Indonesia's Mangrove Rehabilitation Area Decreases Through 2023

A report from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) shows that the area of mangrove rehabilitation in Indonesia has been steadily decreasing over the past four years.

In 2023, the area was only 6,010 hectares (ha), down from 7,359 ha in 2022.

The highest achievement in mangrove rehabilitation was in 2021, reaching 37,563 ha.

This forest and land rehabilitation activity is carried out by planting trees in inland and coastal areas through mangrove forest restoration.

KLHK states that mangroves play a crucial role in climate change mitigation because they can absorb carbon five times more effectively than land plants.

In addition, the Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) will target the rehabilitation of 32,000 ha of mangrove land this year.

Head of BRGM, Hartono Prawiraatmadja, explained that this rehabilitation program will collaborate with the World Bank. This year's rehabilitation will focus on four provinces: Riau, North Sumatra, North Kalimantan, and East Kalimantan.

"The World Bank has ensured its support, until the mangrove rehabilitation program is implemented in March 2024," said Hartono in his statement, as reported by *Katadata*, Thursday (29/2/2024).

Through the Mangrove for Coastal Resilience (M4Cr) program, he hopes to increase livelihood and business opportunities for communities living around mangrove areas.

The World Bank has also disbursed funding to address climate change amounting to US$28.6 million, equivalent to Rp463.6 billion (assuming Rp16,210 per US$ until the end of 2023).

"This is truly a strong collaboration, we support each other, especially since Indonesia has a large target of reducing carbon emissions to 358 million CO2 by 2030," said World Bank Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Anshula Kant.