"We also know that if the mangrove ecosystem is damaged, then it will be vulnerable to disaster," she told ANTARA here on Monday.
"Hence, once again, we conduct rehabilitation, and if it works, then it will also contribute to the efforts to prevent disasters, primarily in the shoreline areas," she affirmed.
For conducting mangrove rehabilitation, the BRGM continues to encourage to increase the people's participation, she explained.
One of the ways to do this is through the Mangrove Caring Independent Village Program that involved 220 villages until 2021.
Through the program, the agency strives to connect villages to the community working group-based participation model.
"(This is) because village is the smallest government locus at the ground level," she noted.
"Hence, Mangrove Caring Independent Village tries to integrate mangrove rehabilitation with the village development program, including institutional management, at the level of village," she remarked.
This will connect the group-based approach and village-based approach, Safitri elaborated.
This concept is not new for the agency since a similar approach had earlier been adopted through the Peatland Caring Independent Village Program.
Earlier, Presidential Regulation No. 120 of 2020 on the BRGM Formulation mandates the acceleration of mangrove rehabilitation in 600 thousand hectares of land until 2024.
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Mangrove rehabilitation should be accelerated at nine priority locations in Indonesia.
In 2021, the agency had conducted mangrove rehabilitation in 34,911 hectares of land from the targeted 33 thousand hectares for the year, BRGM's people empowerment deputy, Gatot Soebiantoro, stated.
The initial target for mangrove rehabilitation in 2021 was 83 thousand hectares.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the government to revise the target to 33 thousand hectares, he explained.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna V, Fadhli Ruhm
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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