Corresponding Author: Cintya
Dian Astuty
E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The current global warming trend
is particularly noteworthy as it is clearly the result of human activity since
the mid-20th century and has continued at an unprecedented rate for thousands
of years. In the context of Indonesia, an annual report on climate action by
G20 countries has been launched, namely the Climate Transparency Report
Indonesia Country Profile 2021. In particular, this report highlights
Indonesia's climate action, which includes adaptation, mitigation and
mobilization of finance to address climate change. In the report, it is
revealed that as a member of the G-20, Indonesia is highlighted because it is
ranked in the top 10 largest emitting countries in the world. (IESR,
2021).
The report's content on
Indonesia's climate action underscores that Indonesia's climate action is
categorized as "very insufficient" in reducing greenhouse gas
emissions (IESR,
2021). Fossil energy use reached 82%
in 2020, making the energy sector the largest contributor to greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions in Indonesia (45.7% in addition to emissions from forests and
land use).
Indonesia, as a maritime country
with the longest coastline in the world, has comparative advantages for the
ecological development of high-value marine plants, namely mangrove
conservation. The uses of mangrove plants generally fall into two categories:
the use of the mangrove ecosystem as a whole or its conversion to other uses,
and the use of products from the mangrove ecosystem (He
et al., 2018).
For climate change mitigation,
mangroves play an important role in maintaining and building soils, as
reservoirs in tertiary waste assimilation, and in the global cycling of carbon
dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur (He
et al., 2018). However, another benefit of
mangroves, especially in marginal areas, is that they consume carbon dioxide
while producing three to five times more oxygen than tropical forests and
provide habitat protection for marine animals such as fish, sea crocodiles,
crabs and snakes, as well as terrestrial animals such as birds and long-tailed
macaques (He
et al., 2018).
This study is a modification of a
meta-analysis study from (Poret,
2019) and (Bano,
2019). This study focuses on the
further application of the results of these studies, namely the variables of
corporate policy and motivation to support sustainability (Poret,
2019) and concern (Bano,
2019) of each stakeholder in the MERA
Program. MERA is a multi-year alliance program in which multi-stakeholder
collaborations consisting of government, companies, academics, NGOs and
communities who are also shareholders collaborate for at least 5 (five) years
to restore mangrove ecosystems throughout Indonesia.
Based on the background above,
the purpose of this research is to find out and analyze partnerships in
mitigating the impacts of climate change on the MERA Program that has been
running from 2018 to 2020 in the pilot area, Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary,
North Jakarta. This research is expected to provide a deeper understanding of
the importance of partnerships in mitigating climate change impacts, especially
through the MERA Program in Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary, North Jakarta. The
results of the analysis obtained from this research are expected to provide a
basis for sustainable policies and practices in an effort to maintain mangrove
ecosystems and effectively reduce the impacts of climate change.
METHOD
The method of
determining key 'informants' in qualitative research is one of the vital
aspects that need special attention. Mistakes in determining this will have an
impact on the quality of information obtained. It is important to focus on the
suitability and representation of the problem being explored with the key
informant profile (Bungin, 2003).
In order to obtain
qualitative information, it can be done in three ways, namely, interviews
(interviews), observation (observation), and documentary study (documentary
study). Meanwhile, according to the theory, the 'source' of data in qualitative
research is 'words and 'actions, and the rest is 'additional data such as'
documents and others (Bungin, 2003). To obtain this data, a 'documentation' study will be
carried out, namely by studying and examining various literature in order to
collect as many theories and research recommendations as possible that are
related to the object of research under study.
Field data
collection was conducted through in-depth interviews with resource persons.
Field studies were also conducted to complement and strengthen the analysis by
conducting observations aimed at collecting 'primary' data using interview
guidelines.
RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
The results of the study describe the details of the MERA Program; namely, the MERA Program
prioritizes not only the quantity of mangroves planted but also how the
mangroves can be managed. The goal of the MERA Program is to reduce the vulnerability of coastal
communities, natural resources and vital assets by promoting effective
management and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies to
address climate change by 2023. The
strategies in question are:
Building the scientific case for
mangrove protection and restoration
The strategy
will focus on providing robust planning for mangrove protection and
restoration, including robust baseline information on mangrove condition,
ecological mapping, stakeholder mapping, socio-economic assessment, policy
review, and hydro-oceanographic projections/modeling (inundation, current
patterns, tides, sedimentation, and others). Such an approach will increase the
effectiveness of mangrove protection and restoration.
Involvement of national/regional
government, private sector and other stakeholders
The strategy
will focus on getting national and local government, the private sector, local
communities, and other stakeholders to actively support and participate in
mangrove protection and restoration. The strategy will include developing
collaborative management, strengthening policies, and developing sustainable
financing schemes and mechanisms through the MERA Program.
Demonstrate effective mangrove
protection, restoration and integrated management.
The strategy
focuses on the implementation and demonstration of effective protection,
restoration and management of mangrove areas that can be achieved by combining
robust science to determine and implement the best approaches to improve
ecosystem health, protection, promotion of restoration and natural
regeneration, integrated collaborative management, sustainable financing and
mechanisms that include incentive schemes for local communities and local
governments to conserve mangrove ecosystems (e.g., through the development of
alternative livelihoods based on mangrove products, ecotourism, etc.).
Awareness raising, outreach and
capacity building
The strategy
will focus on promoting community awareness and participation in mangrove
management. This consists of public campaigns and strengthening the public
perception of the important functions and services of mangrove ecosystems for
community livelihoods and mitigating climate change impacts. In addition, to
ensure the sustainability of mangrove management, the program also includes a
capacity-building component for key stakeholders to implement collaborative
management of mangrove areas.
���� The issues that companies commonly capture
are derived from community grievances, such as the inability to access health
facilities, the low quality of education and the low level of community
empowerment in earning a living. The implementation of CSR in Indonesia is
still at the stage of profit sharing, which is used to answer felt needs rather
than the real needs of the community (Ambadar, 2013). This is because many companies do not understand the importance
of knowing and facilitating the real needs of the community through proper CSR
implementation.
���� By carrying out each process of
stakeholder engagement, namely conducting stakeholder mapping (Modified from
AA1000 SE Manual 2), as follows:
1)
Based on the
issue
This presents an urgent issue that
needs to be addressed together, namely that the condition of mangrove forests
is degraded. It disturbs the balance of coastal ecosystems, causing abrasion,
flooding, and even tsunamis, and encourages doing something as an effort to
restore natural ecosystems for generations of children and grandchildren. It is
a legacy.
2)
With
influence
This includes those with informal
influence and those with formal decision-making power. With strong influence
from someone and the nuance of an invitation to join with full confidence and a
high sense of trust in the program, transparency, honesty, openness, and high
commitment, this fundraising process becomes lighter and more feasible to run.
3)
Based on
proximity
Making various approaches from
events that are often carried out once a month with meetings with Chief
Executive Officers (CEOs) and other high levels put together in Dinner or
Breakfast Sharing Knowledge and other events such as the Thought Leaders Forum
(TLF) make the fundraising process lighter and easier in finding partners who
are in line.
4)
Based on
dependency
The parties that join the MERA
Program Alliance, of course, both want to realize real, visible and mutually
beneficial results. In this case, with the partnership pattern that has been
formed in the MERA Program, it is very helpful for the surrounding community to
get additional income by utilizing the existence of mangrove forests to support
their lives, such as getting fish, crabs, crabs, shrimp, having knowledge and
expertise in making and producing mangrove batik, mangrove jam, mangrove fruit
sweets, mangrove coffee and other mangrove derivative products. By seeing the
successes of each year of the program, the MERA alliance has created that each
partner has a dependency on other partners to make the program sustainable.
5)
With
representatives
The MERA Alliance Program involves
many representatives from the Government, Companies, NGOs and communities, such
as religious leaders who are trusted and believed by certain communities, with
the hope that through these representatives, stakeholders are very confident
that the program will work well in the end.
