We plan to rehabilitate 600 thousand hectares of the area until 2024 referring to the national mangrove (road) map, including restoration of the blue carbon ecosystemTernate (ANTARA) - The Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment and PT Trimegah Bangun Persada (PT TBP) have worked to jointly rehabilitate mangroves under a corporate social responsibility program in North Maluku.
Indonesia has great carbon credit potential, especially in coastal areas, and has tropical rain forests, peatlands, mangroves, and seaweeds, deputy for management coordination of environment and forestry at the ministry, Nani Hendiarti, said in Ternate on Friday.
Indonesia's mangrove forests cover an area of 3.36 million hectares, or equal to 20 percent of the world's mangroves.
Mangroves are a part of the blue carbon ecosystem, therefore, her administration has initiated a huge program for their rehabilitation, especially in the North Maluku region.
"We plan to rehabilitate 600 thousand hectares of the area until 2024 referring to the national mangrove (road) map, including restoration of the blue carbon ecosystem," she informed.
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Hendiarti emphasized the importance of corporate social responsibility in community development, especially for coastal communities, as part of the sustainable mangrove development program.
She said that 34,912 hectares of mangroves were rehabilitated in 32 provinces in 2021, and the mangrove rehabilitation target for 2022 is 181,500 hectares.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has issued a challenge, asking state-owned and private business groups to rehabilitate at least 100 thousand hectares of forests and mangroves by 2024.
In August and September 2021, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and a cooperation agreement were forged to accelerate mangrove rehabilitation, confirming the contribution of state-owned enterprises and the private sector to the effort.
The agreements ended in September 2022, therefore, it is necessary to renew them, which would allow for more thorough mangrove rehabilitation targets.
In the MoU, stakeholders mutually agreed to cooperate to increase the area and quality of mangrove rehabilitation and undertake community empowerment to support the achievement of the national mangrove rehabilitation target of 600 thousand hectares by 2024.
President director of PT TBP, Donald J. Hermanus, said that the company commends this collaboration as part of the national mangrove rehabilitation program and climate action.
"This program is in line with TBP's vision, which seeks to increase the positive impact on communities around operational areas by pursuing social responsibility activities as well as respecting the cultural traditions of the surrounding community and preserving the environment," he elaborated.
PT TBP is committed to continuously contributing to the preservation of the environment, Hermanus affirmed. The mangrove rehabilitation program is among the environmental preservation activities conducted by the company.
"From 2021 to 2022, the total area of mangrove land that has been rehabilitated by TBP is 22.49 hectares, spread across Obi Island and Bacan Island, South Halmahera," he informed.
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PT TBP is also conducting environmental activities to support the sustainability of blue carbon ecosystems, such as the creation of artificial coral reefs and seagrass beds.
TBP is using leftovers from processing, such as nickel slag and FABA (fly ash bottom ash) to make hollow cubes that can be used as artificial coral in order to preserve coral reefs, especially on Obi Island.
He stressed the importance of algae and coral reefs in managing climate change. The organisms are touted to absorb three times more carbon than trees, and it is expected that the effort will improve the economic value as well as environmental conditions around the area where artificial coral reefs are planted.
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Translator: Abdul Fatah, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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