Providing livelihoods for communities living in conserved or rehabilitated mangrove forests for their survival is, unarguably, an inseparable part of mangrove ecosystem management.
Through the national Petland and Mangrove Rehabilitation Agency (BRGM), the government continues to assist local communities in developing mangrove-friendly products thanks to the endless benefits that mangroves offer. Using mangrove fruit as a material for syrup, dodol, a fudge-like sweet, and cloth coloring and eco-tourism with its venture derivatives are among the examples of mangrove-friendly products.
However, the relatively new mangrove-friendly products have yet to be well recognized by the public at large, with mangrove-based syrup, for example, losing ground partly because consumers are more familiar with the taste of the products that use other fruits as their material; whereas the public as consumers also play a crucial role in making the mangrove-friendly ventures sustainable, which will not only protect the mangrove ecosystem but also ensure local communities’ survival.
This explained why the public dialogue about mangrove issued held by the BRGM to celebrate World Mangrove Day themed “Mangrove for the Future” addressed the issue of “Market Opportunities for Mangrove-Friendly Products”. Giving introductory remarks, assistant to aerospace potency at the Air Force Andi Wijaya said that initiatives had been taken to produce mangrove-friendly products which not only supported the economy of local communities but also mangrove ecosystem conservation.
He highlighted the importance of sustainable mangrove ecosystems by relating his personal experience, witnessing the drastic change of mangrove ecosystems around airbases in coastal areas across Indonesia, including in Natuna Islands where he used to work. In the 1990s the coastal areas were lovely sites for recreation, but over the years, the mangrove trees were lost leading to coastal erosion, which inundated parts of the airbase in Natuna. “We tried to use concrete embankments to avert the erosion but they ended up being torn down,” he recalled. Andi revealed that this had led him to meet the BRGM’s secretary Ayu Dewi Utari after which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Air Force and the BRGM on the mangrove restoration program in coastal areas was signed. “So, the restoration of degraded mangroves is back to nature,” he said.
In rehabilitating mangroves, the BRGM adopts a 3M (memulihkan, meningkatkan dan mempertahankan) strategy that restores, increases and maintains, through empowering communities, including those residing in the mangrove rehabilitation sites to be maintained, and is an inseparable part of the mangrove rehabilitation activities.
Intervention on community empowerment in mangrove rehabilitation sites is conducted through the efforts of strengthening institutions and community productive economic development, especially communities involved in the mangrove rehabilitation and protection activities. The community productive economic development by the BRGM is conducted through the granting of productive venture aid under a matching grants program. The program covers not only the granting of venture capital and the making of products but also expected product marketing so that a synergic venture chain can be established. To promote mangrove-friendly products among the public, the July 27 public dialogue also presented several representatives of BRGM-assisted community groups to share their innovative and inspiring experiences in running mangrove-related ventures. Pokdakan Salo Sumbala Sejahtera, one of the BRGM-assisted community groups, is located in Desa Muara Badak Ulu, East Kalimantan. The community group’s main livelihood is pond fishery combined with mangrove trees, recognized as sylvo-fishery.
The group reaps direct benefits from mangroves for fishery cultivation, especially with the increased yield and economic income from fish and shrimp pond farming. With the abundant yields, the group not only sells the fresh products but also innovatively processes the products (fish and shrimp) into amplang, savory fish crackers and kerupuk, shrimp crisps. The products as the result of the innovative venture have the potential to be widely marketed. The venture is also able to increase the participation of women residing in the targeted villages in the venture activities. Pokdakan Salo Sumbala Sejahtera’s head Ramlan said that as time has gone by, the group has also developed mangrove ecotourism. “We have a 200-meter-long bridge along which visitors can stroll while spotting mangrove trees,” he said. Meanwhile, Trini Yuni Pratiwi, senior sustainability manager at e-Fishery, said the company had started to synergize mangroves with ponds, which means mangroves are an inseparable part of ponds because mangroves play an important role in maintaining the water quality, which helps increase the quality of the products (fish and shrimps). “This way, the mangroves can be well protected,” she said.
She expressed the company’s commitment to supporting the BRGM and related agencies by encouraging pond farmers to protect mangroves instead of damaging them, as many did in the past. The company e-Fishery is the first aquaculture technology start-up in Asia that holds a sole mission to fight global starvation by utilizing aquaculture potential. With particular standard operating procedures, the yields can not only be sold domestically but can also be sold to specific markets at higher prices. KTH Penghijauan Maju Bersama is a community group from North Sumatra that receives development assistance from the BRGM. The group has developed mangrove eco-tourism, with its other varied derivative ventures that form a business chain. KTH Penghijauan Bersamasebagai’s head Kasto Wahyudi said that concern over the severely degraded mangrove forest in Dusun 10 Paluh Baru Desa Pasar Rawa, Gebang district, Langkat regency, in 2011 had prompted the group to plant mangrove trees on 40 hectares of land and “it turned out that the growing mangrove trees allowed for the multiplication of biotics, including crabs, fish and shrimps, which drew the attention of fishers. That’s how we came up with an idea to develop eco-tourism,” he said.
In 2021, the group started to collaborate with the BRGM, with mangrove tree planting covering some 135 ha, and since then “we are committed to developing the eco-tourism.” According to him, the eco-tourism also allows for the creation of other ventures, including boat rental, tent rental, snack production and tour guides. “The tourism activity increases the role of women engaged in processing fish into chips and crisps as a souvenir,” he said. Locals can also hire out boats that enable visitors to tour along a river or go fishing. “Those with a passion for camping can join a jungle camp and mangrove planting. Tents are available for rent,” he said. The eco-tourism also involves local young people that play a role as marketers and tour guides. Zie Batik in Semarang is one of the batik entrepreneurs that produce batik cloth by using mangrove fruit as coloring.
Revealing how mangroves can be used as coloring, Sasy Syifaurohmi, owner of Batik Zie, said it took one year to research some 200 types of mangrove fruits prior to eventually finding that a particular type of mangrove fruit could produce a brown color that could be extracted. Batik with mangrove coloring has tourism appeal, which has an educative element in the mangrove eco-tourism, which can attract people irrespective of their age. “Our venture also engages housewives living in Semarang’s coastal area in collecting falling mangrove fruit. We buy the fruit from them because or workshop is located in Semarang highlands, a mountainous area,” she said. She said that Zie Batik could also train and educate community groups to enable them to practice making batik using natural coloring. The landscape-based mangrove eco-tourism management is expected to create more tourism-related ventures that will attract more visitors and buyers, which will increase the absorbance of human resources around the eco-tourism sites.
The absorbance of human resources embodies the engagement of the surrounding communities in conserving and implementing mangrove rehabilitation program.