The company's
ability is closely related to the size of the company. The larger the company,
the greater the efforts and resources that are morally obliged to be prepared.
This is directly proportional to the results of research stating that company
size has a positive effect on social and environmental performance. This
reinforces that the larger the company, the more it has a higher "ethical
obligation"� (Daly, 2017).
Large
companies will find it easier to prepare and budget their resources when
compared to companies with smaller sizes. This is because the profitability
ratio of large companies with high environmental performance tends to be better
than the opposite (Nilsson et al., 2016)..
In these times, fostering a culture of
collaboration with non-material-based motivations is difficult. In addition to
the way benefits have been measured based on things that can be calculated and
real, it is also caused by an instant culture that reduces the essence of the
meaning of hard work. The benefit is not only about the benefits obtained but
also includes the benefits of something intangible.
The benefits for MERA collaboration participants
are:
1.
Support the government in climate change programs
and the restoration of mangrove forests that can hold considerable carbon
stocks.
The government has committed
to tackling climate change. In 2015, Indonesia joined several other countries
that submitted their post-2020 climate pledges, known as nationally determined
contributions (INDCs), to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).
Indonesia is one
of the world's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. Over the past two
decades, greenhouse gas emissions have increased from almost all sectors, such
as land use (defined as land use, land use change, and forestry, including peat
fires), energy, agriculture, industry and waste.
2.
Demonstrable social and environmental outcomes that
are easily communicated to customers, shareholders and other audiences.
The MERA
Program Implementer communicates the program's progress by implementing a
process to create, collect, distribute, store, restore, and post project
information based on the communication management plan. The main function of
this process is to improve efficiency and effectiveness in communicating
between stakeholders.
3. Supporting sustainable
social and environmental community projects that advance conservation and
social-economic development fulfills corporate responsibility commitments.
In particular, social
sustainability is more likely when communities are actively involved in program
design and development and consequently become more environmentally conscious. Community
leaders develop sup, port, and engage programs for families and children to
learn more about conservation and preservation. Decision-makers in the
community, such as among government officials, recognize the importance of
promoting and publicizing the potential economic benefits as a potential
economic benefit and outcome of developing community work on the MERA Program.
4.
Become a good corporate role model for replication
and innovation of sustainable conservation programs.
It
aims to show and communicate the benefits and beneficial impacts of the MERA
Program on improving the environmental, social and economic quality of the
community. The benefit for companies that carry the MERA Program is a positive
image because, ethically, the company has made a significant positive
contribution to environmental and social sustainability. For this reason, it is
important to intervene so that the ethical values contained can be well
communicated and fully conveyed to stakeholders. By conveying the value message
in full, it is hoped to generate interest from other parties to recognize,
study, explore and replicate this program elsewhere.
Replication is imitation, but in
order to replicate, one needs to consider the underlying issues in great
detail. For a program to be replicated, the experience must be considered in
great detail, including the assumptions of failure. Thus, those who will
replicate will have a greater chance of success.
According
to the results of informant interviews, 100% of informants answered that
sharing risks, greater resources, institutional strengthening and more
efficiency are the benefits that will be achieved when running a program in
partnership.
Referring to
the Risk Transfer Theory, a company that knows that there is a potential risk
that will occur with a certain amount of value. If the risk occurs against it,
the loss suffered will be of that value to be borne by itself. To reduce or
eliminate the risk burden, the insured party seeks to transfer the risk burden
of the hazard to other willing parties by joining and cooperating in running
this program (Bano, 2019).
In addition,
the application of risk management theory and organizational learning
emphasizes the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue and NGO-business
partnerships as ways for companies to gain mutual benefits. Each party will be
able to minimize its risk as the program benefits from the expansion of impact.
The joining
of other entities in the program implementation consortium will certainly bring
more resources�not just the modalities but also the number and ability of human
resources implementing the program. Therefore, the planning, implementation,
and evaluation processes can run more optimally, and the program management
institution will be stronger, especially if the program is cross-sectoral and
cross-disciplinary. The more varied background experiences and fields of
knowledge, the better.
