A seagrass restoration project to preserve the past may also protect the future

WEST YENSAWAI, Indonesia — Linani Arifin says she never thought the flapping seagrass growing along the beach in her hometown in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago would be key to protecting the graveyard of her ancestors. Seagrass, an underwater flowering plant, covers much of the 45,300-hectare (112,000-acre) Batanta Island, where Linani was born and raised. “We call it andoi here,” the 40-year-old tells Mongabay during a visit in March to her village of West Yensawai. Like many in the village, Linani had noticed the gradual erosion spreading along the island’s coast. The seagrass meadows we…

Read More