RWTH Aachen Students Lead Mangrove Planting Project on North Coast of Java

Mangrove forests are important all over the world for climate regulation and coastal protection. UNESCO has therefore declared that July 26 is World Mangrove Ecosystem Conservation Day. A team from RWTH Aachen University is currently in Indonesia and it is investigating the mangrove forests, particularly on the north coast of Java. One of the things it is investigating is the advance of salt water in coastal areas.

Professor Thomas Rüde from the Department of Hydrogeology and Rector’s Delegate for Cooperation with Indonesia organized the field exercise. Ten students from the Applied Geosciences and Georesource Management degree programs and two doctoral students are taking part and planting mangroves, among other things.

Under the title “Java Triple: Volcanism, Seawater and People”, the Aachen team is working together with students and researchers from the Technical University in Bandung, Diponegoro University in Semarang and Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. RWTH has been cooperating with Indonesian universities for years, including running a laboratory for geoscientific research in Yogyakarta. An agreement was also signed between RWTH and the three universities at the end of 2023 to establish the Circular Economy Doctoral Scholarship Program. The Indonesian partners will finance up to 15 doctoral scholarships at RWTH in the field of circular economy over the next five years.

The visit by the RWTH delegation is intended to strengthen the cooperation with the Indonesian universities. The program therefore includes visits to the three partner universities in addition to Semarang, the city with the highest subsidence in Southeast Asia.