Pejarakan, Bali, December 2020
In 2020, A Tree For You in association with PUR Projet, has planted 5000 mangroves with the community of the Pejarakan village in Bali. Between July and October 2020, the community collective Nature Conservation Forum (NCF) Putri Menjangan, beneficiaries of the project, have coordinated the cleaning of the 4 areas where the plantations occurred. The monitoring of the plantation has been completed in December 2020.
Cleaning activities to increase the survival rate and raise awareness among the community
A close maintenance and monitoring after the plantations are important to ensure the growth and development of the seedlings and higher their survival rate.
Efforts are mainly directed at cleaning up waste and plastic debris on the planted plots. The garbage that is washed off to the planted area could cover, hook or get caught in the mangrove seedlings, which could lead to breaking or pulling the seedlings from the ground.
The local team is also putting warning signs on the banks of mangrove plantations, removing organisms that may interfere with the growth of the mangroves (algae and snails) and conducting ongoing informal awareness activities by involving the community.
Between July and October, the NCF Putri Menjangan team went 5 times on the field to coordinate the cleaning of the parcel and surrounding areas.
The team involved the local community and Youth Group (Karang Taruna) while sharing information regarding the benefits of restoring the mangrove to empower them in conserving the area on a long term.
Warning signs on parcels have also been installed. The team is especially focusing on the fishermen and -women community as well as people collecting shellfish/gastropods/mollusks as they often come close to the area. If not appropriately sensitized these people could harm the mangrove by leaving plastic debris and waste. They can also be very helpful since gastropods (sea snails) is one of the pests for mangrove seedlings.
Monitoring the parcels to check the growth of the mangroves and define a mitigation plan
Mid-December 2020, PUR Projet’s local staff and NCF Putri Menjangan went on the field to conduct the first monitoring of the mangroves. It consists in counting the number of surviving mangroves, observing the situation and discussing the survival factors.
The survival rate on the A Tree For You parcels is slightly higher than in other parcels (75 %). One reason for this is that the plot is better protected from the influence of waves hitting the shore. The local team will replace the deceased seedlings during a new planting wave planned between April and June 2021, to reach the aim of 5,000 planted and long lasting mangroves.
NFC Putri Menjangan continues its work to implement mitigation action to improve the survival rates: they install bamboo sticks on each planted mangrove and have placed warning boards on the banks of planted plots.
The outcome of this project, carried out in partnership with A Tree for You and PUR Projet, will allow the NFC Putri Menjangan team to prioritise areas that are better protected from waves and fishermen for future planting.
