Mangrove Conservation Opportunity at Southern Coast of Bangkalan-East Java, Indonesia

Mangrove ecosystems are resources of landscapes, flora, fauna, and local communities that interact with each other. Mangrove ecosystems have important ecological, economic and social functions for coastal development. Conservation is a means of involving the community in mangrove recovery and management activities as a preservation effort. This paper examines the potential of mangrove ecosystems in the southern coast of Bangkalan as a conservation area. The fact, mangrove ecosystems have a pressure that decreased area significantly. Data collection used the quadratic transect method and satellite image analysis. Mangroves on the southern coast of Bangkalan have increased area over the past 10 years. Mangrove vegetation found consisted of 4 families and 8 species. There are also found fauna i.e. insects, snakes, primates and birds. The observations indicated that conservation of mangrove forests on the southern coast of Bangkalan needs to be done. This effort can be supported by ecotourism activities which are expected to improve the community welfare.