Once Closed, Ecotourism Mangroves in Muaragembong Bekasi is Now Opened
To avoid tenure conflicts in the Muaragembong, Bekasi forest area, the Center for Conflict Resolution Studies (Care), the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) develops mangrove ecotourism. Pertamina EP Asset 3 Tambun Field Care IPB, Bekasi Regency Tourism Office, Perhutani, Pantai Mekar Village Government, Muaragembong District Government and Pokdarwis Citra Alam Bahari to create an ecotourism area in Pantai Mekar Village, Muaragembong District, Bekasi Regency.
The launching of Muaragembong Ecotourism Mangrove was held in Pantai Mekar Village, Muaragembong District, Bekasi Regency (28/11). This launching activity was marked by the reopening of the mangrove ecotourism location after it had previously been closed due to a process of improvement and revitalization.
According to Prof. Rizal Syarief, Chair of the IPB Care Advisory Board, the Muaragembong region is a forest area full of tenure conflicts. Therefore Care IPB chooses a collaborative strategy in the management and utilization of resource potential in this region.
"This strategy is a win-win solution strategy, so it is expected to be an effective strategy as a solution to conflict. The collaboration model applied in this program adopts IPB's ABG-C model, "he said.
ABG-C is a Partnership Concept involving the Academician, Businessman, Government, Community.
His academy is Care IPB which has the role of increasing the capacity of the group and assisting Pokdarwis as the manager of ecotourism. In particular Care IPB assigned two IPB scholars to assist this program. The businessman involved Pertamina EP Tambun Field, whose role was to support the construction of ecotourism facilities or infrastructure as well as monitoring and mentoring programs through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme. In addition, there is also the Perhutani as the holder of the forest area in the region. The government (Government) involved the Bekasi District Tourism Office, the Muaragembong District Government and the Pantai Mekar Village Government who played a role in group guidance and monitoring. Furthermore, as the core or executor and manager of the ecotourism program is the Community (Desa) of Mekar Beach Village, in this case joined in the environmental tourism conscious group (Pokdarwis) Citra Alam Bahari.
"The development of mangrove ecotourism that has been running for more than two years turned out to provide social, economic and environmental benefits, especially for the people of Pantai Mekar Village. Social benefits can be seen from the increase in citizenship in managing the environment. The presence of mangrove ecotourism has also provided alternative tourist attractions for the community. Economic benefits in the form of increased income from tourist visits, such as increasing the income of stalls around ecotourism locations, increasing revenue from motorcycle taxi and boat transportation services. The presence of mangrove ecotourism also raises the creativity of local residents to make processed products from mangrove fruits, such as syrup and dodol mangrove. "The environmental benefits of preserving mangrove ecosystems are very useful to resist the occurrence of coastal abrasion," he added.
Meanwhile, Director of Exploration of Pertamina EP, Ahmad Alfian Husein in his speech said that the coastal area in Muara Gembong has the potential of large mangrove forests.
"However, due to the lack of management of a good mangrove forest area in this region, it has damaged mangrove as one of the coastal ecosystems. That's why Pertamina EP is present in this region as a commitment and form of corporate social and environmental responsibility, "he said. (NR)
