Did you know that Indonesia has a lot of islands? Indonesia is known as an archipelago country. It has many islands and also a big amount of water like the sea. There’s a lot of great scenery provided by the sea and seashore. The combination between a great view and calming waves sound while you were eating your ice cream and fresh coconut was so good, right? But, can you imagine?, what if there’s no more that kind of scenery for ten years forward? It would be very terrible because it can be guaranteed that you can’t eat ice cream and fresh coconut in the seashore because of the degradation of the land.
But you don’t need to worry about it too much. There’s a magic plant. It’s the only plant that can grow in saltwater. Yes, it’s Mangrove. It’s not odd to hear. It’s a great plant that takes a role as a guardian of the shore, or maybe you can call it “Shorekeepers.” Let’s go check out what mangroves are:
1.The great shorekeepers: The beauty of islands that Indonesia has needed to be protected carefully, and this is the job of the Shorekeepers! Mangroves help to protect islands from the dangers of the sea. Mangroves aren’t just wild trees that appear in the seashore, one thing that you should realize is everything in nature has a role to play and mangroves play a role as Shorekeepers or the great guardian!
2. Can do something that no species can: Mangroves live and grow in saltwater. For instance, they have a great system, two sets of roots above the water and pop-up roots. The roots allow the tree to breathe and the excess salts are absorbed thrown up from the roots and the leaf.
3. Daycare for babies: Humans who need daycare services to take care of their children during the daytime, fish also need it! Mangrove plants with high food availability and higher oxygen made numerous marine species use mangroves during the after-born phase. Juveniles are more likely to evade predation from larger animals when they are covered in the thickets of mangrove roots. When the mangrove sanctuary is no longer needed, these creatures wander into the adjacent reefs or the open ocean. In this way, mangroves serve as an essential source of replenishment for portions of the ocean’s fish supply.
4. As a fighter and vacuum cleaner for air and water pollution: Carbon emission caused unstable ecosystems and caused global warming. Can you guys imagine what happens if the earth’s temperature goes to 60 degrees Celsius? Not only cooked eggs but our skin can be harmed by the temperature as well. But we have mangroves! With the vast amount of carbon and clean air, they are also vacuum cleaners that can stop chemicals and danger and harm metals which are pumped into the sea daily because of plant waste. Mangroves save the coral reef and all marine life!
But unfortunately, one thing that you should know is people cutting them down for residential purposes. Industrial pollution is increasing day by day but mangroves are also decreasing day by day. The number of mangroves that fall every time threatens their very survival. A lot of people don’t know their importance, or they are just greedy and selfish. They might have realized that if mangroves decrease and even disappear, there are no Shorekeepers to protect the land again. But actually, we can do something! We can tell people as much as we can that mangroves are essential for the world. And a piece of good news, many groups, communities, and NGOs move and give action toward mangrove protection, one of them is Mangrove Jakarta.ID. They are working hard to spread knowledge, awareness and encourage mangrove replanting among people, especially those living close to mangroves. It would sound great if we, as a young generation, contribute to spreading awareness of this. You can start with small things by sharing this article, for instance, or if you want something bigger, support Mangrove Jakarta to replant and spread awareness about mangroves.
Editor: Paundra Hanutama
Writer: Nanda