly because the area that needs restoration is very large.
Now a project is replanting the degraded coastal areas with mangroves
grown from seeds that have been collected and cultivated locally.
Four
years ago, eight marine science students at Diponegoro University
Semarang in Teluk Awur Jepara, in Central Java, created programmes and
involved local people in the restoration. I was one of these students.
We set up the Teluk Awur Mangrove Ecosystem Study Club (KeSEMaT) to
develop student research into mangrove ecosystems, to raise awareness
of their importance to the environment and to people, and to spread our
spirit of conservation in the community.
The club first focused
on scientific discussions about mangrove ecosystems to learn more about
the issue. Then, in 2002, our Mangrove Replant project won the coastal
prize contest period II from Wetlands International’ Indonesia
Programme (WI-IP). As a result, we built six nurseries to cultivate
seeds we gathered.
The next year we began replanting the
seedlings, with 120 participants from the cities of Semarang and Daerah
Istimewa Yogyakarta. We have since hosted two more such projects,
making them yearly events. We set up maintenance programmes, and by the
end of August 2005, we had achieved 99 per cent sustainability.
Involving
the community boosted our success, but we still need both local and
international support recognizing the incredible importance of
mangroves. So we educate the local people about all their benefits,
explain cultivation methods and hope they will continue the project. We
try to establish strong ties with local young people so that they adopt
a conservation spirit. In the future, we want communities around the
world to join us in preserving mangrove forests.
Fortunately, my
area was not affected by the horrific tsunami that struck parts of
Indonesia on 26 December 2004, killing at least 150,000 people, but I
have read how mangroves can absorb some of the impact of large waves
and lessen the devastation to coastal communities. That is just one
more reason why we need to conserve them! | | Posted: 1/5/2008 at 10:08 | Read 373 times | 0 comments | Leave Comment |
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