Along with
the gathering of good resources, the work will be more efficient because of the
optimal contribution of each element of the company that joins through company
collaboration. Efficiency occurs in line with the improvement of program
quality and the breadth of the impact caused.
According to
the interview results from the informants, satisfaction in expressing
motivation for sustainability increased after the agreement to enter into a
partnership. This is because each partner always gets updated information about
progress and knowledge about the advantages of the MERA Program. Even if there are obstacles so far, they
can be resolved well by fellow partners because the MERA Program team is able
to coordinate and manage communication between partners very well. It can be
concluded that partnerships affect sustainability concerns.
In the
opinion of all informants, communication and compromise are vital and most
important in efforts to equalize the vision and mission of collaboration. Given
that this communication is the starting point of collaboration. Communication
and compromise are the main activities needed to determine and bridge
differences and exchange information about ways of working, work culture,
organizational norms and values. Effective communication is the door to
successful collaboration between collaborating parties.
Interorganizational
communication is a reciprocal or two-way integration process with the intention
of coordinating, being responsible, providing motivation and being humane.
Communicating it acts as a creation of equality of understanding, ideas, thoughts
and attitudes of our behavior toward others. Communicators and communicants
have a commonality and agreement of messages so as to cause an understanding (Heath & Isbell,
2017).
Communication
or publication as an awareness program used are stakeholder gathering, YKAN
official web, MERA partnership event, MERA Media Expose, recruitment of MERA
Ambassador as an icon or MERA Ambassador, and World Mangrove Day Event.
Through the
MERA Program, ecosystem problems will slowly be resolved and restored because
the ecology that is the basis of the environment has been improved. If the
mangrove habitat has been saved, it will invite many other marine life to come
and generate prosperity for the community. This approach is the holistic
concept implemented by MERA, starting from the environmental habitat side, the
economic side, and the social welfare side of the community to the governance
of the area.
Furthermore,
the program is also carried out in a manner consistent with sustainable development and
community welfare, taking into account the interests of stakeholders, complying
with applicable legalities and consistent with international norms, integrated
throughout the organization's activities (ISO 26000, 2010).
In line
with the principles of social responsibility, based on ISO 26000 (2010) (Religia
& Mardiana, 2023), namely:
a.
Respect
for stakeholder interests: The organization must respect, consider and respond
to the interests of its stakeholders.
b.
With
respect to the rule of law, organizations must comply with legal requirements,
including implementing social responsibility. Companies need to maintain
relationships with and support from the government as a stakeholder in their
social performance.
The MERA program seeks to restore the
destruction of mangrove forests and their impact on ecosystems and the
environment as a whole in a collaborative, multi-stakeholder manner. In
relation to the core issues of social responsibility listed in the ISO 26000
document, the MERA Program is related to environmental aspects and community
development and involvement.
a)
Environment;
The MERA program repairs and restores
coastal ecosystems from the negative environmental impacts of mangrove
destruction. The MERA program takes an integrated approach by considering the
economic, social and environmental implications, both direct and indirect, for
society and the environment.
b)
Community
engagement and development
The MERA program also pays attention to
the community's needs by engaging and empowering it. It is hoped that this
program can also contribute through social investment in terms of increasing
community capacity, which will lead to income generation through local economic
development and skills development.
Mangrove
forests support sustainable development pillar number 1, No Poverty. Fishermen
support the majority of people who live in the Muara Angke area, Pantai Indah
Kapuk, by working as fishermen. Fishermen look for fish and various resources
to support the family economy. The preservation of the marine environment will
make it easier for fishermen to make a living for their families and improve family
welfare (Mustaqim, 2015).
Mangrove
forests support sustainable development pillar number 2, Zero Hunger. Improving
the quality of the marine environment will impact marine biota, which has
nutritional content, especially its relatively high protein content. Fish,
shellfish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine animals have high nutritional
content and can be used as side dishes to fulfill family nutrition so that
every day, families have decent and nutritious food.
