Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Medco Energi Internasional Tbk (MedcoEnergi) has planted 5,000 mangrove trees to rehabilitate and prevent coastal erosion at Sederhana Beach, Muara Gembong, Bekasi Regency, West Java. According to the latest monitoring, by the end of February 2025, the success rate of mangrove growth at Sederhana Beach had reached 98%.
“Therefore, it can be said that mangrove planting serves as an effective solution in mitigating the ongoing coastal erosion threat,” said environmental activist Iman Kombali Sopingi.
He explained that coastal erosion at Sederhana Beach has been occurring since 2000, leading to the loss of land, fish ponds, and residents’ homes. Without reforestation efforts, he warned, the surrounding villages could disappear within five years. “Currently, the distance between residential areas and the sea is only 250 meters, significantly reduced due to the increasing intensity of erosion,” he stated in a press release on Wednesday (March 5, 2025).
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reports that coastal erosion in Indonesia has reached between 200 and 500 meters over the past decade. Meanwhile, the Global Mangrove Alliance has reported that more than 60% of the world’s mangrove forests have degraded, with a loss rate of 1% per year. Indonesia holds approximately 20-25% of the world’s mangrove ecosystems, making it a key country in the preservation of this ecosystem.
To address this issue, MedcoEnergi, through the Medco Foundation, launched the “I-Two Trees” Program in 2023. This annual program is part of MedcoEnergi’s efforts to raise awareness and encourage employees, contractors, and vendors to take action against climate change by planting or adopting at least two trees per individual.
The campaign, which ran for eight weeks from September 18 to November 3, 2023, successfully collected 14,288 trees, consisting of 8,098 trees planted directly, 5,000 adopted mangroves, and 1,130 hardwood trees.
Two years after planting, these trees have now grown to twice their original height, demonstrating the program’s success in rehabilitating coastal ecosystems affected by erosion. In addition to its ecological benefits, the presence of mangroves has also had a positive economic impact on the local community.
Leony Lervyn, Senior Manager of Communication at PT Medco E & P Indonesia, a subsidiary of MedcoEnergi, emphasized that this reforestation initiative aligns with the national tree-planting campaign initiated by SKK Migas.
The company does not only plant trees as part of government regulations but also exceeds the requirements by planting 22,637 trees through the “Medco & I – Two Trees” program in 2023.
Additionally, to fulfill the Forest Area Utilization Approval, MedcoEnergi has planted 141,279 trees, along with an additional 2,604 trees in compliance with the Environmental Feasibility Decree.
“This effort demonstrates the company’s commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting terrestrial and coastal ecosystems from the impacts of climate change,” she stated. *
