South Borneo mangrove forest severely damaged

A local councilor claims 147,000 hectares of the 166,000 hectares of mangrove forest in South Borneo were destroyed.

“Only 19000 hectares are still in good condition. The rest has razed,” the head of the South Borneo Regional Representatives Council Commission II, Mohammad Ihsanuddin, was quoted as saying Saturday by news portal tribunnews.com.

Ihsanuddin blamed the damage on human encroachment, citing the construction of a special port or embankment as one example.

He said mangrove forests were a necessary part of the local ecosystem, as they served to protect the area from seawater abrasion and provide breeding areas for fish.

Ihsanuddin claimed mangrove plants also helped prevent the spread of avian influenza. He claimed that at the height of the avian influenza outbreak, the North Sumatra administration added mangrove leaves into livestock feed and no farm fowl contracted the disease.

He called on the local administration to not easily issue licenses to businesses exploiting mangrove areas.