UN honors Indonesia's efforts to restore mangrove forests with special award

The United Nations has recognized Indonesia's initiative to protect coastal areas from tidal flooding as one of ten pioneering efforts to restore nature.

The UN named this initiative, which uses mangrove trees as a natural defense from the sea, as one of its inaugural World Restoration Flagships. These initiatives, which are eligible to receive support, funding and technical expertise from the UN, demonstrate how environmental advocates are repairing damaged ecosystems around the world. Human activities have significantly altered three-quarters of the Earth's land and two-thirds of its waters, threatening 1 million species with extinction.

The announcement was made in front of leaders joining the UN Diversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, where governments from around the world will agree on a new set of goals for nature for the next decade.

Topics of discussion at the event are expected to include potential global goals for ecosystem restoration.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, is rich in mangrove forests that are sanctuaries for wildlife. Mangrove forests also help protect coastal communities from sea level rise and storm surges that are expected to become more severe as the climate crisis unfolds.

However, in some locations, mangrove forests have been cut down and transformed into land for development purposes and fish farms. The 'Building with Nature' initiative aims to restore these forests. Based in Demak, a district on the island of Java, Wetlands International together with the Indonesian government and other partners are helping local communities to replant mangrove forests on a 20km stretch of coastline.

Instead of just planting mangrove trees, the initiative applies an innovative approach using semipermeable sea walls made of natural materials that act as "traps" for mud and sediment. The mangrove trees will grow naturally with a survival rate of 70 percent - significantly higher than the 15-20 percent survival rate of traditionally planted mangrove trees. Over time, soil will settle on the roots of the mangrove trees, preventing sea level rise from inundating the community.

This will increase the resilience of 70,000 people to climate change. Experts have also helped 277 shrimp farmers to reconstruct their shrimp ponds to coexist with the mangrove forest and improve the sustainability of their operations. Their shrimp harvests have tripled.  

These and other flagship initiatives have been selected for inclusion in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global movement coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The movement is designed to prevent and restore degraded areas to natural state across the planet.

UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, said, "Indonesia's 'Building with Nature' initiative, which is part of the inaugural group of World Restoration Flagships, is an excellent example of smart, future-proof adaptation in action. It is a replicable model for how countries can use nature to counteract the severe impacts of climate change while creating economic opportunities for communities."

Qu Dongyu, Director General of FAO, said, "FAO, together with UNEP as the leader of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, is pleased to recognize ten of the most ambitious, visionary and promising ecosystem restoration initiatives as World Restoration Flagships 2022. Inspired by these flagship initiatives, we can learn how to restore our ecosystems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all without leaving anyone behind."

Muhammad Yusuf, Director of Coastal and Small Island Utilization (P4K), Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia, said, "The Demak region is severely affected by climate change. Hundreds and thousands of hectares of land often disappear. This method follows the root system of mangrove trees. Therefore, sediment can enter. Sea water slowly recedes back into the sea. When mangrove trees take root in the area collectively, they act as a natural defense to reduce the effects of erosion."

Pieter van Eijk, head of the delta and coastal program at Wetlands International, explains, "Our experience from the Building with Nature project in Demak has helped create a formula that can be used in other locations. We will use these lessons to replicate the Building with Nature project in other parts of Asia."

Countries have pledged to restore 1 billion hectares-an area larger than the size of China-as part of their commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement, which is also part of the Aichi diversity targets, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets and the Bonn Challenge. However, little is known about the progress or quality of these restoration efforts. The progress of the ten World Restoration Flagships initiatives will be monitored transparently through the Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring, the UN Decade's platform for tracking the progress of global restoration efforts.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

About UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2021 to 2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with the support of partners, the movement is designed to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem loss and degradation around the world. It aims to restore billions of hectares of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Serving as a global voice for action, the UN Decade draws on political support, scientific research and financial strength to scale up restoration en masse.

About Building with Nature in Indonesia

This World Restoration Flagship initiative is coordinated by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing of the Republic of Indonesia, Wetlands International, and Ecoshape with support from Witteveen + Bos, Deltares, TU Delft, Wageningen University & Research, UNESCO-IHE, Blue Forests, Kota Kita, Von Lieberman, Diponegoro University, and local communities. For more information about the project, please watch this video or download this product knowledge.

About UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

UNEP is the global voice for environmental issues. The organization takes a leadership role and promotes partnerships to protect and care for the environment by inspiring, educating and enabling countries and communities to improve their quality of life without harming future generations.

For more information, please contact:

Moses Osani, Media Officer, UN Environment Programme

Untuk wawancara media dengan personel dari Indonesia, silahkan hubungi:

Apri Susanto Astra, Coordinator, Nature-based solutions, Wetlands International Indonesia