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Government to prioritize Riau Islands’ eroded coasts
The government is to install sediment trap technology on several of the outermost islands of Riau Islands regency to rehabilitate erosion-affected areas in the region
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span>The government is to install sediment trap technology on several of the outermost islands of Riau Islands regency to rehabilitate erosion-affected areas in the region.
The sediment trap will be combined with the use of breakwater technology to further mitigate worsening coastal reduction.
According to the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, at least three islands, namely Bengkalis, Rangsang and Rupat, experienced an average of 10-meter erosion per year.
The erosion was the result of economic activity, such as the clearing of mangrove trees to be turned into house construction materials or charcoal. Mangrove trees, however, can protect shorelines from the ocean’s waves by trapping sediment through their tangled root systems.
To address the issue, the ministry will also create alternative jobs for residents, such as shrimp and crab cultivation.
“The quality of shrimp and crabs in the region is extremely good, so why don’t we breed them on a large scale to improve the community’s welfare?” said Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on
Tuesday.
Luhut also gave assurances that the erosion had not affected the country’s territorial boundary. “We will have our sea marked by boundary coordinates,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s director for environment and maritime disasters Sahat Manaor Panggabean said separately that the ministry — together with other related institutions including the Assessment and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT) — were focusing on two main agendas.
The first was to rehabilitate the erosion-affected coastal areas on the three islands and the other was to improve locals’ welfare.
“We will make extra efforts to regain our eroded land by, among other things, implementing sediment traps and breakwater technologies,” Sahat said.
He added that the government would grow erosion-resistant plants on the newly gained land. “It might be mangroves or nipa palms, which are native to estuarine habitats.”
The ministry will hold several meetings over the next few months to decide on a solid plant for the erosion-affected areas.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic nation, is losing a large amount of its coastal area because of rising sea levels and unsustainable economic activities.
According to a study by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the country loses around 1,950 hectares of coastal area — an area equivalent to Padang Panjang, a city in West Sumatra — annually due to erosion. In the last 15 years, the country has lost 29,261 ha of coastal area, which is about the size of Jakarta.
Meanwhile, around 60 percent of the population, or about 150 million people, live in coastal areas. Moreover, more than 300,000 people live on small and remote islands.
Natural sedimentation could not help much as only 895 ha of new beaches are formed every year through this process.
“[Therefore], the government really needs to work with all parties: regional administrations, civil society and schools […] to recover mangrove forests to protect the environment,” said a researcher with the Bandung Institute of Technology, Armi Susandi.
