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Climate change is real: Rising sea levels endanger Jambi village
About 100 hectares of coconut plantations will be lost to seawater erosion in the absence of mangrove forests.
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More than just helping to protect the coast from abrasion, mangroves have many other benefits and economic value. (Shutterstock/Ratihrimay)
In Tungkal I village of West Tanjungjabung, Jambi, climate change is real.
Located in the eastern part of Sumatra, the village faces the South China Sea and has suffered massive abrasion that is expected to swallow its shores by hundreds of meters annually.
Residents, who are mostly coconut farmers and fishermen, have tried to protect their village by planting mangroves on the seashore.
“The mangroves have to be maintained. Otherwise, the seawater will continue to erode our village,” Ahmadi, 65, told The Jakarta Post recently.
Ahmadi leads 25 local farmers under the Hutan Bakau Lestari (Sustainable Mangrove) group that since 2002 has become a major force behind a mangrove protection initiative.
The group produces between 1,000 and 2,000 mangrove seedlings monthly. A seedling is sold for Rp 5,000 to the regency administration and locals.
There are 10 species of mangrove in the area. Those planted facing the sea are known as bakau, api-api and pidada while the ones closer to the village are called nipah.
