Collaboration of Government Policies and the Marind Tribe Communities on Mangrove Resources Management in the Payum Coastal Area of Merauke Regency in Papua

Abstract

Mangroves have an important role for the sustainability of marine resources. Mangrove ecosystems are habitat for marine organisms and protect the coastline from sea water abrasion. Mangrove resource management aims to maintain the sustainability of the mangrove ecosystem. Mangrove resource management requires good collaboration between the government as policy maker and the communities as resource users. This article discusses collaboration of government policies and the Marind tribe communities on mangrove resources management in the Payum Coastal area of Merauke Regency in Papua. Based on information obtained through in-depth interviews with 20 respondents conducted in November 2019, this article shows that the Merauke government, in this case the Environmental Agency, started a program to plant mangroves in the Payum Coastal since 2015. Because the Payum coastal area, which is directly opposite the Arafura Sea, is regularly flooded when the tide rises to residential areas during the rainy season, so the Marind communities in the Payum Coastal also conduct planting of mangrove seeds independently. Before the government's involvement in the mangrove planting initiatives, the participation of the communities in planting mangrove seedlings was quite small, only around 30 people. Since the existence of a government policy through the Environmental Agency, which provides financial assistance in the form of wages for planting mangrove seeds for IDR 2.500 per seed, community participation increased to 272 people divided into 68 families. This increase is considered quite drastic because it reaches an increase of 906%. The increase in community participation occurs because of the value of wages, which according to the community, is very helpful for the household economy. If averaged, each family will receive an income of IDR 2.672.794 with an estimate of planting 1,033 mangrove seedlings per family. This also has a positive impact on mangrove preservation. If previously only about 7,500 mangrove seedlings were able to be planted independently, then after government program assistance, the number of mangrove seedlings planted reached 72,700 mangrove seeds every year, or a significant increase of 969%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the collaboration of government policies and the Marind tribe communities has a positive impact on mangrove management and also improves the economy of the Marind people who live in the Payum Coastal.