Author: Zulkarnain (Fasilitator, Aquaculture Improvement Program, WWF-Indonesia) & Idham Malik (Aquaculture Staff, WWF-Indonesia)
Translator: N. E. Syaputri

Camping in the nature is not a new activity for young people. However, youngsters from Garda Mangrove of Pinrang Regency in South Sulawesi interpret camping activity not only as an activity to reconnect with nature, but also to contribute to their sustainability.

Garda Mangrove—or translated as Mangrove Guard—is a communion of various communities that concerned about the environment in Pinrang and Pare. This movement is a form of collaboration to improve the coastal ecosystem of South Sulawesi collectively and sustainably.

Conservation Camp (3-5/11/18) was one of Garda Mangrove’s programs joint action in planting mangroves seedlings. This event was also supported by PT. Bogatama Marinusa (PT. Bomar) and WWF-Indonesia.
Mangroves are very useful to prevent coastal abrasion which can erode the shrimp pond area since they grow and widen the border of the beach. Mangroves also become a habitat to mangrove ecosystem species, such as fish, wild shrimp, shellfish, and crabs.

Currently, shrimp production in South Sulawesi is not as productive as 20 years ago. One of the reasons is because of the decrease in environmental quality, so that it cannot control the disease.

‘Connecting People to Nature’ was the theme of the activity and for 2 days there were at least 40 participants of Conservation Camp who involved in discussions on coastal environment.

Ir. Haeruddin, a lecturer of Fisheries Department at Muhammadiyah University Pare-Pare (UMP), South Sulawesi, were present to explain about the benefit of Sargassum sp waste to be used as raw material for probiotics to improve the quality of fishponds and ponds. The second speaker was a law lecturer from UMP who gave an explanation about the advocacy of coastal environment. At night, Taufik Sabir, a local community leader, led the participants in a discussion on how to organize the future of their personal growth, their group, as well as their region.

1,800 Mangrove Seedlings Greening the Coast of Wiringtasi Village, Pinrang

On the second day, Sunday, November 4, 2018, Garda Mangrove team, together with WWF-Indonesia and PT. Bomar, planted 1,800 mangrove seedlings on the coastal area around the fishponds of Wiringtasi Village, Suppa Sub-district, Pinrang regency. Garda Mangrove team carried out the planting from 10:00 AM until 02:00 PM Central Indonesian Time (WITA).

They were still vibrant to plant mangrove seedlings, even in the heat of the afternoon sun. The activity was started with a briefing from Fuad Faturrahman, the coordinator for mangroves planting, then it was continued to the division of tasks. In this case, there were those who planted sticks (mangrove retaining wood), and some planted mangroves and tied the mangroves to the sticks. These mangrove activists carried out the activity with joy, even though some complained of itching on their leg and parts of their body.
 
The planting location also became the target of plastic surveys in the future because it was the place where plastic waste would accumulate, especially bottles of mineral water which scattered around the coast. These plastic waste thought to originate from other areas, which eventually strand after being carried away by the current.

On Sunday, November 5, 2018, mangroves planting was continued on the coast of Maritengae Village, Suppa Sub-district, Pinrang Regency. Even though the coastal border was already densely packed with mangroves, the planting is still needed to increase the density of mangroves near the area of tiger shrimp and vannamei aquaculture, as well as polyculture milkfish around it. Mangroves planted in Maritengae are around 2,000 seeds.

Which area is suitable for planting mangroves?

Previously on October 26-28, 2018, mangroves planting team has assessed the locations that are suitable for planting mangroves in Pinrang. Three main recommendations were Wiringtasi Village and Maritengae Village in Suppa Sub-district, as well as the waterway of Duampanua fishpond in Pinrang. These areas were selected because they met the requirements for mangroves planting, including:

• The area for planting is indeed a mangrove area or has a history of mangrove growth;    
• In those areas, mangrove seedlings of Rhizopora have grown, which are also the type of mangrove that is going to be planted;    
• The locations of the mangroves planting are on the coastal area which has tides. They are also protected from large waves because it is a bay area (Pare-Pare bay);    
• The three places have minimal disturbance in animal pests, such as goats and cows;    
• The areas have obtained approval from local leaders and communities. The community also took the initiative to help maintaining the mangroves.
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There are 17,000 mangroves that have been planted by PT. Bomar with WWF-Indonesia assisted by the Garda Mangrove team, as well as Aquaculture Celebes Community (ACC). PT. Bomar is committed to planting as many as 60,000 mangroves as a form of 50% rehabilitation of traditional fishpond areas of tiger shrimp which are registered to obtain ASC Shrimp certification.