Priority Areas for Mangrove Conservation to Support Disaster Mitigation Efforts in Pacitan Bay

Mangrove ecosystems at the estuary of Teleng River, Pacitan Bay, call for preservation, protection, and development as a natural vegetative defense against tsunami impacts. Limited availability of potential land for mangrove growth poses a challenge to sustainable mangrove management. To anticipate land acquisition for another use, it is necessary to study land suitability for mangrove and mangrove conservation priorities in the Pacitan Bay. The land suitability parameters consisted of landform, slope, soil texture, and tidal fluctuation, while the mangrove conservation priority was determined based on several aspects: mangrove land cover reduction, mangrove damage level, beach ridge and riparian zone, and land suitability. The results indicate that lands with high potential for mangroves are distributed along Teleng and Grindulu Rivers but not precisely at the estuary. Based on the suitability results, highly potential and potential lands are proposed for mangrove planting, while existing mangroves are for protection and preservation zones, especially on the sides where relatively young mangroves grow for their roots are not strong enough to withstand river currents.