LANGKAT, Indonesia — Syafi’i has spent three decades picking up the crabs scurrying along the coast here in Langkat district on Sumatra Island’s northeastern coast, a reliable trade that provided first for his children, then his grandchildren. The income from collecting the decapods enabled Syafi’i to comfortably pay school fees and build a home for his family in the village of Kwala Langkat. Most of the village’s fishing community here along the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, used to be considered relatively prosperous. Today, however, the villagers say shifts in the local environment, compounded by inflationary pressures, have diminished that staunch coastal economy. “We can’t rely on crabs anymore,” Syafi’i told Mongabay Indonesia. Around a decade ago, the mangrove forest in Kwala Langkat village deteriorated after an investor began work to a clear what he claimed was a 100-hectare (247-acre) concession for oil palm cultivation. Syafi’i is one of hundreds of people in Langkat who say their fisheries have collapsed due to mangrove destruction, and that this abrupt change in land use risks loading communities with further problems. “This mangrove forest must be protected,” he said. “If it isn’t protected, seawater will enter our settlements.” Syafi’i’s shellfish catch. He switched to looking for shellfish in the Malacca Strait when catching crabs became unreliable. Image by Ayat S. Karokaro/Mongabay Indonesia. Dependent claws The global coastal population has surged from 1.6 billion to 2.5 billion people in just three decades. More than three-quarters of that number live in…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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