REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), along with related ministries/agencies have carried out rehabilitation plantings of 59 thousand hectares of mangrove forests in the period 2015-2023.

“As our task and function, we carried out mangrove rehabilitation from 2015-2023 and have carried out mangrove rehabilitation plantings of 59,529 hectares,” said Inge Retnowati, Director of Land Waters and Mangrove Rehabilitation of Ministry of Agriculture in Jakarta, Tuesday (25/10/2023).

In carrying out the restoration of mangrove forests, it uses four planting patterns, including intensive pattern planting 3,300-10,000 mangrove trees per hectare, clump pattern ranging from 5,000-10,000 stems per hectare, silvofishery 800 stems per hectare, and enrichment of 1,000-3,000 stems per hectare.

Furthermore, he said, the rehabilitation of mangrove trees requires joint collaboration between all parties.

“Successful mangrove rehabilitation is independent of the role of all parties including other ministries/agencies, local governments, and private companies,” he said.

According to Inge, based on the National Mangrove Map (PMN) of 2022, the potential area of mangroves in Indonesia reaches 793 thousand hectares, with details of cultivated area of 4,181 hectares, open land of 61,250 hectares, cultivated mangroves of 10,948 hectares, ponds of 667 thousand hectares, and accrued land of 50 thousand hectares.

Meanwhile, the province with the widest mangrove potential is in North Kalimantan, which has a potential of 136,195 hectares, followed by South Sulawesi with 124,416 hectares, and East Kalimantan 119,549.

As for PNM 2022, Indonesia's mangrove forest area reaches 3.39 million hectares, which when compared to the global scale, Indonesia accounts for 21 percent of the world's total mangrove accumulation.