Mangrove Cover Reaches 1,210 Hectares in 2022, Says Forestry Ministry

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Environment and Forestry Ministry has informed that the area under mangroves reached 1,210 hectares in 2022.

The figure was 110.06 percent higher compared to the target of 1,100 hectares, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar noted.

“There is an extensive effort of the President for us to restore mangroves. It is not easy, but I am sure we can do it,” she said at a meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The mangrove planting, which was undertaken by the ministry’s Directorate General of Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation in all coastal areas across Indonesia, was one among the many efforts taken to restore the carrying capacity of watersheds in the downstream, Minister Bakar informed.

She said that the initiative also aimed to restore the economy, especially in coastal areas.

The Peat and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) also planted mangroves in coastal areas. In 2022, the target for mangrove planting was 3,548 hectares, and the current realization has been recorded at around 3,638 hectares, or 102.52 percent of the target.

The minister said that currently, her administration is developing a good mangrove policy so that mangrove rehabilitation can be conducted on a massive scale.

“There are mangroves in the forest; there are some in areas of other use. Ones in the forest, using forestry legal instruments, is not difficult (to pursue); but in other use areas, we still have to establish some items regarding the government. So, among the measures we can use, for example, the Presidential Decree on Protected Areas and so on,” she added.

“But in practice, the challenges are quite tough. We are grateful that we can (focus) there in accordance with our plan to carry out massive mangrove rehabilitation,” she said.

The ministry is also carrying out the restoration of watersheds in Indonesia. The number of watersheds restored has reached 30,712 hectares, with a cumulative figure of 1.47 million hectares as of 2022.

ANTARA

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