WEARING a black T-shirt with “Go Green” lettering, complete with a pair of boots and a hat, Vola Hamidah, 37, squats on a piece of muddy land. The Tinongko residents call this place a backward beach where the mangroves—which were in the past neglected—grow. Planting a young mangrove shoot, this mother of two answers questions patiently. “The roots of the raja (mangrove) must not be broken. Or the mangrove may die,” she tells Tempo.

T