Mangrove forest encroachment continues

Rampant illegal logging is being blamed for the damage to 30 percent of the mangrove forest around Nusakambangan Island in Cilacap regency, Central Java.

There used to be about 8,500 hectares of mangrove in the area, but now the area has shrunk to 6,000 hectares.

Because of the damage, the area has been experiencing sedimentation and the destruction of sea biota.

“We have tried our best to deal with the problem, but illegal mangrove logging keeps going on uncontrolled,” Cilacap Forestry and Plantation Agency head Sudjiman said Wednesday.

He said illegal loggers were difficult to monitor because of the density of mangrove forest and its location being offshore.

Sudjiman said illegal loggers generally used mangrove wood to produce charcoal to sell. “I heard mangrove charcoal really sells at the market,” he said.

Sudjiman also said that reclamation efforts at the mangrove forest were his agency’s main focus. As such, the damaged area had been replanted with mangrove seedlings.

“We are thankful to all the stakeholders that have participated in the rehabilitation effort of the mangrove forest, including from the banking sector,” he said.

Citing an example, Sudjiman said the Purwokerto branch of Danamon Bank had planted 16,500 mangrove seedlings along the Nusakambangan coastal region this week as parts of its anniversary.

“There are only a few who care about the existence of mangrove forest, that it plays an important role as the world’s lungs. Mangrove is the symbol of the freshness of the air that we breathe,” Sudjiman said.

Sudjiman said PT Holcim Cilacap, PT Pertamina and PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Intan Cilacap had planted 12,000 mangrove trees a year ago.

Sudjiman said the damage to the mangrove forest in Cilacap had been at very serious levels for quite some time.

The Cilacap regency administration has set up a special institution to deal with the problem, the Segara Anakan Region Management Agency (BPKSA).

Segara Anakan, where the mangrove forest is located, is a lagoon that separates Nusakambangan Island from a number of other areas in Cilacap.

BPKSA head Supriyanto said that sedimentation in Segara Anakan had reached up to 90 percent. He blamed the disappearance of mangrove forest and mud sedimentation from West Java’s two rivers, the Citanduy and Cimeneng, for the condition.

Supriyanto said mud sedimentation from the rivers had significantly narrowed Segara Anakan, from 6,460 hectares in 1903 to only 700 hectares at present.

“Surveys show that the Citanduy River has been sending some 760,000 cubic meters of mud to the lagoon annually,” he said, adding that mud sedimentation was a serious threat to both mangrove and sea biota, which has been the main source of income for local fishermen.