UNAIR NEWS – One of the research news came from Universitas Airlangga’s professors. Prof. Dr. Bambang Irawan, M.Si., did research about “The Causes of Mangrove Deforestation in Southeast Asia”. Before reviewing many things about his research, he explained that mangrove forests are ecosystems spread across coastal zones on the equator and subtropical regions.
The ecosystem strongly influenced by abiotic factors such as temperature, current, tides, soil, climate, pH, freshwater supply, and salinity. Recent studies show that mangroves absorb more carbon than rain forests.
“Thus, this ecosystem can contribute to a significant reduction in carbon emissions and can emerge as one of the main solutions in global climate change mitigation strategies,” he said.
Regarding his research, Prof. Bambang said that the research he was doing provided an alternative approach to contextualizing the loss of mangrove forests. By integrating environmental data sets and available socioeconomic products.
“This research successfully revealed that 22.64% of the total area of mangrove forests has become deforested because it was converted into agricultural land, 5.85% was converted into aquaculture, 0.69% was converted to infrastructure, and 16.35% was not converted to use classes. specific land but still affected by other human activities, “he explained.
Furthermore, Prof. Bambang said the most dominant driver of deforestation in Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Timor Leste was agricultural land conversion. Whereas in the Philippines and Cambodia is the conversion of aquaculture land. However, the most dominant drivers of deforestation are identified differently in Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei.
“Conversion of agricultural land mostly occurs in Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand; Conversion of cultivated land occurs mainly in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia; and land conversion for infrastructure mostly occurs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, “said Prof. Bambang.
The research could facilitate the exchange of analysis for natural resource policy and environmental conservation studies. The differences in management strategies can be evaluated to assess trade-offs between conserving mangrove forests for climate change mitigation and transforming them for economic purposes.
“Therefore, additional environmental data and socio-economic products need to be a secondary study,” he concluded.
Author: Nuri Hermawan
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
Reference:
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/11/952
Adam Fauzi, Anjar Sakti, Lissa Yayusman, Agung Harto, Lilik Prasetyo, Bambang Irawan, Muhammad Kamal and Ketut Wikantika. Contextualizing Mangrove Forest Deforestation in Southeast Asia Using Environmental and Socio-Economic Data Products. Forest, 2019, 10, 952.
