JAKARTA – Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expanding the green coastal zones through the program of Mangroves for Coastal Resilience (M4CR).
During a kick-off ceremony in Batubara Mangrove Park, North Sumatera, on Tuesday (9/9/2025), Minister Raja Juli announced the target of planting mangrove trees on a total area of 15,387 hectares during 2025 in four provinces, namely Riau, North Sumatera, East Kalimantan, and North Kalimantan. Also present during the kick-off ceremony was Deputy Minister of Forestry Sulaiman Umar and a number of forestry ministry staffs.
The minister said that the mangrove rehabilitation is not just a program of environment, but it is also a long term investment for coastal resilience, biodiversity protection, and sustainability of coastal people’s economy.
According to him, damages had been done to many ecosystems of mangroves because of mining, land conversion and abrasion and the M4CR stands as a national strategy to return them into their natural functions. “Through this program, we target to rehabilitate up to 41,000 hectares of mangrove forests until 2027,” he said.
In North Sumatera alone since 2024, the rehabilitation had covered a total area of 636 hectares of mangrove forests, scattering in regencies of Langkat, Deli Serdang, and Serdang Bedagai. “This year it is projected that there will be an addition of rehabilitation of 1,924 hectares, and in 2026 projected to reach a cumulative rehabilitation of 3,332 hectares,” he said.
Raja Juli cited as an example the Batubara Mangrove Park. “Previously, this area was exploited as quartz mine, resulting in serious damage to its mangrove ecosystem. But then due to planting efforts by a group of people, the abrasion is reduced and vegetation regrows in the coastal area,” he said.
“The rehabilitation of this ecosystem has proven that it needs collaboration with groups of people to ensure its success. The government can only succeed in this rehabilitation program with the active participation of the public in maintaining the mangrove forests,” said Raja Juli.
During his visit, Minister Raja July also held a dialog with groups of coastal residents, visited the seedling nursery, and took part in harvesting crabs from the community’s crab cultivation in the mangrove area. “The ecological rehabilitation should go hand in hand with the empowerment of local people’s economy,” he said. (*)
Sawitku.id. https://www.sawitku.id/konservasi/81415900638/menhut-pasang-target-rehabilitasi-mangrove-15387-hektare-di-empat-provinsi-tahun-2025. Menhut Pasang Target Rehabilitasi Mangrove 15.387 Hektare di Empat Provinsi Tahun 2025. 12 September 2025
