At a webinar on Wednesday, the Ministry's Environment Coordination and Forestry Deputy Nani Hendiarti noted that mangrove restoration did not only encompass tree-planting activities but also involved the management of the existing ecosystem, such as 3.1 million hectares of dense mangroves that dominate the total spread of Indonesian mangrove.
According to the 2021 National Mangrove Map, Indonesia has a total of 3.3 million hectares of mangrove.
This comprised dense mangroves constituting 93 percent; medium mangroves, 188 thousand hectares, or five percent; and sparse mangroves, spanning 54 thousand hectares, or two percent.
"Our collective job is to optimize the function of these mangroves. Hence, our focus is not only on planting but also on nurturing, preserving, and increasing its value," she stated.
"This is what we aim for," she remarked.
However, the existence of the mangrove ecosystem can be threatened by ocean waste. Hence, management efforts became important to be conducted in cooperation with various parties, she noted.
Indonesia has managed to reduce waste spill from land to sea by 28.5 percent until 2021, Hendiarti stated.
This achievement is exhilarating considering that President Regulation No. 97 of 2017 aims to reduce ocean waste by 70 percent.
"We can uphold the commitment to reduce (the ocean waste) due to support from multiple parties, including from the private sector, the community, and others," she remarked.
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The government is highly committed to resolving the matter of ocean waste management.
This is mirrored in President Regulation No. 83 of 2018 on Ocean Waste Management that included five Ocean Waste Management National Action Plans.
The ministry is optimistic that the mangrove rehabilitation effort would continue to improve as the government's partnership with various parties had grown stronger, she stated.
Hendiarti also expects full normalcy to be restored in other activities related to mangrove rehabilitation along with the recovery of the pandemic condition.
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Translator: Rizka K, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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