Coastal vegetation is a group of plants that occupy intertidal areas starting from tidal areas to areas in the interior of islands or land where there is still influence from the sea and generally have a fairly high salinity.
Non-Mangrove coastal vegetation is generally found in coastal areas with sandy substrates and is characterized by zoning of growth forms horizontally from the intertidal areas.
Yakopi as one of the NGOs working in the environmental sector in the coastal sector is also involved in carrying out planting activities in this non-mangrove vegetation area considering that the tsunami incident has become a lesson for all of us that the importance of coastal borders and utilizing coastal areas as a fortress nature in disaster prevention.
Moreover, a tsunami is an event that has a certain period of time and cannot be predicted, so efforts that can be made by mitigating the disaster can reduce its impact.
Benefits
Several areas in Aceh and North Sumatra have carried out activities for planting coastal vegetation such as coconut, sea hibiscus, ketapang and sea cypress. The benefits of this planting are:
1. As a trap, that is to stop drifting logs (fallen trees, etc.) ruins (destroyed houses, etc.) and other debris (boats, etc.).
2. As a tsunami energy damper, namely the effect of reducing the speed of water flow, flow pressure, and depth of puddles.
3. As a handrail, namely to be a means of self-rescue for people who were swept away by the tsunami by holding on to tree branches.
4. As a means of escape, namely to become a ‘vehicle’ to escape by climbing a tree from the ground or from a building.
5. As a formation of sand dunes, i.e. to collect sand blown by the wind and form dunes/hills, which act as a natural barrier against tsunamis.
Activity objectives
Community participation and awareness is also highly expected and socialization of activities regarding this activity is always carried out by Yakopi so that coastal communities better understand the benefits of the plants they grow and it is also hoped that this activity can:
1. Increasing awareness and perception of the community and stakeholders to be involved in efforts to preserve existing coastal vegetation and efforts to develop coastal vegetation in disaster-prone areas, especially tsunamis.
2. Building coastal vegetation and its multifunctional accessories, which apart from functioning as a buffer to reduce the energy and impact of the tsunami on coastal infrastructure, also play a role in reviving the community’s economy through alternative livelihoods that arise from the existence of coastal forest areas.
3. Reducing the potential risks both morally and materially for coastal communities due to future tsunami disasters.
4. Building a coastal vegetation maintenance system that is integrated with economic activities in coastal forest areas.
Until now Yakopi has participated in restoring non–mangrove coastal vegetation plants in several types of plants that are useful as coastal protection and disaster mitigation, here are the types of plants that have been restored by Yakopi on the coast of North Sumatra Province and Aceh Province.
Kelapa / Cocos nucifera
Most of us are certainly familiar with coconut, because this plant is mostly found in coastal areas. Historically coconut originated from the coast of the Indian Ocean in the Asian region, but nowadays coconut is grown in tropical coastal areas.
Coconut trees can reach 30 meters in height and can still survive at an altitude of 1,000 meters above sea level although their growth is not as good as in coastal areas. Almost every part of the plant is widely used by humans, from the roots, stems, leaves to the pulp.
Cemara laut / Casuarina equisetifolia
As the name implies, sea cypress or shrimp fir can survive in coastal or coastal areas because it can prevent abrasion and withstand tsunami waves. Sea pine is still in the same family as mountain pine and Sumatran pine.
The height of the sea cypress tree can reach 50 meters with a trunk diameter of about 100 cm. Needle-shaped branches with a maximum length of up to 30 cm, the leaves are scaly and arranged in a circle with 6 to 10 strands in each book. Apart from preventing abrasion, sea cypress can also withstand wind gusts or wind barriers, big waves, and rehabilitate sandy land.
Waru Laut / Hibiscus tiliaceus
Waru laut or baru laut including plants from the cotton-kapasan tribe are widely found as seafront or beach plants. Waru laut are widely distributed in coastal areas, especially tropical climates around the world, but according to history this plant originated from Asia, Africa and Europe.
Apart from the coastal area, this plant can also be found at an altitude of 800 meters above sea level with rainfall of around 900 – 2,500 per year. The adaptation of sea waru is very good, especially in sandy and salty environments, coral, lime, puddles and even basalt. Sea waru are found in several parts of the world such as eastern and western Australia, countries in the Oceania continent, the Maldives Islands, South Asia and Southeast Asia
Ketapang / Terminalia catappa
Ketapang is a plant that can live on the coast and can even become a shade plant because it has a terraced crown and a fairly wide leaf shape. Ketapang including woody plants with a height that can reach 40 m and stems can measure up to 1.5 meters.
The shape of the leaves is like an inverted egg, located at the end of a twig with a short stalk and a wide tip, getting smaller and tapering at the base. Ketapang has its own name, known in English as bengal almond, indian almond, malabar almond and so on.