Indonesia Pushes APEC for Stronger Mangrove Cooperation Through World Mangrove Center

Indonesia is urging Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members to deepen collaboration on mangrove conservation by joining the World Mangrove Center (WMC), positioning regional cooperation as a key tool for protecting coastal ecosystems and strengthening climate resilience.

The call was made by Laksmi Wijayanti, Director General of Sustainable Forest Management at Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, during the 2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Forestry in Shenzhen, China. She described the WMC as a platform connecting governments, research institutions, international organizations, civil society, and other stakeholders to advance sustainable mangrove management.

Indonesia is encouraging APEC economies to participate in the center to expand research networks, accelerate innovation, strengthen technical capacity, exchange knowledge, and mobilize resources for mangrove conservation and restoration. Wijayanti also emphasized the importance of nature-based solutions in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing risks to coastal communities.

The push forms part of Indonesia’s broader effort to strengthen its international forestry leadership and advance a green economy. At the meeting, held under the theme “Building a Green Asia-Pacific for Shared Ecological Well-being,” Indonesia also highlighted its Legality and Sustainability Verification System (SVLK), which supports legal and sustainable timber production and strengthens confidence in forest-product markets.

Indonesia stressed that tackling illegal logging requires more than enforcement. Expanding non-timber forest products (NTFPs) can create sustainable income for forest-dependent communities, giving them stronger economic incentives to protect forests.

The country also called for deeper APEC cooperation on market access, traceability interoperability, lower technical trade barriers, and green investment to develop NTFP value chains-linking forest conservation with livelihoods and sustainable economic growth across the Asia-Pacific.

Mangrove cooperation matters for TNFD-aligned biodiversity and blue-carbon disclosure, and it opens investment opportunities for corporates with coastal exposure. Our nature-based-solutions and impact-assessment teams help clients evaluate mangrove-linked investment and disclosure.