By Ade Novia Putri

A simple banner that reads "Mangrove Rehabilitation Socialization" is displayed inside the hall of SD GMIT Paliboo, Kabola, Alor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. That day, Saturday, September 20, 2014, Mama Martha together with the Friendship Love Group and volunteers came to visit the children at the elementary school to share stories about coastal and marine conservation.

Alor Regency has a mangrove forest area of 9.16 square km or 0.31% of the total land use area (source: RT RW Alor Regency 2014). This is a minimal area for an archipelago with a coastline length of 287.10 km. Most people said that the area of mangrove forests continues to decline every year. "Ten years ago we could still walk up to 500 meters towards the sea because the land was lush with mangrove forests," said one Kabola resident. The issue of environmental destruction continues to spread due to ignorant hands, such as cases of sand mining, mangrove forest logging, and land clearing for boat mooring areas. In the midst of these issues, a middle-aged woman emerged who has been working on coastal and marine conservation for the past 2 years.

Martha Lotang, familiarly called Mama Martha, is the head of the Friendship Love Group who was awarded as a Women Leadership in the CTI-CFF Women Leadership Awards organized by the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). She received this award for her passion and ability to encourage people around her to rehabilitate mangroves. She has also been invited to be a Local Public Awareness Collaborator in coastal and marine resource management.

Since 2010, WWF-Indonesia began assisting the Cinta Persahabatan Group to improve the economy of fishing communities and coastal conservation. Currently, WWF-Indonesia is again assisting and facilitating Mama Martha and her group in the CTI program for coastal and marine management, such as capacity building (mangrove rehabilitation knowledge, planning activities from seeding to planting, mangrove utilization), facilitation to increase awareness of conservation, and building networks with NGOs and local government.

2 large beds were built to sow 6,000 mangrove seedlings of Rhizophora sp. and Bruguiera sp. since July 2014. To date, 34% of the total mangrove seedlings have grown a pair of leaves. To increase awareness of conservation, the Love Friendship Group in collaboration with students of the University of Tetuana-Faculty of Fisheries held a mangrove rehabilitation socialization activity held in 2 stages, on September 20 and 22, 2014, with 150 participants. The participants consisted of students from GMIT Paliboo Elementary School, Impres Wolatang Elementary School, GMIT Pulelang Elementary School, Alor photography community, Regional Work Units such as the Regional Environment Agency, Marine and Fisheries Service, Kabola Village Government, community, and Cakrawala NTT educational media.

The children were enthusiastic in participating in the socialization activities, especially when they shouted "Salam Mangrover - Semangat Mangrover" loudly when answering questions about the function of mangroves for the coastal environment. They said that they will start planting mangroves in their backyard. Mama Martha's spirit has also inspired the relevant SKPD to promote conservation for the sake of future generations. "We will support mangrove rehabilitation activities and make the Friendship Love Group nursery bed as a mangrove seed bank," said one of the BLHD staff. "Hopefully there will be another Martha-Martha tomorrow", continued some friends from the village and educational media. That day became a place to share experiences between all related parties. In the midst of the increasingly prominent issue of coastal abrasion, there are still people who care about the environment and now more and more. Hopefully there will be more people who are inspired to conserve mangroves, both in Alor Regency and other areas.