VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan emphasized that the mangrove ecosystem rehabilitation program will be carried out in a measured and integrated manner and will involve multi-parties, both strategic partners in the country to international institutions abroad.

The Indonesian government, according to Luhut, in a written statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, has committed to rehabilitating 600,000 hectares in the next four years, namely 2020-2024 by involving multi-stakeholders.

Based on the presentation from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia currently has a mangrove area of ​​3.31 million hectares, of which 637,624 hectares are in a critical condition, so it is necessary to restore the ecosystem.

Mangrove ecosystem restoration is very important to do because the area of ​​mangroves in Indonesia has reached 20 percent of the total distribution of mangroves in the world.

"Management of this mangrove ecosystem must be measured and integrated, including rehabilitation and intensive mangrove labor programs," said Luhut in a virtual coordination meeting regarding the program, Tuesday.

"The mangrove management program will focus on building a mega mangrove project in three locations including for mangrove nurseries," Luhut added.

The plan is for mangrove rehabilitation to be carried out in mangrove ecosystems with rare and very rare canopy densities.

The rehabilitation will use various sources of funding, including increasing the state budget allocation through funding assistance from the World Bank, support from strategic partners such as the governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany, as well as the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and the Green Port program for SOEs.

"Funding for the mangrove ecosystem management program needs to be supported by multi-stakeholders, including from international institutions and Indonesia's strategic partners," said Luhut in a virtual coordination meeting regarding the program, Tuesday.

Luhut also emphasized the importance of integration and coordination between related ministries and agencies to make the mangrove rehabilitation program a success.

"Everything must be integrated, so everyone moves together. We will continue to monitor it, and I hope that in the next week we can see the progress," added Luhut.

The virtual meeting was also attended by the Minister of Environment and Forestry, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Head of LAPAN, Minister of Home Affairs represented by Director General of Bina Bangda, Minister of Finance represented by Director General of Financing Management. (Antaranews)