Project Overview
Plant a Tree Today (PATT) Indonesia, is assisting Standard Chartered Bank with their pledge to plant 2,000 mangrove trees in Indonesia. For this project, we have chosen a site in Pramuka Island, the administrative district of Thousand Island. It is part of Thousand Island National Park which includes 44 islands in the Thousand Island area. The National Park area has a high conservation value because of the type and diversity of the ecosystems there. One of conservation programs running on Pramuka Island is the conservation of the Hawksbill turtle (eretmochelys imbricata), who is prized for its shell and is now critically endangered.
Project Details
Mangrove forests are valuable ecosystems in tropical coastal areas as they are nursery areas for fish, water birds, migrating birds and some land animals such as monkeys, crocodiles, forest pigs and weasels. They also supply a number of other forest products. In addition, mangrove forests help to remove air pollution and limit coastal erosion. Humans rely on mangrove forests as well, considering they provide up to 90% of commercial fish products in some areas and protect coastal communities from saline water intrusion and storms. The catch is, mangroves are a sensitive ecosystem and are easily disturbed by human activities and natural impacts.
In November 2009, some areas of Pramuka Island were found to be contaminated with lead which had caused damage, and even killed some of the mangroves. To prevent Pramuka Island shores from further damage, the mangroves needed to be replaced. That is where we come in.
With 100 employees from Standard Chartered Bank's Group Technology & Operations department and guidance from the National Park staff, all the mangrove saplings (Rhizophora Stylosa) were planted in only one hour using the cluster distance method. Before planting, The National Park prepared 2,000 pits by filling them partly with manure and soft soil. Maintenance of the site will be supervised by both PATT Foundation and Thousand Island National Park.
For the plantation event, we also had some help with preparing the saplings from Mr. Salim, a local environmental hero that lived on Pramuka Island and was previously awarded Kalpataru (Environmental Award) from the Indonesian Government.
After the planting was complete, the group visited the Turtle Conservation area located near the planting site. The participants were excited to see the turtles, and listened eagerly to the National Park staff explain how they can also help protect the turtle from extinction. PATT would like to thank the project participants for making it such a fun and successful planting and we look forward to monitoring the progress of this project.
