Jakarta, Aug. 11 -- Indonesia is home to nearly a quarter of the world's mangroves, giving it the largest mangrove ecosystem on the planet. Yet that advantage has not made Indonesia a leading global reference for mangrove science and governance.

That gap has prompted the Ministry of Forestry to develop the World Mangrove Center (WMC), an initiative aimed at strengthening international collaboration on sustainable mangrove management.

In recent weeks, Indonesia has introduced the WMC at various international forums, including the ASEAN Working Group on Forest Management (AWG-FM) in Cambodia, the 30th APEC Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (EGILAT) in Shenzhen, China, and forestry cooperation talks with Australia.

The...