“Cultivating” the Future in Indramayu’s Coastal Region

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

The principal of SD Paoman IV state elementary school, Lutfiya (third left) and her students read books about mangroves at their school in Indramayu regency, West Java, Saturday (25/5/2019). SD Paoman IV is one of the 26 elementary schools in Indramayu running the environmental education course on mangroves. The target is that 42 elementary schools apply the course this year.

In Indramayu regency, West Java, knowledge on mangroves is handed down at an early age. Today, abrasion prevention is included in the elementary school curriculum. Through mangroves, Indramayu is “cultivating” a better future along Java’s northern coast.

Siti Zahra, 10, smiled as she held a mangrove seed in a used mineral water bottle at the yard of SDN Paoman IV state elementary school in Indramayu regency on Saturday (25/5/2019). Her name was written on a receptacle. Two green leaves had sprouted on the upper end of the stalk.

The fourth-grader cultivated the plant by herself for four months. Six days a week, Zahra watered the plant before beginning her day at school. She also fertilized it with goat manure. “I take [the manure] from my neighbor’s goat pen,” she said, laughing.

Zahra said the mangrove could one day help her parents, who rely on the sea for their livelihood. Mangrove roots can house fish. Once the seed has four leaves, Zahra will plant it at Tambak Beach near her home.

Other than Zahra, other students in grades four, five and six in her school also cultivate mangroves. Local NGO Pantai Lestari (Sustainable Beach), which is focused on coastal development in Indramayu, provide the seeds. A seedbed is provided for the students on an empty land at the school.

“We also clean the beach from trash. Afterwards, we get a free banana boat ride,” said fourth-grader Trivani, 10, who planted mangroves for the first time. “My parents want me to cultivate plants near the fishpond. When they found out I was growing mangroves, they were excited. Without mangroves, their fishpond will be gone one day,” said the child of fish and shrimp farmers.

The students can find information on the benefits of mangroves on a banner in a classroom. There, they can read that mangroves can reduce the impacts of a tsunami by 50 to 60 percent and prevent abrasion. Messages of “destroying trees is the cause of disasters” and “pick up trash” were also seen on the school’s walls.

At SDN 1 Pasekan state elementary school, a call to grow mangroves can be seen on a pillar. Pictures of mangrove trees and the title “Friends of Mangrove” are painted on the wall of a classroom. A 72-square-meter motorcycle parking area was turned into a mangrove seedbed.

Mangrove curriculum

Care for mangroves at local schools began in 2016, when the Indramayu regency administration at PT Pertamina Refinery Unit (RU) VI Balongan launched the “mangrove school” program. At first, only the SDN 1 Karangsong, SDN 1 Pabean Udik and SDN Unggulan state elementary schools participated in the program. The number grew to 11 elementary schools in the next year and then to 26 elementary schools in 11 coastal districts.

“This year, we aim to have 42 mangrove schools,” said SDN Paoman IV principal Lutfiya, who chairs the Indramayu teachers’ working group (KKG) for mangroves. The KKG is a medium for teachers to discuss and share experiences on mangrove education. Each school sends two teachers to be trained to manage mangrove environment education classes for students in grades four to six.

Researchers from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Indramayu Education Agency and PT Pertamina RU VI Balongan were involved in compiling study books for students.

The books include information on types of mangroves, their function in countering abrasion and mitigating the effects of tsunamis and their benefits to feeding fish and as a raw ingredient for soy sauce. A two-hour class is given on Saturdays and an exam is given at the end of semesters. Once a month, students visit the mangrove research and development center in Karangsong.

“Students are happy to learn directly on the field. Parents are continuously asking when the next trips to the mangrove forest will be,” Lutfiya said.

SDN 1 Pasekan principal H. Tular said the mangrove class did not burden students. “It burdens the school. One trip to the Karangsong mangrove forest costs between Rp 1.5 million (US$105.07) and Rp 1.8 million. The school pays for this. We also got a donation of a new room from PT Pertamina,” he said, smiling.

Abrasion speed

The innovative curriculum was recognized by the Indonesian Museum of World Records (MURI), which awarded the schools for being the first to implement a mangrove curriculum in the country. The award was given during a Coastal Clean-Up event in Cirebon in mid-February. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar was present.

“Through the curriculum, knowledge on mangrove will be continuously handed down. Today, not many are involved in planting mangroves and the destruction is uncontrolled. Why? Because only the parents grow mangroves while the children know nothing about them,” mangrove curriculum team member Hendra Gunawan said.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry researcher said he hoped the mangrove school initiative would spread to other cities and regencies in the coastal area, especially as abrasion persisted. In the book Karangsong Mangrove for Life Investment published by PT Pertamina in 2016, it is said that more than 2,153 hectares of coastal region had disappeared through abrasion.

Seawater intrusion has reached more than 17 kilometers, as can be seen in the coastal regions of Juntinyuat, Dadap and Tirtamaya. Coastal rice fields have also disappeared due to abrasion. Indramayu has 144 kilometers of coast, with communities depending on sea resources.

Mangroves have always blossomed along Indramayu’s coast. More than 10 years ago, its mangrove area reached 17,782 hectares. However, the West Java Statistics Agency said that only 12,706 hectares of mangrove area was left in 2016. The destroyed area reached 9,191 hectares.

Land conversion for fishponds and residences led to disappearances of mangrove areas. “The peak was in the 1990s, at the heyday of tiger shrimp cultivation. At the time, it could be sold at Rp 30,000 per kilogram,” said Makrus, 48, a Karangsong resident and Pantai Lestari cofounder.

Since 2009, Pantai Lestari has purchased 15 hectares of land in phases for mangroves. “The goal is to prevent further land conversion. The Karangsong village administration has also created a village regulation on mangrove protection areas to prevent further sales of coastal regions,” he said.

Now, Karangsong is not only a mangrove research site for students but also a tourist destination. Makrus said that, ever year, tourism in Karangsong contributed Rp 31 million to Indramayu’s revenue.

Observing the development of mangrove schools, the SDN 1 Pasekan teacher said, “Concerns that mangroves will be cut down have gone down.”