Seagrass Ecosystem and its Regulations in Indonesia

Abstract

As an archipelagic state, Indonesia consists of islands surrounded by water. Seagrass beds are part of a unique water and land ecosystem in Indonesia. Just recently, the 1st of March has been designated as world seagrass day. This study aims to describe and explain the conditions, regulations, and environmental protection arrangements for seagrass beds in Indonesia. This research is normative legal research using secondary data. An analysis is conducted through a descriptive-explanatory approach to explain the regulations of seagrass beds in Indonesia, the environmental protection arrangements for seagrass beds in Indonesia, and their current conditions. Findings and discussion prove that Indonesia has been giving attention to the development of seawater ecology and environmental protection. For seagrass beds, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia through the State Minister has issued a regulation that covers the determination of healthy seagrass beds. However, the implementation is not as expected. Until recently many research studies have shown that in general, the seagrass beds in Indonesian water are not healthy, only covering a certain area. Even in a conservation sea area, the coverage of seagrass is less than healthy. It cannot be seen from the perspective that Indonesia mostly consists of water than land.