Development of Maroon Mangrove Education Park (MMEP) in Supporting Mangrove Conservation in Coastal of Semarang City

Abstract

Maroon Mangrove Education Park (MMEP) is a mangrove education site located in the Maroon Coastal of Semarang City. The development of MMEP as a mangrove education tour was carried out by the Mekar Tani Lindung mangrove farmer group (METAL) in 2016 on an area of 64.93 hectares with support from PT Phapros Tbk and. As a MMEP mangrove tourist destination has a variety of attractions such as diversity of mangrove species (12 species), tracking mangroves and some interesting photo spots with aircraft background from the adjoining Ahmad Yani Airport, so many visitors come especially on weekends that contribute to improving the manager’s economy and local society. In addition, the development of MMEP also has an impact on the sustainability of mangroves from planting activities both by the manager and the community in collaboration with various parties. Based on the results of monitoring of digital images of the globe in the region, it was seen that there was an increase in the area of mangroves in the period of 2014 - 2018 amounting to 3.5 hectares and experiencing an increase in the area back in 2020 of 0.05 hectares. The increase in mangrove area will certainly have an impact on improving the quality of the city of Semarang which has been damaged.