Indonesia: Rehab Mangroves, Create Jobs

The Indonesian government is embarking on a massive mangroves rehabilitation project to create thousands of jobs for the coastal communities. By Diana M, Indonesia correspondent, Maritime Fairtrade

With 3.3 million hectares of mangrove ecosystem — equivalent to 23 percent of world’s total area — the Indonesian government has been intensely working to make the most of this invaluable natural resource. The government is going to increase conservation and rehabilitation works of the damaged mangrove areas to create jobs for more locals.

Within the first few months after the country was hit with the first case of COVID-19 in March 2020, the government started to implement the national economic recovery (PEN) program, which sought to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic through several national policies, including the implementation of labor-intensive initiatives to absorb the rapidly-growing number of unemployed persons.

For the mangrove ecosystems, under the supervision of the Coordinating Ministry for Ministry and Maritime Affairs, the government has committed to rehabilitate 600,000 hectares of damaged mangrove which will create thousands of jobs.

An official from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry told Maritime Fairtrade this labor-intensive program has already employed around 40,000 persons…