Indonesia has more mangroves than any other country, but there is growing concern about "dangerous" levels of mangroves being cut down, turned into charcoal and exported to countries including Europe, China and Japan. The people involved in this work know that trees are important to the environment and want to stop the work, but they see no other way to survive.
In a log cabin near his home in Borneo, Nurhadi keeps two stoves burning year-round. No less than a dozen people work for this 68-year-old man.
Four men cut the firewood collected in the mangroves, while the others threw the stove made of earth and stones. After burning, the wood is cooled and packaged, ready for sale.
Mangrove wood is very hard and dense, but not too strong, making it ideal for making charcoal and excellent for barbecuing. However, it is a process that requires many resources and is low performance.
Of sixteen tons of raw materials only three tons of coal are obtained. "If the production is less than three tons, it will be a loss," Nurhadi said. Factoring in expenses, he figures he earns only $1,250 a year.
"Cutting down mangroves is pointless," he explained, "nobody gets rich with a coal stove." We do it to put food on our plates."
His conversation with the government representative summed up his situation. "He asked me, are you ready to get out of the coal business?" I replied: if they can provide agricultural land or other opportunities, I will resign tomorrow.
Nearly half of the 9,000 residents of Nurhadi's village in Batu Ambar rely on mangrove charcoal for their livelihood, a tradition that dates back to the 1940s. Some families, like Nurhadi's, have been doing it for generations. His father and grandfather shared the same bakery, so he assumed it was the only business he knew of.
Indonesia is home to 20% of the world's mangroves and the Norhad district, Kopa Raya district, has the largest mangrove forest in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
But the number of ovens continues to grow. In the year 2000 there were 90, today there are at least 490, and this accelerates the deforestation process.
Asyad Al-Amin, who is involved in a local research project, estimates that the Batu Ambar mangrove will last another 74 years if this continues. "All this will disappear in 2096," said the researcher from Bogor Agricultural University.
The dense expanse of mangrove forest has been reduced to the point that patches of bareness can now be seen from overhead planes.
"If no effort is made to speed up the rehabilitation process, it is dangerous. Immediate action is needed," he warned.
Mangrove forest.
Fight against climate change by reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. some do up to 10 times better than forests on Earth
Protect communities from coastal erosion, storm surges and tsunamis
Provides a tropical fish farm.
Protect coral reefs from storms and heat waves.
boost the economies of many developing countries
Source: Shipping Agency
Deep in the forest, about an hour by boat north of the village of Batu Ambar, dozens of mangroves have been cleared. The inhabitants of the banks of the river breathe the air mixed with the smoke from the rows of stoves.
There are some areas of the forest where it is legal to harvest timber, but as the number of burning sites increases, raw materials become harder to come by and loggers move to protected areas.
Between the singing of monkeys and birds, the sound of a chainsaw is clearly heard.
We talked to several people who were cutting down medium-sized mangroves. "We will not cut down large trees," says the logger, who prefers to remain anonymous because he works in a protected forest. He was wearing minimal safety equipment. "The woodcutter died because a log fell on him while he was cutting," he said. "It's a high-risk job, but my children have to eat."
The local Forest and Environmental Service noted that rules related to illegal logging are difficult to enforce.
"There are a large number of stoves and a large number of local people involved in this activity," spokesman Adi Yani said.
He also believed that if they applied the rules too rigidly, they would "probably cause a social disturbance".
Local government official Herbimo Otoyo says a "repressive crackdown on the law" was carried out several years ago against loggers and kiln owners in Batu Ambar village. However, he added, "this issue was never brought before the court, because it is considered tradition and culture."
He also said that the government had offered to teach people how to grow forest honey and produce palm sugar in an attempt to stop them from leaving the coal industry, but he admitted: “It didn't work. It's hard to stop something. It's been passed down from generation to generation."
But one of the men who got out of the coal business said the government needed to do more. "We feel alone without the support of the government," said Sohiri, 39. "If they have an agenda, maybe they will go to the village head. No one will come to us."
Ten years ago, he operated two kilns, but decided to stop when swamp fires engulfed his village in smoke. "I think if there are fires in our mangroves, we will lose," he explained.
Before the epidemic, he tried to farm mud crabs in mangroves, but his efforts failed. "I suffered a lot of damage and I owe it," he said. Now collect honey from the bees in the forest.
Sohiri plies the waters in her boat, spending hours looking for beehives ready to harvest.
When he saw it, he put on his makeshift hood, climbed up a tree, and used the smoke from burning nipa leaves to distract the bees. “There are many risks associated with collecting honey, such as mud, wild animals, snakes and crocodiles. The least risk is that you get stung by a bee”, he laughs.
If she's lucky, Sohiri can collect up to five bottles of honey a day, and a bottle of raw honey from the forest sells for $10. The prices are very good, but he says he cannot live on honey alone because "the harvest season is uncertain."
When not in the forest looking for honey, Sohiri raises sparrows, but the eggs are too expensive and they are likely to die.
Although it won't be easy, he is determined to find more than just a stove to earn money, and he hopes this will inspire others in his village to stop cutting down mangroves for charcoal.
"I have to do better... If I want people to change, I have to." He shouts.
