Mangrove Loss in Lampung Leaves Environment in Ruins and Local Communities in Peril

Problems associated with the ongoing shrimp farm expansion around an area where one of the largest shrimp farms in the world was built. (18 May 2007) Jakarta Post

Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from an article originally published in the Jakarta Post, written by Oyos Saroso H.N., Mangrove Loss in Lampung Leaves Environment in Ruins and Local Communities in Peril. The article reveals the many problems associated with the ongoing shrimp farm expansion around Lampung, an area where one of the largest shrimp farms in the world was built.

18 May 2007

According to the author, logging of mangrove trees by shrimp farmers in coastal areas of Lampung poses a serious threat to both traditional and modern shrimp farms. "Lampung Maritime and Fisheries Office data indicate that...60 per cent of the mangrove forest along coastal Lampung, are badly damaged."

Along the coast of East Lampung, mangrove clearing is causing serious coastal erosion in a number of areas. According to the article, "In South Lampung regency, traditional shrimp farmers are facing difficulties obtaining seawater for their ponds. In coastal areas in Tulangbawang regency, the logging of mangroves and the destruction of buffer zones have threatened the existence of modern aquaculture companies, such as PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja (DCD) and PT Central Pertiwi Bahari (CPB). Around 3,000 hectares of mangrove swamp around PT DCD shrimp farm have been felled -- an area approximately 27 km long and 300 to 700 m wide."

In citing the Director of the Lampung chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, Mukri Friatna, it is noted that mangrove forest destruction continued unabated and conservation efforts were seriously impeded by funding shortages and a lack of environmental awareness, among both residents and the State.

Mukri states that "traditional farmers whose farms are located near PT DCD recently lost hundreds of tons of ready-to-harvest shrimp due to poison flowing from the river. The spread of toxins could have been minimized if the mangrove swamps still existed."

Environmental degradation in Lampung, as a result of mangrove wetland destruction is not only detrimental to shrimp farmers and residents living along the east coast of Sumatra, but is also causing "coastal abrasion."

"Without the buffer zone that mangrove swamps and forests provide, coastal communities in South Lampung, Bandarlampung and Tanggamus are at risk in the event of a tsunami, especially those communities around Lampung Bay and South Lampung if Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait erupts," according to Mukri. He also claimed that the amount of remaining mangrove forest in Lampung can be now measured in the hundreds of hectares.

"Mangrove forests in a number of coastal areas in Lampung are now in critical condition. Data from Mitra Bentala, an environmental group concerned with coastal communities and mangrove conservation, indicate that only 5 to 20 per cent of mangrove forests remain in particular coastal areas, and some have totally vanished. Mitra Bentala director Herza Yulianto predicted more natural disasters without concerted efforts to revitalize coastal areas."

Source: Jakarta Post