Shoreline residents' activity is very much influenced by the mangrove ecosystemJakarta (ANTARA) - Local residents are a crucial factor in the success of mangrove rehabilitation efforts, land and water conservation, according to the Environment and Forestry, Minister;s Director Muhammad Zainal Arifin.
To this end, the government has bolstered public involvement through the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program, he added.
"Shoreline residents' activity is very much influenced by the mangrove ecosystem," he noted during a discussion at the Indonesian Pavilion at the COP-26 UNFCC (United Nations Climate Change Conference), observed from here on Monday.
Several special initiatives can be taken to encourage the recovery of the mangrove ecosystem, one of which is combining a community-based approach with economic stimulus under the PEN program, he said.
In 2020, the government, through the ministry, planted over 17 thousand hectares of mangroves out of the targeted 15 thousand hectares, he highlighted.
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The planting activity was participated by more than one thousand civilian groups and involved more than 39 thousand people, he added.
According to primary secretary of the National Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM), Ayu Dewi Utari, people will take care of mangroves if they understand their benefits on the ecosystem.
BRGM was also involved in the mangrove rehabilitation program under PEN, which was carried out in nine priority provinces this year, the official said.
The provinces were North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau, Bangka Belitung Islands, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, West Papua, and Papua, and the program covered 29,500 hectares of land, Utari informed.
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Meanwhile, in the remaining 23 provinces, the rehabilitation process is targeting 3,500 hectares of land and is currently underway, the official added.
"Our estimation is that this will absorb more or less 560,500 of the workforce," Utari informed.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Traditional Fishers Association (KNTI) has called for expediting and expanding policies concerning the restoration of mangrove ecosystems or forests in regions.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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