Mangrove Protection

THE draft governmental regulation (RPP) on the Protection and Management of Mangrove Ecosystems seems to be nothing more than a gimmick. It is as if mangrove deforestation can be halted simply by deliberating a proposed regulation, when in fact the opposite is true. The destruction of mangrove forests continues, and has even been legalized by a number of laws.

The government drew up the Protection and Management of Mangrove Ecosystems RPP two years ago, after President Joko Widodo gave a speech at the One Ocean Summit forum on February 11, 2022. As well as protracted deliberations, the proposed bill was introduced too late. It should have been issued 12 years ago, once the Environmental Protection and Management Law had been passed.

The government declared 2022 as mangrove promotion year. As well as producing a regulation, President Jokowi used ‘mangrove diplomacy’ at the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022. On the sidelines of the event, leaders of the G20 nations led by Jokowi planted mangroves in the Ngurah Rai Mangrove Park.

But all of these endeavors can be considered as nothing more than a facade. Behind the fanfare about protecting mangroves, the government has never tackled the roots of the problem. It is the government itself that has been promoting the systematic destruction of mangrove forests, and even legalized it through a number of laws.

The Job Creation Law, for example, allows geothermal wells to be sunk in coastal areas, which clearly threatens mangrove ecosystems. The same is true for Government Regulation No. 27/2021, which allows mangrove forests to be cleared in the interests of national strategic projects. There is much evidence that these strategic national projects, such as the construction of nickel smelters, damage mangrove forests.

Mangrove ecosystems have also been damaged by a number of mining projects. According to a 2019 study by the Mining Advocacy Network, there are 165 mining concession areas covering a total of 734,000 hectares on 55 islands. Why is there mining on small islands that typically have mangrove ecosystems? Because the Mineral and Coal Mining Law allows it.

Then there are fishery projects. The government plans to increase production of shrimps to 1.5 million tons in 2024. Therefore, the government has accelerated development of the 11,000-hectare shrimp estate project in a number of regions. This large-scale shrimp farming is clearly a serious threat to mangrove forests.

Furthermore, the government has done nothing to control the ambitions for coastal reclamation projects in several regions. According to Walhi, an environmental organization, 28 provinces plan to reclaim a total of 3.5 million hectares of land. However, only 10 of these provinces have allocated areas for the protection and management of mangrove ecosystems. The rest have not allocated any protected areas at all.

As a result, hiding behind regulations, these projects are accelerating the deforestation of mangrove forests. A 2015 report from the Center for International Forestry Research stated that mangrove deforestation had reached 52,000 hectares per year over the last 30 years. This figure will probably continue to rise.

Will the Mangrove Ecosystem Protection and Management RPP really protect mangrove forests? It seems not. So, in whose interests has it been drawn up?