Children of Indonesian fisherman participate in drawing competition at a beach that previously was partly mangrove forest, in Jakarta bay on February 16, 2008. There is less than 150 hectares of mangrove remaining around Jakarta, after authorities in Jakarta launched reclamation pro-grams in the 1980s for development programs. Mangroves protect the coast from erosion due to tides, storm surges, tsunamis and the likes as well as supporting unique ecosystems.

印尼漁民子女2月16日正在雅加達灣的海灘上參加寫生比賽，這處海灘原來有一部分是紅樹林。在雅加達當局於1980年發起復育計畫後，目前雅加達大約僅剩不到150公頃紅樹林。紅樹林可以保護海岸不致因浪潮、暴風雨的洶湧波濤、海嘯等類似的天然災害而使土壤流失，還可保護獨特的生態體系。

As an archipelagic state with 17,000 islands, Indonesia should maintain its mangrove forests. Should this fact be ignored, ecologic disasters such as sea abrasion and flooding will be in-evitable. These disasters may take hu-man lives and inflict very substantial material losses, furthermore, damages to the ecosystem. Indonesia makes up no less than 30% of the world's man-grove forests. Mangrove forests are the breeding ground and the habitat for marine animals such as shrimps, fish and crabs. In addition, mangrove forests can protect the coastal areas from abrasion and protect the fisher-men's houses and their boats from storms and wild giant waves.

印尼為群島國家，由一萬七千個島嶼組成，因此更應保護其紅樹林。如果置之不理，生態災難，例如海洋磨蝕和洪澇將無可避免。這些災難將造成人命傷亡，同時造成大量物質損失，對生態系統傷害尤大。全球至少有三成紅樹林在印尼。紅樹林也是海洋生物，像魚蝦蟹等的繁殖地和棲息地。此外，紅樹林除可保護海岸線不到磨蝕流失，並可保護漁民的房子和船隻，不致遭到狂風巨浪侵襲。

Ironically, the Indonesia govern-ment does not realize the fact. Up to year 2003, about 13,200 ha of land had changed to become industrial zones. Hence, Indonesia's mangrove forests are now in the brink of critical situa-tion. If no action taken, threats of coastal abrasion that has affected 750 villages along the country's coastal lines from 1996-1999 may materialize.

諷刺的是，印尼政府不了解這個事實。到2003年，約13,200公頃地已被轉移成工業區，而使印尼紅樹林如今情況危殆，再不採取行動，1996至1999年因海岸磨蝕而使750個漁村受影響的威脅將會重現。

Due to extension of large-scale shrimp farm industries by 14% in In-donesia, the total area of mangrove forests also shrinks. In 1982 for ex-ample, the total area of Indonesia's mangrove forest was 4.2 million hectares, but in line with the expan-sion of shrimp farm industries, the country's mangrove forest has reduced to 1.9 million hectares in 2007. This decrease gives bad impact to the e-cosystem and the livelihood of the coastal communities.

印尼大型鮮蝦養殖業擴張14%，也使紅樹林所占全部面積縮小。以1982年為例，印尼紅樹林總面積是420萬公頃，但隨著蝦場擴張，到 2007年只剩190萬公頃。面積縮小對生態系統和海岸居民的生計影響至鉅。

Asia suffered the largest net loss of mangroves since 1980, with more than 1.9m ha destroyed, mainly due to changes in land use.

自1980年以來，亞洲紅樹林損失淨值最大，逾190萬公頃地被毀，主要是因地目變更。