Mangrove Management Training for the Sekat Bakau Group

The Sekat Bakau Group is a key actor and is at the forefront of maintaining the mangrove ecosystem in Buruk Bakul Village, along with the activities that have been carried out, Yayasan Gambut through the support of GEC and Aramco Asia Singapore provides training for capacity building of Sekat Bakau Group members in terms of supervision and monitoring during the rehabilitation efforts in the coastal area of the village.

Damage to the coastal area of the village due to abrasion is the main problem that occurs in Buruk Bakul Village, this damage has occurred from 1991 to the present. The area of the mangrove in Buruk Bakul Village is around 168 hectares, which has currently experienced an average of 4 meters of abrasion per year along 139 meters of coastline, this condition has become a real threat to the living space of the village community.

Aerial photo of the coastal damage area due to abrasion in Buruk Bakul Village (YG Doc 07/09/2023)

Efforts to overcome this condition have been made, one of which is making a Wave Breaker (APO) and re-planting in areas considered critical by the Sekat Bakau Group, armed with local knowledge and supported by academic knowledge, the members of Sekat Bakau also built a Mangrove Seedling House to provide mangrove seedlings to support the rehabilitation activities.

This capacity building aims to increase understanding and skills in monitoring and supervising mangrove vegetation. This is important to protect natural mangroves and maintain the sustainability of rehabilitation efforts. With routine monitoring, it is expected that the group can present data on plant growth, the effectiveness of APO, and sedimentation that occurs, so that they can evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts and make adjustments if necessary. This information can also be used to improve rehabilitation strategies, identify factors that influence success, and develop a sustainable plan for mangrove conservation.

Trainer Romi Jhonnerie presenting the material

At the beginning of the training process, participants were invited to re-learn the basics of the mangrove ecosystem (theoretically), the general classification of mangroves, the distribution of mangrove ecosystems, and the classification of mangroves based on their surrounding geography and their benefits. The most important presentation is how to identify the real threats to mangroves, this aims to invite participants to analyze the forms of direct or indirect threats that exist in the mangrove ecosystem of Buruk Bakul Village.

One of the training participants asked a question related to the challenges faced in the mangrove rehabilitation process

After the question and answer session in the first session regarding the basics of mangroves, it continued with the presentation of mangrove monitoring material, this session explained the material about the observation and measurement process on a regular basis of the physical and biological conditions of the mangrove ecosystem, including bio-physical, chemical and biological community parameters of mangroves. The observation aims to detect changes in the ecosystem due to natural factors or human activities. From the data obtained, it will be analyzed and then a management and restoration effort can be formulated.

Field practice: training participants are measuring the diameter of a mangrove tree.

The monitoring process includes two things. First, internal factors including the distribution of mangrove areas and community structure (type, density, dominance, and importance value). Second, external factors including water quality affected by domestic or industrial waste, salinity levels, availability of nutrients in sediments due to rainfall patterns and seawater intrusion, climate change, and hydrological disturbances due to normalization or reclamation.

Each tree found will be recorded and noted by the participants, which will later be analyzed

Then the training was continued with field practice, the participants were divided into 2 groups that had previously determined the transect location. At the survey location, each group made a line and a path as wide as 10 x 10 meters, then divided it again into 5 x 5 meters. Identification began with identifying the types of vegetation and fauna found within the marked area, each tree trunk found was then measured for diameter and height. The data obtained was then processed using available Information and Communication Technology (TIK) to facilitate processing. The use of TIK is a transformation of knowledge to the mangrove group as a form of following the development in the current digital era.