Local indigenous strategy to rehabilitate and conserve mangrove ecosystem in the southeastern Gulf of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Sadono R, Soeprijadi D, Susanti A, Matatula J, Pujiono E, Idris F, Wirabuana PYAP. 2020. Local indigenous strategy to rehabilitate and conserve mangrove ecosystem in the southeastern Gulf of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 1250-1257. The existence of local communities around mangrove ecosystems plays essential role to support the effort of conservation programs in this area. This study is aimed to investigate a set of situation faced by local communities in the southeastern Gulf of Kupang (SGK), East Nusa Tenggara Province which led to the rehabilitation of once degraded mangrove forests in SGK and the strategies to conserve the recovered mangrove forests. A case study approach was developed using purposive sampling to collect information regarding the historical situation of mangrove forests in SGK. Further, remote sensing method using multi-temporal observation data was used to investigate the changes in mangrove cover from 1994 to 2019. This study revealed that a series of situations became the fundamental of the success in retaining the existence of mangrove ecosystems in SGK. First, the negative impacts of mangrove degradation affected the communities badly in relation to their livelihoods in fisheries and marine sector as well as other environmental services. Then, this situation led to the emergent of a local champion to initiate mangrove rehabilitation efforts which firstly did not get attention from most of the communities. After some initial successes, the efforts of the local champion was then followed by other members of communities, triggering a bigger scale of mangrove rehabilitation. Having the mangrove recovered, the communities set of highly strict local indigenous rules in which every indigenous people who conducting illegal logging in the mangroves would be expelled from the village, while a large fine was given for outside people who did the similar action. Currently, more than 90% of respondents have understood the benefits of mangroves and derived advantages from it, particularly in improving their prosperity and security. The results of the success of mangrove rehabilitation and conservation in SGK was confirmed by the increasing extent of mangrove vegetation using remote sensing data. The case study of rehabilitation and conservation in SGK provided valuable learning for communities in other areas.

Species composition and growth performance of mangrove forest at the coast of Tanah Merah, East Nusa Tenggara

“…A. marina and S. alba become the most dominant species in this ecosystem since the availability of plant materials of both species were relatively high and easy to find for using in reforestation programs. Our statement was also supported by the previous study reported by Sadono et al (2020) which described the history of mangrove reforestation in Tanah Merah.…”

“…However, this study observed that the variation of growth in this area was more influenced by the different age of stand. It was confirmed by the study from Sadono et al (2020) that documented the process of mangrove reforestation in Tanah Merah. According to the study, the planting period of mangroves in this area exceptionally varied due to influence of sea tide dynamics.…”

“…The different species distribution in every stage of vegetation was possibly caused by several factors such as history of management and plant competition. Referring to the previous study of Sadono et al (2020), it was clearly noted that mangrove ecosystem at the coast of Tanah Merah was a result of reforestation. In this case, the plant materials for supporting reforestation relatively varied in every period since it was difficult to obtain specific species with enough quantity.…”

“…The activity of mangrove reforestation in Tanah Merah has been started intensively since 2004 by a collaboration between local communities and District government. Since 2004 this effort has added more than 100 hectares of mangrove forest cover in the area (Sadono et al 2020). Nevertheless, the results of mangrove reforestation particularly related to its species composition and growth performance of stand in this area have been rarely documented.…”

Human population density and blue carbon stocks in mangroves soils

“…For example, in Kenya, local tribes modestly harvest the timber, non-timber forest products and associated ecosystem goods provided by mangroves and surrounding systems to support their basic needs (Okello et al 2019). Similarly, in Indonesian communities, when people are aware and consider the sustainability of mangrove forests, they initiate mangrove rehabilitation efforts to ensure that the forests are a renewable natural resource (Rosaliza 2018, Sadono et al 2020. Mangrove protection efforts can be more impactful when national government and international organizations are involved.…”