Germany Supports Building with Nature Program in Indonesia

The German Government has granted financial support to scale up a running pilot which aims to restore the eroded coast in the district of Demak, Central Java Province, near Semarang, Wetlands International just announced.

The program furthermore supports mainstreaming and replication of Building with Nature-type solutions that suit urban, rural, muddy and sandy coastlines.

Millions of people in Northern Java, Indonesia face flooding, erosion and saline intrusion resulting from the loss of mangroves, land subsidence due to ground water extraction and sea level rise.

The International Climate Initiative (IKI) is now funding a running pilot project in the district of Demak, Central Java Province in cooperation with the Dutch and Indonesian governments.

Building with Nature is an innovative approach to coastal and water management challenges. It makes the services that nature provides an integral part of the design of hydraulic infrastructure.

The approach offers an alternative, more sustainable and cost-effective concept to traditional hard infrastructure concepts which have proven ineffective along unstable muddy coastlines and fail to provide the multiple benefits that nature can provide, according to Wetlands International.

The program involves construction of permeable sediment trapping structures to rehabilitate the mangrove belts, and the much needed transformation of the aquaculture sector to ensure local income and prevent the future renewed loss of mangroves.

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