Hoping for the Dugongs to Return
Residents of Yensawai plant mangroves, seagrass, and corals to protect their village’s ecosystem. They hope that it could become a tourist destination.
Purwani Diyah Prabandari
April 18, 2022
STANDING facing the beach in West Yensawai village, North Batanta, Raja Ampat, West Papua, Petronella Munuari pointed to the neat rows of mangrove saplings in front of her. The rows of young mangroves looked like green lines along the beach with the pristine water. “We work tirelessly. My husband once came and said ‘did you not notice, it is night already?’,” recalled the 46-year-old woman of
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