By: Chik Rini

Visiting Lam Ujung Village in Aceh Besar, one would never have guessed that the village on the coast of Aceh Besar Regency was almost flattened 11 years ago when it was hit by tsunami waves. The devastating disaster swept away most of the buildings and trees in the village. Not to mention the grove of mangrove trees surrounding the village, which is famous for its shrimp ponds.

But now, the village is green again with mangrove trees that have even reached 3 meters in height. This is thanks to Azhar, a resident of Lam Ujung. Azhar is over 45 years old. His skin is jet black from years of working in the heat to plant mangrove seedlings. Azhar and his family survived the tsunami. When he became a refugee and lived in a temporary shelter barracks in his village, Azhar did not feel at home.

On his own initiative he began to go down to the destroyed ponds looking for mangrove fruit from the few remaining trees. He brought the mangroves back to the barracks and began to seed them. When the first seedlings sprouted Azhar planted the mangrove seedlings himself without the help of anyone else. "People in the village said I was crazy because when people were looking for money I was collecting mangrove fruit instead," Azhar recalled.

Azhar's seedlings gradually increased in the barracks. Until one day in 2007, an NGO that was looking for mangrove seedlings for a post-tsunami coastal rehabilitation program saw the seedlings Azhar had planted in the Lam Ujung refugee barracks. Azhar was invited to join the reforestation program. The seedlings were purchased by the NGO to be planted not only in Aceh Besar district, but also in Aceh Jaya, Pidie Jaya and Bireuen districts.

"At that time I planted hundreds of thousands of seedlings. Because there was already a lot of demand, I invited the women in my village to help so that economically they were greatly helped," said Azhar.

Azhar has cared about the environment since he was a teenager. He used to collect mangrove seeds to plant around his pond. The pond farmers are happy because the presence of manrove trees increases pond production.

One of the NGOs that Azhar has partnered with is WWF Indonesia for coastal rehabilitation in Aceh after the tsunami. Because of his concern, WWF Indonesia recommended Azhar as a runner who participated in carrying the Beijing Olympic torch in 2007 with Indonesian figures and artists in Jakarta.

Since 2013 Azhar has again become a partner of WWF Indonesia for the New Baby Mangrove program. WWF Indonesia with the support of Tuppareware and BCA has planted 40 thousand mangrove seedlings on the coast of Aceh Besar.

Through the women's group that he fosters, Azhar has restored critical land around Aceh Besar. They planted 15 thousand seedlings. Azhar is also obliged to take care of them. In addition to fostering her group, Azhar also assists other women's groups such as NGO Annisa Centre and Earth Hour Aceh who are also involved in the New Baby Mangrove program. Azhar teaches them how to properly plant and care for mangroves.

"The community is happy with this program. Because they are very dependent on the existence of mangroves, because in the roots of the tree will grow oysters and fish spawn. Pond production also becomes good because fish and shrimp grow well," said Azhar.

Now, the mangroves that Azhar planted years ago have grown big. Lam Ujung Village is green again. The ponds are productive again. Azhar is proud of the trees because they have proven to be very beneficial to the community.

For more information, please watch the video documentary "Ta pula Bangka, Ta Ceugah Bencana".