Failed mangrove tourism project in Sumatra highlights need for community collaboration

The Sumatra-based NGO Yagasu (Yayasan Gajah Sumatera) began assisting the Sicanang mangrove rehabilitation project in 2015. At the time, 895 of the 1,550 hectares (2,212 of 3,830 acres) within the village boundary remained mangroves.

In Indonesia, every hectare of mangrove counts. The country is estimated to have lost some 40% of its mangroves over the past 30 years. On the east coast of North Sumatra, research indicates some 60% of mangroves were damaged between 1977 and 2006. And Yagasu looked well positioned to help Sicanang preserve its forests. Operating since 2001, the organization has worked with communities across northern Sumatra to plant more than 30 million mangrove trees.

With support from Yagasu, people from Belawan Sicanang village agreed with the government to designate 178 hectares (440 acres) as a community-based mangrove protection area. Yagasu helped set up silvofishery ponds, which allow fish and shrimp harvesting to coexist with mangrove seedlings. Local people were trained in processing and managing mangrove products, a nature school with a mangrove-themed curriculum taught English to local children, and a tourism pavilion was built.