Indonesia to begin Giant Sea Wall project with mangroves

Photo caption: An aerial view of a fishing community protected by a sea wall in the Kampung Bahari Tambaklorok area, Tanjung Mas, Semarang, Central Java, on Thursday (November 12, 2025). The government plans to construct a "Giant Sea Wall" along the northern coast of Java to protect coastal areas vulnerable to abrasion, sea-level rise combined with land subsidence, and to enhance coastal environmental resilience. (ANTARA/Aji Styawan)

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for Indonesia's Giant Sea Wall project in October 2026, starting with a nature-based solution involving mangroves to protect coastal areas from various threats.

"We will break ground this October, God willing. However, the ceremony will first involve mangroves as a nature-based solution," the ministry's Deputy for Basic Infrastructure Coordination, Nazib Faizal, said.

Speaking to ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday, he confirmed that the government had begun preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Yes, we aim to carry this out as soon as possible. Hopefully, the plan will be realized within the next one or two weeks. We are currently making preparations," Faizal said.

He stressed that the project would not rely solely on mangrove-based measures, noting that the government aims to begin work on conventional coastal protection infrastructure in 2027.

"As for the hard infrastructure, or grey infrastructure, we will proceed with it next year, God willing," he said.

President Prabowo Subianto has expressed his determination to begin the Giant Sea Wall project during his administration, noting that it could take around 20 years to complete.

The project is projected to stretch 575 kilometers along Java's northern coast, locally known as Pantura.

He said the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) had developed technological innovations to support the large-scale project, which aims to protect coastal communities from tidal flooding, land subsidence, and rising sea levels.

The government envisions the Giant Sea Wall as an integrated coastal protection system combining offshore and onshore dikes with nature-based solutions to protect residential areas, industrial estates, ports, airports, farmland, and other strategic infrastructure from Banten to East Java.

Head of the North Java Coast Management Authority (BOPPJ) Didit Herdiawan Ashaf said the agency had been coordinating with regional governments along the northern coast to align preparations for the project.