RESTORASI HUTAN MANGROVE TERDEGRADASI BERBASIS MASYARAKAT LOKAL - Syaiful Eddy; Iskhaq Iskhaq Iskandar; Moh. Rasyid Ridho; Andy Mulyana (Indobiosains, 2019)
Mangrove forests are the main ecosystem of life support in coastal areas that have important ecological functions.Although the mangrove forests have many important functions in the coastal areas but excessive used and not oriented to sustainabilitycause degradation of mangrove forest ecosystems. The main cause of mangrove forests degradation in the world is due to anthropogenic influences such as agricultural activities, plantations, fish and shrimp ponds, settlements, loggings (legal logging and illegal logging), pollution, mining and salt ponds. Therefore, local community participation is needed tocontrolthe utilization of mangrove forests. In addition, local people living in coastal areas are at the forefront in mangrove forests restoration because they require the existence of sustainable mangrove forest and have local wisdom that has been tested. Ecological functions and economic functions of mangrove forest ecosystems can be maintained through increasing public awareness of the importance of preservation, in order to reach the optimization and sustainability of the mangrove forests. The local communityparticipation should be supported by government, NGOs and researchers/academics.Hutan mangrove merupakan ekosistem utama pendukung kehidupan di wilayah pesisir yang memiliki fungsiekologisyang penting. Walaupun hutan mangrove memiliki banyak fungsi penting di wilayah pesisir namun sering kali pemanfaatan yang berlebihan dan tidak berorientasi pada keberlanjutan telah menyebabkan degradasi terhadap ekosistem hutan mangrove. Penyebab utama degradasi hutan mangrove di dunia adalah akibat pengaruh antropogenik berupa aktivitas pertanian, perkebunan, tambak ikan dan udang, pembangunan pemukiman, penebangan kayu (legal logging dan illegal logging), pencemaran, pertambangan dan tambak garam.Oleh karena itu peran serta masyarakat lokal sangat diperlukan dalam upaya mengontrol laju penggunaan hutan mangrove. Disamping itu, masyarakat lokal yang hidup di wilayah pesisir merupakan ujung tombak dalam merestorasi kawasan hutan mangrove karena mereka membutuhkan keberadaan hutan mangrove yang lestari serta memiliki kearifan lokal yang telah teruji. Fungsi ekologis dan ekonomis ekosistem hutan mangrove dapat dipelihara melalui peningkatan kesadaran masyarakat akan pentingnya pelestarian, sehingga tercapai optimalisasi dan keberlanjutan pengelolaan kawasan tersebut. Peran masyarakat tersebut harus pula didukung oleh peran pemerintah, LSM dan peneliti/akademisi.