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Indonesian Woman Defends Her Home Against Rising Sea Levels
TaiwanPlus News
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4/24/2025
Pasijah has been on a battle to defend her home from rising sea levels on the northern coast of Java. In her neighborhood, hers is the only residence still inhabited and she's turned to planting mangroves to keep the tides at bay.
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00:00
In this small village on the northern coast of Java, Indonesia, Persija now has
00:07
to get around on a makeshift boat. She's battling the rising tides that long
00:12
drove out her neighbors in an area that was once dry. But determined to stay in
00:18
a home of 35 years, she's not giving in so easily.
00:21
The floodwaters come in waves, gradually, not all at once. I realized that after the
00:29
waters began rising, I needed to plant mangrove trees so that they could spread and provide
00:34
protection for the house from the wind and the waves.
00:38
Persija says she plants around 15,000 saplings every year and has been doing it for the
00:46
past two decades to protect her family home from the floodwaters. A battle that is an inescapable
00:52
reality for many in Indonesia, with its coastline spanning around 81,000 kilometers, making
00:59
even more susceptible to the impacts of climate change. But it's not just global warming that's
01:05
to blame.
01:08
Of all these land subsidence issues, human activities on land such as building and development contribute
01:15
70 to 80 percent. There have been multiple studies on this. The remaining 20 to 30 percent
01:21
is caused by climate change.
01:25
Ten percent of the mangrove forests along the North Java coast, like the ones Persija works
01:31
hard to grow, have been affected by government developments like roads and highways. Persija
01:37
says she's asked officials to stop construction, but her pleas have been ignored. And with the
01:43
tides rising as they are, Persija is also no longer able to grow her own food. She and her
01:49
family have had to find a way to adjust to this new reality.
01:55
I'm no longer concerned about how I feel about being isolated here, since I decided to stay
02:00
here. So we take all these hurdles with a pinch of salt. If we really wanted to go ashore, we
02:06
go to the nearest land in Pandansari or to the market. Once again, I have the intention to
02:11
stay here and my feelings for this house persist.
02:16
With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world.
02:22
To help defend against the threat of rising sea levels, the government here has promised
02:27
a 700-kilometer seawall to protect the coastline. But with construction estimated to take 20
02:34
to 40 years, for now, these mangroves are serving as Persija's lifeline in her battle against
02:41
the tides. Justin Wu and Izzy Wells for T1+.
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