PEMSEA PNLG delegates invited to taste Indonesia's mangrove products

Jakarta, Oct 28 (ANTARA) - Tangerang District Head Ahmed Zaki Iskandar invited delegates from the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Network of Local Governments (PNLG) to taste Indonesia's mangrove products. "These all are products from the mangrove forest. There is pudding, syrup, juice, and boiled shrimp," Iskandar said while accompanying the delegates for a visit to Ketapang Urban Aquaculture area in Ketapang village, Mauk Sub-district, Tangerang, on Friday, according to a release posted by PNLG on its official website. He informed that around 720 thousand mangrove species had been planted in Ketapang Village. "Welcome to Ketapang Urban Aquaculture. We have started planting mangroves since 2014, and in 2018–2019, we have built better infrastructure," Iskandar said. Together with some PNLG delegates -- Aimee Gonzales from the Philippines, Im Panharith from Cambodia, Se Cheong Oh from South Korea, Salvador S.R. Ribeiro from Timor Leste, Haslima bint Amer from Malaysia, and Kazuo Nadaoka from Japan -- Iskandar planted new mangroves in the village. He also highlighted the benefits of mangrove plantation, including the revitalization of the local economy through the creation of processed mangrove products. The PNLG delegates also got the opportunity to harvest shrimp and release some rare shellfish crabs during their visit. Iskandar expressed the hope that the release of the rare shellfish crabs would improve the mangrove ecosystem in Tangerang district. "This is one of the protected kind of crabs in Indonesia. It is already in the mangrove forest area because of the improvement in water quality. We will release it in the hope of improving our mangrove ecosystem," he remarked.