Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation Training

An Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation training workshop entitled, “Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management, and Restoration” will be held in Makassar, South Sulawesi from July 18-22, 2011. The five-day training includes a pair of field visits; 1) to a 400 ha mangrove rehabilitation project (45 of which has already been rehabilitated) on Tanakeke Island, 2) to a nearby area of abandoned and operational aquaculture ponds, to understand rehabilitation potentials. The course will be led by Roy R. “Robin” Lewis III, who international experience designing and conducting proven successful large-scale EMR projects, and has taught this excellent course in Cuba, Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Sri Lanka.

The workshop includes an introduction to mangrove forest ecology, management options and problems, and restoration design issues. The class programs are all presented in a PowerPoint format, and each student is provided with a print out of the presentation and additional handouts including monitoring reports for typical restoration projects Case studies of 5 successful mangrove restoration projects, and several unsuccessful projects, are discussed. Field trips are taken within the 400 ha Tanakeke Island site, with an optional trip (at an extra fee) to a ten-year-old completed site in North Sulawesi for comparison.

Participants are invited to bring pending project designs to the course for professional review and critique. The emphasis is on cost-effective successful mangrove management and restoration, and cost figures for typical projects are discussed and explained. The Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) method of mangrove restoration is emphasized as the best approach to successful restoration at minimal cost (see Erftemeijer and Lewis 2000; Lewis 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2005; Lewis and Marshall 1998; Lewis and Streever 2000; Lewis et al. 2005, Lewis and Gilmore 2007, Steve son et al. 1999 and Turner and Lewis 1997).

Planting of mangroves is discussed in light of the many failures of this alone to successfully restore mangroves. There will also be presentations and discussions of post-rehabilitation mangrove management, with a strong emphasis on collaboration, gender issues, and involvement of women in the entire process (planning, rehabilitation, and management).

Sixteen scholarships are being provided by the Restoring Coastal Livelihoods Project for practitioners from South Sulawesi. No course fee is required, but a limited number of additional participants will be allowed to attend, covering their own transportation, food, and lodging costs during the program. Applicants for the course, are asked to fill out and submit the attached questionnaire, in order to prioritize selection of participants with a strong likelihood of using new skills and knowledge gained during the course, in actual medium to large scale mangrove rehabilitation efforts