Identifications of the Vulnerability Degradation of Mangrove Forest (Case Study: North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi Province)

Mangrove degradation has become a world concern in the last few years. More than half of the mangrove area in Indonesia have been converted. Due to its reason, there should be some efforts to estimate the vulnerability of mangrove forest degradation thus, the conservation and rehabilitation program will be able to run effectively and efficiently. These efforts start with collecting mangrove vegetation including; vegetation analysis (mangrove’s vegetation structure and composition), level of degradation hazard analysis, and environmental parameters. This research aims to estimate the level of vulnerability of mangrove degradation in North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi. The level of degradation hazard was measured using the parameter scoring of mangrove forest vegetation existence (high, medium, low). There are 10 types of mangroves found in transects. The results show that mangroves in the research area has moderate to high degradation susceptibility based on density. The highest mangrove density only reach 1167 ind/ha and the level of diversity and uniformity are classified as low category. The most dominant type is Rhizphora apiculata. The mangrove rehabilitation process that needs to be carried out is conservation. Based on the suitability to the physical conditions and the environment, the suitable mangroves for replantation to avoid degradation are Rhizopora sp. and Avicennia sp.