During the dry season, water dries up and is absorbed by the sand, but the waves increasingly rustle when it rains. The uncertainty of the weather climate of the Krueng No coastal area in Aceh Jaya encourages one of the palm oil companies in Aceh Jaya to take positive steps for the environment. Mangroves, plants that grow on the beach, are one of the alternative solutions chosen.
Mangrove forests are often called brackish forests, popularly known as mangrove forests. They are called brackish forests because they grow on a substrate (growing medium) inundated with a mixture of seawater and fresh water. The combination of the two makes the water in the area brackish. People often recognize a mangrove forest by the presence of dominant mangrove species.
Krueng No is a beach in the Ring 1 village of PT Perkasa Tunggal Plantation 3 (TPP3) in Aceh Jaya. Yes, the company engaged in the palm oil industry, a subsidiary of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk (Astra Agro), took the initiative to plant mangrove plants on Krueng No Beach. By obtaining a permit and collaborating with the Environmental Service in Aceh Jaya Regency and the Aceh Mangrove Institute, the initial planting began with 200 mangrove trees on the coast, which was carried out on Friday (05/06/2024).
This initial planting was not only carried out as an activity to celebrate the peak of World Environment Day commemoration; PT TPP3 also saw the potential to contribute to protecting the environment, which has become the company’s commitment in the form of concern and social responsibility for the environment and surrounding communities.
“Krueng No Beach is one of the vital locations for the community; we can see the beach is very close to the highway, which is actively used by the community,” said Cipta Wibama, Operational Director of Area Aceh, who attended the mangrove planting ceremony that afternoon.
Cipta explained that one of the functions of mangroves is to prevent coastal abrasion, which can gradually cause the highway to be irritated; therefore, it is hoped that the initiation of PT TPP3 to plant mangroves will protect the highway as a traffic activity for the people of Aceh Jaya in particular.
The Director of Aceh Mangrove Institute attended the planting as the director of the planting procedure, which hundreds of teams from TPP3 will carry out; Abdul Hadi expressed his appreciation to TPP3 for the program, which turned out to be not the first time carried out by Astra Agro’s subsidiary in Aceh.
” It is amazing; this mangrove planting activity is a form of concern for the environment and society, which is very positive and has many benefits. In the next five years, these seedlings will make a big change for Aceh Jaya,” said Abdul.
Riduan Manik, Community Development Area Manager Aceh, through Azra Husaini confirmed PT TPP3 is indeed not the only Astra Agro subsidiary in Aceh to carry out this mangrove planting program; the pioneer is at PT Perkebunan Lembah Bhakti (PLB) Aceh Singkil which has been running this mangrove rehabilitation program since 2018 and is still sustainable. So far, Astra Agro’s subsidiaries in Aceh have planted around 41,000 mangroves.
“We always strive to carry out responsibilities to the environment and society so that business activities run in balance through company initiatives summarized in sustainability Aspirations, which are outlined in the CSR program,” said Azra.
Azra hopes that the activities at TPP3 can be sustainable and that they can later be targeted at other locations, as has been done in Aceh Singkil. Hopefully, this will serve as an example for other Astra Agro subsidiaries in Aceh and other operational areas.
Although the afternoon was getting hotter, it did not dampen the participants’ enthusiasm for the planting process, so hundreds of mangrove trees were stuck in the planting area. Soon, the heat will not feel so stinging because these mangroves will grow higher and higher.
