Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi (ANTARA) - The provincial government of Southeast Sulawesi is planning to rehabilitate 25 hectares of mangrove forests in the province in 2023.
"This year, there are 25 hectares of mangrove forests that will be rehabilitated," the head of watershed management and forest and land rehabilitation division of the Southeast Sulawesi Forestry Office La Ode Yulardhi informed here on Tuesday.
He said that the 25 hectares of mangrove forests comprise 15 hectares in the Peropea Forest Management Unit (KPH) of North Buton district and 10 hectares in Gantara KPH, Muna district.
According to him, the mangrove rehabilitation program will use the revenue-sharing fund from the regional budget (APBD) of Southeast Sulawesi, unlike last year's program, which utilized the special allocation fund (DAK).
“Because, for this year, there is no DAK, the area of rehabilitated (mangrove forest) is only that (25 hectares)," he said.
He further explained that to adjust to the available budget, the area earmarked for this year's mangrove forest rehabilitation is different from the previous year, when it stood at 300 hectares.
"This year, the area of mangroves that will be rehabilitated is only 25 hectares, adjusted to the available budget, which is different from the previous year's area of mangroves that were rehabilitated, namely around 300 hectares," he added.
Yulardhi said that his division is currently preparing various things for the mangrove forest rehabilitation program, starting from planning and others.
The preparation process starts with preparing the seedlings, which takes around three to four months, he added.
"Hopefully, after Eid al-Fitr 2023, we will have already started the implementation stage, namely preparation in the field, and others," he said.
