Demak to Tackle Coastline Erosion

Ten community leaders have signed agreements to help further restore their severely eroded coastline during a high level event organised by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) of Indonesia and the public private Consortium Building with Nature (BwN) in Demak.

At the multi-stakeholder event, the Dutch embassy in Indonesia and the Governor of Central Java handed over the so-called ‘Bio-rights’ contracts to 10 community groups in 9 villages within Demak district, Central Java.

“I was excited waiting for the support through the Bio-rights contract. I realize that our community must work hard and collaborate to make sustain our environment through the Building with Nature measures” conveyed Pak Musthofa, the Chair of Wedung community group, one of the signatories of the contract.

So far, the Consortium has reported positive progress of their hybrid engineering measures and good sedimentation rates in the first year.

Femke Tonneijck, program manager of Wetlands International: “Radical decisions need to be made about the future of this area. A paradigm shift is needed, from addressing symptoms to addressing root causes at the landscape level.”

Tonneijck concluded that the subsidence problems in the area need to be urgently addressed in order to protect Demak and its communities.