PRESS RELEASE : Permeable Structure Handover to Local Communities of Three Villages in Demak District
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Coastal resilience
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Coastal wetland conservation
Today is a good day for the local people of Bedono, Surodadi, and Timbulsloko, because today the handover ceremony will take place of the permeable structures that are constructed as part of the Building with Nature program.
The ceremony will take place in Timbulsloko village. Around 1,600 m of the permeable structure were constructed by the local community through a contractor, CV Bagiyat. The local people were intensively involved in the construction, which started in September 2017, and is completed in June 2018. Aside from time and labor that were channeled through the contractor, the local people has also contributed their local wisdom and practical inputs throughout the construction process of the permeable structures.
The structures were built to catch sediment landward of the structures. As soon as the sediment is high enough, it will become a habitat for mangroves, which will recolonize naturally as mangrove seedlings are abundantly available in the area. Once the mangrove trees are fully grown, the mangrove green belt will protect the area behind it from coastal erosion. It will also reduce salt water intrusion and other negative impacts of climate change. To date, more and more of the local communities already realize the importance of keeping the mangrove green belt intact and healthy.
Now that the construction of permeable structures is completed, further management of the structures from today on will be fully handed over to the local communities of Bedono, Surodadi, and Timbulsloko through each of their village governments. The village government will oversee the actual day-to-day management of the structure, including further construction (if any), monitoring of the existing structures’ effectiveness, and maintenance. All these will be implemented by the local community group in each of the three villages that had signed the BioRights contracts back in October 2017.
Since end of 2015, the Building with Nature program has been working closely with the local community of Demak district mainly to restore the mangrove green belt, while at the same time identify and develop potential alternative livelihood for the local people. Applying an integrated risk management strategy, the BwN program engaged with 10 community groups across 9 villages along the northern coast of Demak. It is in fact a good example of effective collaboration between the government, private sector, non-governmental environment organization, and academia under the EcoShape consortium with the local government and local people of Demak.