Reaching scale for coastal resilience
The initiative “Building with Nature Indonesia” aims to build stable coastlines with reduced erosion risk through a unique integration of mangrove restoration, small scale hard-engineering and sustainable land use. In doing so we enhance coastal security for 70.000 vulnerable people by avoiding further coastal flooding and erosion in Central Java and provide them with a long term perspective for sustainable economic development.
Strongly eroded coastline
30 Million people suffer from coastal flooding and erosion hazards in Northern Java, affecting 3000 villages. The problems largely result from the removal of mangrove belts for aquaculture development, unsustainable coastal infrastructure, and groundwater extraction. In some places more than 3 km of land have already been taken by the sea and entire villages have been swallowed. Many people experience a major loss in income, reaching up to 60-80% in some villages. Also the agri- and aquaculture sectors, key economic engines in Indonesia, suffer multi-billion losses.
Large scale pilot in Demak region, Central Java
The five-year programme will focus on the shoreline in Demak where sea level rise is projected to cause flooding 6km inland by 2100, inundating 14,700 hectares affecting over 70,000 people and the loss of 6000 hectares of aquaculture ponds.
Technical measures include the construction of permeable dams made of brushwood that capture sediment and help to establish a healthy sediment balance. This process is reinforced by small scale sediment nourishments. Once the near shore bed level has sufficiently risen, mangroves will regenerate naturally developing a natural water defense protecting the hinterland against flooding and further erosion.
By putting in place a model for sustainable land-use we aim to address the root causes to the erosion problems. As part of this various sustainable livelihoods activities will be initiated such as sustainable aquaculture. The measures will be governed under community bylaws and funding mechanisms and will be rooted in community development plans and integral government master planning for sustainable development.
Knowledge and upscaling
The partners aim for replication and scaling up of the Building with Mangroves approach to other rural and urban areas in Indonesia and other vulnerable muddy coastlines in the world, including through capacity building, knowledge exchange and embedding in policies and planning.
A targeted outreach campaign along with national policy dialogue contributes to the integration of the approach in the Indonesian water sector, ensuring replication in urban and rural areas.
Public-private partnership
The initiative is the leading international case of the “Building with Nature Innovation program” and is strongly supported by the Indonesian government and local communities. The Building with Nature public-private partnership aims to promote sustainable coastal engineering approaches that make use of the natural protection provided by ecosystems like mangroves, and salt marsh habitats. It represents the transition of traditional infrastructure designs that typically fight against nature, towards solutions that work with and alongside nature, which are often more cost-effective, while bringing more prosperity to the local economy such as through enhanced fisheries and carbon storage.
Building with Nature Indonesia is a programme by Ecoshape, Wetlands International, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), and the Ministry of Public Work and Human Settlement (PU), in partnership with consultancy agency Witteveen + Bos, knowledge institutes Deltares, Wageningen University & Research Centre, IMARES and UNESCO-IHE, Indonesian NGO Blue Forests, with support from the Diponegoro University, and local communities.
“Building with Mangroves” is made possible by the Dutch Sustainable Water Fund, Waterloo Foundation, Otter Foundation, Topconsortia for Knowledge and Innovation, and Mangroves for the Future.
Downloads:
Brochure: Building with Nature Indonesia
Report: Design and Engineering Plan