Nilai Ekonomi Hutan Bakau

Oleh Harry Jusron

Kepala Bidang Indikator Sistem Iptek Nasional Kementerian Negara Riset dan Teknologi

Pesisir pantai Pulau Jawa adalah contoh paling nyata dari keserakahan manusia. Setiap tahun, hutan bakau di Pulau Jawa terus menyusut akibat ulah manusia, baik dibabat untuk kepentingan pertambakan maupun untuk pembangunan perumahan-perumahan mewah, dengan berbagai fasilitas di dalamnya.

Pada 1997 saja, luas hutan mangrove di Pulau Jawa sudah tinggal 19.077 hektare (ha) atau hanya tersisa sekitar 11,1956. Penyusutan terbesar terjadi di Jawa Timur, dari luasan 57.500 ha menjadi hanya 500 ha (8%), kemudian di Jawa Barat, dari 66.500 ha tinggal kurang dari 5 ribu ha.

Sedangkan di Jawa Tengah, tinggal 13.577 ha, dari 46.500 ha (tinggal 29%). Sementara itu, luas tambak di Pulau Jawa adalah 128.740 ha, yang tersebar di Jawa Barat (50.330 ha), Jawa Tengah (30.497 ha), dan di Jawa Timur (47.913 ha).


Untung dan Buntung
Dalam satu dekade terakhir ini, penyusutan hutan bakau tidak hanya terjadi akibat pembukaan lahan untuk pertambakan, tapi lebih karena daya tarik ekonomi yang menjanjikan. Setiap tahun, ratusan ribu hektare hutan bakau dibabat dan diubah menjadi taman rekreasi atau perumahan mewah, dengan berbagai fasilitasnya yang juga tak kalah wah-nya, seperti lapangan golf dan pusat-pusat perbelanjaan.

Siapa yang mendapatkan keuntungan terbesar dari berubahnya hutan bakau menjadi perumahan mewah? Pertama, tentu saja pengembang. Dengan kepemilikan lahan kosong yang siap bangun, para pengembang bisa dengan gampang menjualnya dengan harga jutaan rupiah per meter persegi. Harga tersebut bisa berlipat bila di atas

SMA 1 Sendana: Environment Class

Nature Appreciation

·         Get students interested in the environment by exposing them to the beauty and complexity of nature. Take a walk to a nearby park, forest or pond and give students time to explore the area. Have students find a spot on their own and sit quietly for some time (the length depends on their age). You could ask them to take a notebook and write a journal entry, a poem or just take notes on their observations. If you can't go for a field trip, bring some plants and animals (an ant or worm farm, for example) into the classroom for students to observe and care for.

Crafts

·         Nature is inherently beautiful, and you can bring that into the classroom with arts and crafts projects using items from nature or benefiting nature. In autumn, go outside and collect colorful leaves to use in a collage. You can also press the leaves between the pages of a book - don't forget to line them with wax paper. In winter, make snow or ice sculptures. Turn recycled objects into art projects. Teach students to dry flowers. You could have students collect pretty stones to paint. Have students sketch or paint things they found outdoors or specimens you've brought to the classroom.

 

Eco-friendly Classroom

·         Get your students to participate in "greening" the classroom. Set up a compost bin where students can put the organic waste from their snacks or lunches. They can observe it turning into dirt, which they can then put in the school garden or a classroom planting project. Make a reuse bin to put beside your recycle bin. Use it for scrap paper, containers or art supplies that can be reused. Have a waste free lunch week, to encourage your students to use plastic containers and bottles for their food instead of disposable wrappers. This will also help them to eat healthy fresh food instead of processed packaged food.

Projects

·         Move from observation to action with some environmental projects. Science projects can be used to teach specific concepts about nature, or creative projects can get students active on an environmental issue. Some science projects might include indoor sprouting to see germination, dissecting insects, feeding a flower with colored water to see the petals change color, making a weather vane or tracking weather changes, making paper or even making a solar oven. Creative projects could include making Earth Day posters, a letter writing campaign to local businesses or politicians for better environmental practices or greening initiatives for the school.

Games

·         Games can be used to teach something about the environment or just to get connected with nature and have fun outdoors. If you can get to a forest or wooded area, you can play the tree hugger game. In partners, one student is blindfolded and the other will lead them to a tree. The blindfolded student has one minute to hug the tree, feel the bark, smell it and experience it. The partner will then lead him away and take off the blindfold. The student then has to try to find their tree. Another activity that can be done on school grounds is a scavenger hunt, geared to your class' age group and interests.

  

Mangrove project reconnects Ronaldo and tsunami survivor

It was a sweet and unexpected reunion between world soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and Martunis, a survivor of the 2004 Aceh tsunami, on Wednesday.

Ronaldo, nicknamed CR7, came to the resort island as an ambassador for the Mangrove Care Forum Bali.

“It’s great to see him again. He looks the same. I wish him the best,” the Portuguese soccer celebrity said about Martunis.

The Acehnese, now 15, was dragged out to sea and swept into a mangrove swamp. Wearing a red and green Portuguese soccer jersey with Ronaldo’s name on it, Martunis survived on puddle water and dried noodles and was rescued 19 days later and reunited with his father and grandfather.

His story attracted European media attention. In 2008, Ronaldo visited him in Aceh in 2008 and financed his education.

“I am privileged to be able to play a role in conserving mangroves in Indonesia. I was in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami and the devastation I saw left a deep impression. I understand that in places where there were mangroves to provide a natural buffer against high waves, more lives were saved and less damage sustained,” Ronaldo said.

“I’m not paid [for being an ambassador]. I am doing this because I like to help the people, the children, the Earth and I think it’s great.”

The Real Madrid star said he was honored to return to Indonesia on this environmental mission.

Ronaldo joined in with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to plant mangroves at Telaga Waja, Benoa Bay. The area is part of the 1,373-hectare Ngurah Rai People’s Forest Park, the largest mangrove forest in Bali and an area that suffers from severe pollution, deforestation and littering.

The forum is expected to involve local communities in the clean up and creation of a safe environment for plants and marine life.

Data from the Forestry Ministry’s Unda Anyar river flow management showed around 253 hectares of the forest was damaged, largely due to land conversion and pollution.

Driven by concern over the alarming condition of the mangrove forest, community empowerment agencies and village chiefs for Tanjung Benoa, Benoa Jimbaran, Tuban and Kedonganan established the forum in April, with support from the Artha Graha Peduli Foundation.

Members of the forum are responsible for maintenance, preservation, planting, rehabilitation of degraded land and mangrove development, as well as holding social activities and community empowerment.

“We have learned much from our 16 years conserving Tambling’s mangroves [in South Bukit Barisan National Park in Lampung]. With the same passion and commitment, we aim to save the mangrove forest in Benoa Bay,” foundation founder Tomy Winata said, adding that protecting mangroves would also protect the livelihood of many villagers.

On the sidelines of the event, Yudhoyono received a jersey which was emblazoned with “SBY” and Ronaldo’s favorite number “7” and signed by the player. First Lady Ani Yudhoyono also received a jersey emblazoned with name “Ani” and signed by Ronaldo.

MANGROVE ON ROCK