We’ve now been on Lombok for almost four weeks, working together with the Indonesia Biru Foundation, an organization dedicated to protecting mangroves and restoring coastal ecosystems. In our first week, we got to know the IBF team and visited the Cemare mangrove, where a large part of our work takes place.
There we saw that they have already made significant progress in waste management. They collect compost that they sell to farmers in the area. Still, a major issue remains: the villages surrounding the mangrove do not yet have a proper waste-sorting system. As a result, much of the waste ends up in nature and eventually flows into the mangrove via the river.
We are now preparing waste bins and clear recycling instructions, so that residents will understand how the system works and why it matters. A local organization will later collect the waste, ensuring that it no longer ends up in the mangrove.
We also got shown the eco-tour that is offered in the mangrove. During this tour, visitors learn about the ecosystem, which plants and animals live there, and why these forests are so important for coastal protection &CO₂ storage. The tour itself is quite good, but not enough people attend. They currently give one tour per month, while they hope to organize weekly tours. To reach more people, we are mainly working on promotion and trying to collaborate with tourist boards. We took photos and videos and will turn them into reels for Instagram and TikTok.
One practical issue was that there were only two kayaks for the eco-tour. We helped arrange the construction of three new ones, so visitors can paddle through the mangrove alongside their guide and see everything up close. We are also developing educational signage about the local flora and fauna along the boardwalk and designing booklets with information about the mangrove to hand out during the tour.
Besides the work in the mangrove, we’ve started preparing for Coral Connect 2025, an event that brings together local communities, researchers, artists, and students. We visited the venue, drafted the itinerary, collected interested speakers, and sent out invitations to all of them. We are now producing posters and flyers to spread the word and developing the event content further.
