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National Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency's deputy for construction, operation, and preservation, Tris Raditian (second from left), and deputy for education and socialization, participation and partnership, Myrna A. Safitri (third from right), at the 'Year-End Reflection' event in Jakarta on Thursday (December 30, 2021). (ANTARA/Prisca Triferna/uyu) - 

The National Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) has said it will continue to educate and prepare the surrounding communities living around restoration areas to overcome people’s rejection of the restoration program.

"The problem arises since the surrounding people have used the peatland for cultivation. Thus, sometimes they reject restoration activities," BRGM’s deputy for construction, operation, and preservation, Tris Raditian, said at the 'BRGM Year-End Reflection' event here on Thursday.

Thus, the agency’s attempts for blocking water canals from peatlands are often met with protests since the people use them to drain the land they intend to cultivate, he added.

The canals are also utilized as public or crop transportation routes, he noted.

Hence, the BRGM’s deputy for education and socialization, participation and partnership, Myrna A. Safitri, said the agency has continued to carry out socialization, education, and community development to support the restoration program.

She said she believes that peatland restoration and mangrove rehabilitation attempts cannot be separated from the community’s interests. Thus, the attempts must be related to village development, she added.

"Hence, the Independent Village Cares for Peatland and Independent Village Cares for Mangroves programs have become the focus of our work,” she remarked.

The two programs aim to prepare the community for peatland restoration by educating them on the importance of the ecosystem, strengthening village institutions, and integrating the program with the village development plan for the sustainability of the restoration and rehabilitation attempts, she informed.

During 2017–2020, 640 Caring Villages for Peatland were established, covering an area of 7.4 million hectares, she said.

Meanwhile, in 2021, the new Independent Village Cares for Peatland program has been implemented in 111 villages, she added.

Some of the villages are new, but there are also some villages that were involved in the previous Caring Village for Peatland program, she said.

The Independent Village Cares for Mangroves program was first introduced in 2021, she said. A total of 220 villages are involved in the program in nine provinces in BRGM's priority work areas, she added//ANT