Jakarta – At the recent Year-End Reflection event of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), Dyah Murtiningsih, the Director General of Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation (PDASRH), highlighted significant strides in Forest and Land Rehabilitation in 2023. Despite facing the challenges posed by the El Niño phenomenon, which led to prolonged dry seasons and altered rain patterns, the ministry successfully rehabilitated 179 thousand hectares of forest and land, including 6,010 hectares of mangroves.
She explained that the accomplishment resulted from diverse financing sources, including the state budget, regional budget, private sector contributions, and non-governmental organisations. Emphasising the importance of the achievement, Murtiningsih explained how the rehabilitation efforts were framed within a watershed landscape approach, focusing on three main pillars: ecology, economy, and social aspects.
Notably, the rehabilitation activities were supported by an extensive network of nurseries across Indonesia, providing over 37.8 million seedlings, including 5.15 million productive seedlings. Three large-scale nursery centres in Liang Anggang in South Kalimantan, Kemampo in South Sumatra, and Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara play a pivotal role in these efforts, showcasing successful government-private sector collaborations.
In addressing mangrove rehabilitation specifically, the ministry utilises the National Mangrove Map and aligns its strategies with the Mangrove Road Map 2021-2030. Community involvement and empowerment are key to the implementation process, with a focus on post-rehabilitation sustainability through non-timber forest product diversification.
She mentioned geotagging and drone mapping have been used since 2022 to enhance accountability and monitor the progress of rehabilitation activities, adding the future development plans of an integrated information system for comprehensive watershed management interventions. (nsh)
