Yagasu – In Collaboration with Village Government and Communities, Yagasu Conducted Inventory of Mangrove Forests in 4 Villages in North Sumatra
Yagasu (Yayasan Gajah Sumatra), in collaboration with the village government and communities, supported by GMT (Global Mangrove Trust), conducted inventory research of mangrove forests in 4 villages, including Pulau Kampai, Pangkalan Siata, Halaban, and Salahaji located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The project was carried out from November 2022 until January 2023.
Forest inventory is the systematic collection of data and forest information for assessment or analysis. The research aims to assess the current status of the mangrove forests, including species, density, height, humidity, and the pH of water and soil.
Under the coordination of our Research and Monitoring Division, the research team has successfully measured 289 plots in total across the four villages. It is hoped that the data obtained would lay the ground for analysis and planning, constituting the basis for sustainable mangrove forest management.
Yagasu – Yagasu in collaboration with DAAI TV and PT. SPI, Planted Mangrove Trees in Tanjung Rejo, North Sumatra
In collaboration with DAAI TV and PT Sumatera Timberindo Industri, Yagasu planted 381 mangrove trees around an ecotourism site in Tanjung Rejo, North Sumatra on Saturday, 6 May 2023. This activity was held to commemorate earth day 2023.
Yagasu is an Indonesian-based NGO with over 20 years of experience in community-based mangrove restoration in coastal ecosystems. The organization’s programs include climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental education, and economic empowerment through green livelihood initiatives. In collaboration with local communities, Yagasu has successfully planted over 30 million mangrove trees in 12.300 hectares of degraded area.
The mangrove planting aimed to restore the degraded area as well as increase the community awareness of mangrove ecosystem conservation in the mangrove ecotourism site which is located in Tanjung Rejo Village, North Sumatra.
The team chose the planting site because it was identified as degraded land that needed mangrove restoration. Besides planting mangroves, Yagasu, Daai TV, and PT. STI also distributed trash cans to the local community group that manages the mangrove ecotourism.
The team and the community also painted and cleaned the facilities around the area. It is hoped that this initiative will enhance the community’s awareness of ecotourism protection and conservation as part of green livelihoods that will benefit nature and the people.
Yagasu – Research and Monitoring Division of Yayasan Gajah Sumatra (Yagasu) conducted research on carbon stocks in mangrove forests in 4 villages in Langkat Regency, North Sumatra in September and October 2021.
Research on carbon stocks as described by Yagasu’s Research and Monitoring Manager, Grace Yanti Panjaitan, is one of regular work programs of the research and monitoring division. Grace explained that carbon stock is the average value of carbon stored in plant bodies and soil which generally uses units of tonC per Ha. The stored carbon stock is determined by several factors, including trunk circumference (diameter), height, species density, soil type and tree age. “The more carbon stored in a tree, the better the air quality in the environment, and it can cope with global climate change,” she said.
This research involved Yagasu’s monitoring staffs, village officials, students, local communities, Langkat Forestry Service and international researchers. This project was carried out in 4 villages spread across Langkat Regency, North Sumatra, including: in Pulau Kampai Village as many as 55 plots out of 1,035, 76 Ha, in Pangkalan Siata Village with 36 plots out of 876, 88 Ha, and in Halaban with 12 plots and in Salahaji Village with 15 plots out of 252, 51 Ha.
(Yagasu’s research team was collecting soil sample in Mangrove forest in Pulau Kampai Village, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra)
In regard to the selected research location, Yagasu proposed that these 4 villages have preserved mangrove forests, various species of mangroves, and varying levels of density, either high, medium, or low. Therefore, this area can represent the existing mangrove forest and is suitable as an object of research.
The output of the research is to get the value of biomass and carbon stocks that obtained from the field measurement, then will be proceeded to be color gradient, graphic and table data sets that can be used to analyze the carbon stock from satellite image with machine learning non-linear method.
“We hope that through this research which is funded by the Global Mangrove Trust (GMT) and KUMI, we can provide scientific information about the spatial distribution of carbon values in each mangrove forest. The data is useful as a reference for development of environmental policy to mitigate the global climate change,” she added. She also stated that the wider the mangrove forest that is maintained, the greater its ability to absorb carbon.
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About Yagasu
Yagasu (Yayasan Gajah Sumatra) is a Non-Governmental Organization with over 21 years of practical experiences on biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation, capacity building, environmental education and local economic reconstruction through the facilitation of generating income for local communities on green livelihoods. Established on July 17, 2001, the organization initial concern was Sumatra’s elephant conservation. In 2006, Yagasu changed its management structure and officially registered with Yagasu Aceh as its legal name. In recent years, yagasu has been focused on restoring mangrove restoration, environment and climate change, and local community empowerment in Aceh, North Sumatra, East Java, and Wet Java Province.
Yagasu has planted mangroves in Sumatra covering 25 districts along the 1.820 km coastline. Mangroves, which are planted in coastal areas by Yagasu has benefits as protection for coastal communities whose areas they live are prone to natural disasters.
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