Our mangrove day tour is only possible because four people show up to a muddy plot every week whether we're there or not. This is a short introduction to them, in as few of our own words as we can manage.
Wayan, plot lead
Wayan grew up fishing off this same stretch of coast. He now leads the restoration plot and keeps the survival-rate spreadsheet that most visitors never see.
"The mud remembers what was here. Our job is to help it remember faster."
Kadek, nursery
Kadek runs the seedling nursery. Every propagule that goes into the plot has passed through her hands first, sorted, soaked, and rejected if the tip is dry.
Made, monitoring
Made handles the monthly monitoring: crab counts, salinity, seedling survival by row. If a plot is failing, he's usually the first to notice.
Nyoman, community liaison
Nyoman talks to the surrounding villages. Restoration doesn't work without them, and he's the reason the plot has never been quietly cleared for something else.
When you visit the plot with us, one of these four is with you the entire time. The story is theirs. We just carry the water.
