Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) and Mulawarman State University (Unmul) held a community training session on mangrove fostering and environmentally friendly pond management in Kutai Kartanegara District, East Kalimantan Province, recently.
The program aimed to increase public awareness in preserving the mangrove ecosystem and teach the people living around it to build eco-friendly ponds, Head of the BRGM's Education and Socialization Working Group Suwignya Utama informed.
“We hope that the people will use the knowledge gained from training to improve their economy and protect the environment. If the program succeeds, the people who have received assistance on mangrove rehabilitation can develop the pilot ponds," he said in a written statement received here on Wednesday.
The training was attended by 72 participants comprising farmers, students, and representatives from Independent Village Cares for Mangrove, he said.
For providing solutions to problems encountered in the field, BRGM established a partnership with Unmul through the university and industrial actor collaboration platform KedaiReka matching fund scheme, he said.
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The activity also aimed to show that mangrove rehabilitation will not disturb the aquaculture business, he stated. In fact, it will increase the productivity of the pond, he added.
According to him, East Kalimantan is one of the target locations for the acceleration of BRGM's mangrove rehabilitation program.
The program involves the community directly with a labor-intensive scheme, in line with the National Economic Recovery program.
Meanwhile, in 2021, the agency targets to plant trees over an area of 5,880 hectares, he disclosed. Currently, the realization has reached 76.96 percent or 4,525 hectares, he said.
Unmul lecturer and researcher Rita Diana said that the implementation of pond-based and environmental-based mangrove management will help develop silvofishery – an integrated mangrove rehabilitation as well as fish, shrimp, and crab cultivation activity.
Later, the project will become a pilot for environmentally friendly pond management with the application of smart aquaculture, she added.
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