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14 Jan 05 Forestry Ministry to Replant Mangroves Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban says the government plans to replant 600,000 hectares of mangrove forests along its coastline to help reduce the impact of possible future tsunamis. "If we could preserve at least our mangrove forests, we will not be bothered so much by tsunamis," he was quoted as saying Thursday (13/1/05) by state news agency Antara. Indonesia's mangrove forests cover about 3.5 million hectares, accounting for almost one-third of the world’s total mangrove areas. But vast tracts of the country’s mangroves have been destroyed over recent decades to make way for commercial shrimp ponds, beachside development and industrial projects, and transmigration settlements. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) earlier this week said mangroves and coral reefs act as natural barriers against tsunamis, and urged environmentally sustainable rebuilding efforts in the areas devastated by last month’s gigantic waves that hit 13 countries and killed more than 160,000 people, most of them in Indonesia. “Places that had healthy coral reefs and intact mangroves, which act as natural buffers, were less badly hit by the tsunami than those where the reefs had been damaged and mangroves ripped out and replaced by prawn farms and poorly planned beachfront hotels," said WWF Asia Pacific director Isabelle Louis. Kaban said the government plans to replant at least 30,000 hectares of mangroves in tsunami-devastated Aceh province. "The tsunami in Aceh made us see the need to speed up this process," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. He estimated that Indonesia had lost about 30% of its mangrove forests over recent decades, many of them to fish farms. The minister said the mangrove rehabilitation plan would cost an initial Rp200 billion ($22 million), with planting expected to commence in April. He said the project would be followed up by educating local communities on the need to preserve mangroves. "We will see the results in 5 years, and within 10 years they will be big and healthy. With reforestation, we will ensure the peoples' needs are still catered for. People should still be able to farm fish outside the area," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. But mangrove experts warn that a plantation-style approach to mangrove rehabilitation programs could damage coastal ecosystems if they are done without sufficient preparation. Alfredo Quarto of the US-based Mangrove Action Project said mangrove restoration projects in Thailand had torn out existing mangroves to plant uniform seedlings. "They planted the mangroves in places where they didn't grow, and sometimes they tore down healthy mangroves to put in their own... it was a terrible job and had very low success," he told Reuters. Kaban said Indonesia’s coastal rehabilitation project would also involve the planting of pine and almond trees. links Related articles on Tsunami and the environment |
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