Indonesian govt to recover 30 hectares of mangroves in North Sumatra

Langkat, N Sumatra, June 11 (Antara) -- The Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs will rehabilitate 30 hectares of mangrove forests in Lubuk Kertang village in West Brandan sub-district, Langkat district, North Sumatra province. "If the rehabilitation of the mangrove forests is done swiftly, they will be green again and have positive impacts on the development of aquatic life such as fish, shrimp, crab, and scallops," the acting head of the Langkat Fisheries and Marine Affairs Office, Tajruddin Lubis, said here on Thursday. Mangroves are also beneficial for fishermen as it helps to increase their revenue from a growing amount of marine biota. This time, a number of fishermen's groups took steps to recover mangrove lands. "There are tens of thousands of mangrove trunks planted in areas in Lubuk Kertang," Azhar Kasim, a fisherman, said. Mangroves are regions where oceans and freshwater sources meet land. Indonesia has large coastal zones that are rich in a variety of coastal vegetation such as mangrove forests. In fact, the country has the largest mangrove forests in the world, covering an area of 3.2 million hectares. However, since the mid 1980s, a large part of Indonesia's coastal zones has been severely damaged due to conversion into aquaculture sites and other reasons.