Affiliations: Fakultas Biologi Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Jl.
Dr. Suparno 63 Purwokerto, Indonesia | 1Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie
(ZMT), Fahrenheitstr. 6 28359 Bremen, Germany
Abstract: This study assesses the changes in habitat and resource use of the
Segara Anakan lagoon (SAL) located in Cilacap, Indonesia in relation to coastal
development over a period of 25 years. The SAL was chosen for this study due to
its social importance and its ecological significance, as it is one of the few
mangrove areas left in Java, and the lagoon area is rapidly decreasing. The SAL
ecosystem was mapped from 1978 through 2004 using satellite images and a GIS
package to determine coastal habitat area changes. The main changes in land
cover and land use involved the conversion of a large part of the estuary to
new land (2966.8 ha) and mangrove area (3497.2 ha), and the subsequent
conversion of these areas, and of older sections of the mangrove forest, to
rice agriculture, semiintensive fishponds, new settlements and other land uses
(11,315.6 ha). Over the whole period the largest portion of mangroves was
converted into rice fields (8886 ha or 43.2% from the total mangrove area). The
mangrove decrease amounted to 1.4% per year since the last decade. Land use
resulted from increased urbanization, and the expansion of agriculture and
aquaculture, which lead to problems of settlement encroachment on agricultural
land, land reclamation from swamps, silt deposition in the lagoon, and a
decrease in fishery catches. This research provides an account of the coastal
habitat and resource use changes in Segara Anakan, and their implications for
coastal resource management and provides the ground work for a forthcoming
ecosystem-based assessment of the Segara Anakan natural resources via the
application of a trophic modelling approach.
Keywords: Coastal habitat, coastal resources, Segara Anakan, Indonesia, satellite images, GIS