Mangrove
forests support sustainable development pillar number 8, Decent Work and
Economic Growth. With the mangrove ecosystem maintained, the marine life has a
high nutritional content and quality, thus improving livelihoods for the
surrounding community. Thus creating a growing and improving economy for
coastal communities living around mangrove forests. With the improvement of
life in coastal communities, their quality of life improves, and they avoid all
negative and criminal activities. In addition to being home to marine life, the
dense mangrove trees can also be an attractive natural tourism object. Tourism
is one of the efforts to improve the regional economy and increase employment
openness (Safri, 2020). Labor
absorption in the tourism sector is quite a lot. Although it requires an
increase in community skills, it will actually improve skills. It will directly
improve qualifications, which will have a positive impact on their acceptance
in the world of work.
Mangrove
forests support sustainable development pillar number 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. Mangrove
forests can be attractive natural tourism objects. Tourism is one of the
efforts to improve the regional economy and increase employment opportunities. Sustainable tourism will also directly
shape the community's attitude to always maintain the beauty of the
environment. Sustainable mangrove tourism will also provide a stimulant for the
community to open other business units such as souvenir businesses,
restaurants, and so on (Purwowibowo
& Santoso, 2018).
Mangrove
forests support Sustainable Development Pillar 13, Climate Action. They can reduce
10-31% of annual emissions from the land use sector (Suratman, 2008). Mature
mangrove plants can absorb 840 metric tons of CO2. This means that one mangrove
tree can absorb 308 kg (0.3 tons) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during
its growth period, which is 12.3 kg per year. �Mangrove forests support sustainable
development pillar number 14, namely Life Below Water, by rehabilitating and restoring mangrove forest
ecosystems in Muara Angke, Pantai Indah Kapuk. The resulting impact is that
mangrove forests are useful as basic shapers of coastal ecosystems (Mulyadi
& Fitriani, 2010). �Mangrove forests support sustainable development number 15, namely Life
On Land. Mangrove forest plants are able to withstand various disasters that
come from seawater to land, such as flooding, coastal abrasion, and strong wind
resistance, and even reduce the impact of tsunamis (Tumpu et
al., 2023).
Mangrove forests support the development
of sustainable partnerships (Indicator number 17, Partnership for the Goals)
and support a better quality of life. The impact is to create partnerships
between companies that share the same vision and mission of sustainability. By
partnering, the resulting impact will be greater and wider. Community
engagement and empowerment, and this program can also contribute through social
investment in terms of community capacity building that will lead to income
generation through local economic development and skills development.
CONCLUSION
The conclusions in this study show that
the MERA Program is not simply a mangrove reforestation program, but rather a
coastal mangrove forest ecosystem rehabilitation initiative through a strong
partnership between the government, private sector, and NGOs. This partnership
has significant impacts on various aspects of life, including biological,
economic, traditional herbal medicines, disaster risk reduction, and carbon
footprint reduction in the Jakarta area. The MERA Program's contribution to the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shows alignment with targets such as No
Poverty, No Hunger, Decent Work and Economic Growth, among others. The
implications of this research place a strong emphasis on the importance of
partnerships in sustainable programs. The benefits are not only limited to
budget and implementation time efficiency, but also to positive image
publicity, strong institutional management, risk sharing, and greater resource
utilization. Partnerships such as those in the MERA Program open up opportunities
for wider participation from elements of the community, as well as facilitating
knowledge exchange for program replication elsewhere. As for suggestions for
future research, it is important to continue to strengthen inter-agency
communication, with attention to equality, mutual need, and mutual respect
among partners. The role of NGOs as communicators needs to be strengthened by
providing sufficient space for each partner to actively participate. Management
of mangrove forest resources must be carried out in an appropriate and
sustainable manner, taking into account social values and local wisdom. Further
studies can also examine in more depth the long-term effects of the MERA
Program on environmental sustainability and socio-economic progress in the
region.
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