JAKARTA, March 28 (The Straits Times/ANN): The village of Sungai Kupah in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province is used to living with the risk of floods. It is on the estuary of the Kapuas, the country's longest river.
Yet over the past two decades, the flooding has become more frequent and damaging, with waters from the Kapuas reaching up to 4m deep.
So the village turned to nature to tackle the crisis.
In 2017, a group of young villagers started replanting mangroves, much of which had been cut down by the local fishermen to make fishing tools.
Restoring the mangroves will provide the village with a much-needed shield against rising sea levels and damaging coastal winds, said Rudi Hartono, the co-initiator of the mangrove replanting programme.
"The nature has changed. We've felt the impact of climate change," the 27-year-old told The Straits Times. "We feared if we didn't replant (mangroves), bigger disasters would affect our village."
Although the impact of the programme is still limited currently, the villagers believe they are investing in their future, he added.
"We believe in the future this will become something significant to fight climate change, preserve our environment and bring prosperity to our community."
Hartono expanded the initiative by setting up a mangrove eco-tourism site where visitors could go down the river on a canoe or by trekking, and also plant trees in an area of 7,500 sq m, posting their efforts on social media.
"In the past, visitors were keen to find a photo spot with 'I love you' or Hello Kitty backgrounds. But now, their photo spot is the tree they plant on their own. They are willing to play with mud and take selfies there," Hartono said.
At least 6,000 mangrove trees have been planted so far, and visitors can monitor the growth of their trees using the Map Marker app.
The village has a bigger plan - growing 55,000 mangrove trees, in addition to the locations where visitors plant their seedlings, Hartono said.
The Indonesian Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) has offered funding and training for the village, such as how to prepare seeds and nurture seedlings.
Sungai Kupah is among hundreds of villages supported by the agency, which began its programme to rehabilitate mangroves last year. It is also working to restore flammable peatlands to reduce fire risks.
Mangroves not only protect coastlines and curb erosion, but are also vital for wildlife and a valuable tool in fighting climate change. Mangroves support a rich variety of sea life, acting as a nursery for young fish and other marine animals. Replanting them can help boost fish stocks and fishermen's incomes.
They also store around five times more carbon than rainforests, meaning they are a great way to soak up mankind's carbon emissions.
Yet, between 2009 and 2019, Indonesia lost 261,141ha of its mangrove cover, cleared mainly for new residential developments, as well as fish and shrimp ponds.
The country still has mangrove ecosystems totalling 3.36 million ha - about a fifth of all mangrove ecosystems in the world - and the BRGM says an additional 756,000ha could be rehabilitated.
Indonesia's mangrove programme is part of a growing initiative worldwide to curb the destruction of mangroves and scale up replanting because of the wide range of nature, climate and coastal protection benefits they bring.
In 2020, when the agency's mandate was expanded to include mangrove replanting, the BRGM set a target to to rehabilitate about 600,000ha of critical mangrove ecosystems in nine provinces, including North Sumatra, Riau and Riau Islands, by 2024.
Working with local communities, it replanted 34,911ha last year, nearly 6 per cent higher than its initial target. It did this across 32 of Indonesia's 34 provinces, much wider than the intended coverage of nine provinces, hoping the programme could boost local economies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year, BRGM seeks to rehabilitate 20,500ha of mangrove ecosystems in the nine priority provinces, and 29,500ha in another 23 provinces.
BRGM secretary Ayu Dewi Utari told ST that the agency is trying to secure funds from the World Bank. "We hope the World Bank can help with the rehabilitation of around 75,000ha," she said.
The project with the World Bank, expected to kick off this year, will last until 2026 and will be located in four provinces where mangrove forests have suffered the worst damage: Riau, North Sumatra, East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan, she added.
In mid-February, the Environment and Forestry Ministry held a public consultation ahead of its partnership with the World Bank.
During the consultation, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya underlined the role of replanting mangroves as part of Indonesia's efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change as well as cut its carbon footprint.
Last July, Indonesia, the world's eighth largest greenhouse gas emitter, brought forward its target to reach net zero emission from 2070 to 2060 or sooner. It also aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 on its own, or by 41 per cent with international financial support.
As part of these efforts, Indonesia is preparing regulations to allow carbon trading, and mangroves could become a new area of carbon offset investment that the country is seeking to take advantage of.
Dr Ayu said there have been talks within the government on how to include the mangrove rehabilitation programme into carbon offset projects, and a regulation on this is under deliberation.
This year, the BRGM is also trying to establish some 200 mangrove stewardship villages - which are expected to manage mangrove ecosystems sustainably with their own resources - adding to the 220 villages initiated last year.
"It's not enough to work with the local communities to restore peatlands or rehabilitate mangroves," said Dr Ayu.
"We need to raise awareness in the villages themselves so that they can become independent. Then they can come up with their own initiative to restore peatlands or rehabilitate mangroves, fund it on their own and bring their own ideas into it." - The Straits Tims/ANN
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