Suhainah: The Stories of Pegat Batumbuk

Along the way, waterways weave between settlements, aquaculture ponds stretch across the coastal plain, and mangrove forests rise along the edges. Life here unfolds between land and sea, where the rhythms of nature are closely intertwined with the everyday lives of the people who call this place home.

Mangroves line the waterways. Aquaculture ponds provide a source of income. Fish and other coastal products travel from the surrounding waters to family kitchens and small businesses.
At first, Pegat Batumbuk may seem like another quiet coastal village in Berau. But spend a little more time here, and another story begins to emerge. It is a story about people learning to live with a changing coast while finding ways to care for the environment that sustains them.

At the center of that story is Suhainah, Chairwoman of the SECURE Women's Group in Pegat Batumbuk.

Berau is home to one of East Kalimantan's most extensive mangrove landscapes. According to the Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN), the regency has around 86,043 hectares of mangrove ecosystems.

But these coastal forests are under pressure. Aquaculture expansion, illegal logging, infrastructure development, and unsustainable tourism have all contributed to changes in the landscape. By 2019, around 11,237 hectares, or 13 percent, of Berau's mangrove areas had been converted into shrimp and milkfish ponds.

The changes may begin with the landscape, but their effects reach much further. Mangroves help maintain water quality, provide habitat for aquatic life, and protect the shoreline. They are also closely tied to the livelihoods of coastal communities. For many women, this connection can be found in the everyday work of processing fish and aquaculture products, turning what comes from the water into something that supports a family's income.

This is where the story of Pegat Batumbuk becomes more than a story about mangroves.
It becomes a story about people.

To help communities navigate this changing landscape, YKAN, with support from the Darwin Initiative, developed SECURE, or Shrimp Carbon Aquaculture.

The approach brings aquaculture and mangrove restoration into the same picture. Around 50 to 80 percent of a pond area can be returned to natural mangrove habitat, while the remaining area can continue to support aquaculture through better and more environmentally responsible management.
The idea is not to erase aquaculture from the coast.

Instead, it is about finding a better way to share the landscape, giving mangroves room to recover while allowing local livelihoods to continue. For travelers, this changes the way Pegat Batumbuk can be seen.

A mangrove forest is no longer simply something beautiful to photograph. A pond is not merely part of the scenery. Together, they tell the story of a coastal community trying to make a living while caring for the environment around them.

Among the people helping shape this journey is Suhainah. She leads a women's group that turns fishery and aquaculture products into value added goods. Through a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, or GESI, approach, the women learn everything from processing and product development to packaging, marketing, and business licensing.

What comes from the water does not have to remain a raw commodity. With knowledge and skill, fish and other aquaculture products can become products with greater value while creating new opportunities for women to contribute to their families' livelihoods. For the women in the group, the experience is about more than learning how to make and sell a product. It is also about learning to work together, building confidence, and gaining experience in managing a small business.

For Suhainah, leadership means helping create a space where women can take a more active role in the economic life of their village. Her story is one of many stories that often remain unseen when we look at a destination only through its scenery.

The learning does not stop with the women's group. Through the SECURE Aquaculture Field School, fish farmers and their families take part in hands on learning about more sustainable aquaculture practices. In the ponds themselves, they learn about better management techniques, including making compost and MOL, or local microorganisms, to support pond management. Fish farmers' wives are part of this journey too.

What they learn can travel home with them, becoming part of the family's knowledge and everyday practices. Their experiences can also be shared with other farmers, allowing lessons from one pond to travel to another.

For travelers, moments like these offer a different understanding of what makes a destination sustainable. Sustainability is not built only by protecting forests or setting aside conservation areas. Sometimes, it grows quietly through the knowledge people share, the choices they make, and the small decisions they repeat every day.

To experience Pegat Batumbuk is to see the coast from a different angle. Here, mangroves shape the landscape. Aquaculture ponds become places of work. Fishery products are transformed into local specialties. And the people who live here continue to find ways to make a living from the coast while caring for the resources around them. Suhainah helps bring these connections into focus. Her story reminds us that ecotourism does not have to be about simply arriving somewhere beautiful, taking photographs, and moving on.

It can be about meeting the people who live there. Listening to their stories. Understanding how they work. Learning what they know. And seeing how their everyday lives are connected to the landscape we have come to visit.

In Pegat Batumbuk, that might mean following a path through the mangroves, watching the activity around the ponds, meeting local residents, listening to Suhainah's story, and eventually sitting down to taste one of the coast's familiar treats, amplang. Crunchy, savory, and unmistakably local, amplang carries a story of its own.

Behind a simple bite are the riches of the surrounding waters, the skills of local people, and small scale businesses that turn coastal resources into something with value. After learning where it comes from and how it is made, even a simple snack can become part of the memory of a place.

So, if your travels ever bring you to Berau, take the time to discover Pegat Batumbuk. Come for the mangroves. Stay for the stories. Walk through the coastal landscape. Watch the ponds at work. Meet the people whose lives are tied to the water. Listen to Suhainah. And taste the flavors born from the richness of the coast. Because sometimes, the most memorable part of a journey is not the place itself, but the story you discover while you are there.