00:00In this small village on the northern coast of Java, Indonesia, Persija now has
00:07to get around on a makeshift boat. She's battling the rising tides that long
00:12drove out her neighbors in an area that was once dry. But determined to stay in
00:18a home of 35 years, she's not giving in so easily.
00:21The floodwaters come in waves, gradually, not all at once. I realized that after the
00:29waters began rising, I needed to plant mangrove trees so that they could spread and provide
00:34protection for the house from the wind and the waves.
00:38Persija says she plants around 15,000 saplings every year and has been doing it for the
00:46past two decades to protect her family home from the floodwaters. A battle that is an inescapable
00:52reality for many in Indonesia, with its coastline spanning around 81,000 kilometers, making
00:59even more susceptible to the impacts of climate change. But it's not just global warming that's
01:05to blame.
01:08Of all these land subsidence issues, human activities on land such as building and development contribute
01:1570 to 80 percent. There have been multiple studies on this. The remaining 20 to 30 percent
01:21is caused by climate change.
01:25Ten percent of the mangrove forests along the North Java coast, like the ones Persija works
01:31hard to grow, have been affected by government developments like roads and highways. Persija
01:37says she's asked officials to stop construction, but her pleas have been ignored. And with the
01:43tides rising as they are, Persija is also no longer able to grow her own food. She and her
01:49family have had to find a way to adjust to this new reality.
01:55I'm no longer concerned about how I feel about being isolated here, since I decided to stay
02:00here. So we take all these hurdles with a pinch of salt. If we really wanted to go ashore, we
02:06go to the nearest land in Pandansari or to the market. Once again, I have the intention to
02:11stay here and my feelings for this house persist.
02:16With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world.
02:22To help defend against the threat of rising sea levels, the government here has promised
02:27a 700-kilometer seawall to protect the coastline. But with construction estimated to take 20
02:34to 40 years, for now, these mangroves are serving as Persija's lifeline in her battle against
02:41the tides. Justin Wu and Izzy Wells for T1+.
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