Indonesia is one of the world’s most exposed areas for pollution. Plastic waste can move from households, small rivers, coastal settlements, mangroves, ports, and fishing areas into the Ocean, where it becomes harder to collect and more damaging to ecosystems. Ogyre’s Indonesia project works at this boundary: where mangroves act as a natural barrier between waste carried by water and the Ocean, holding it back before it disperses into the sea.

In the project area, waste accumulates in small rivers close to households because the local waste management system does not fully reach these places. At low tide, plastic and other waste get stuck in the riverbed and along the banks. At high tide, the same material is pushed forward until it reaches the mangrove forest, where it becomes trapped between the roots before entering the sea.

Mangroves act as a natural barrier. Their roots slow water, retain sediments, and protect the coastline. But when waste accumulates there, that same barrier becomes a pressure point: plastic blocks light, changes water flow, traps organic matter, and damages habitats used by young fish, crabs, birds, and other species. Fishers also catch less: there are fewer fish, and some areas of the mangrove forest become physically unreachable because waste blocks access through the roots and channels. The result is not only marine pollution, but a direct loss of biodiversity, ecosystem function, and local fishing capacity.

Ogyre’s Indonesia project removes waste from this route before it reaches the Ocean. In Batu Lumbang, Bali, local fishers move through the mangrove forest by kayak and collect plastic and other waste trapped between roots and channels. The material is then weighed, photographed, classified, and transferred to certified partners for sorting, recycling, or responsible disposal, always aiming for the most sustainable available outcome.

Since Ogyre has operated in the area, biodiversity has increased by 50%. This recovery has practical effects for local communities: fishers can access more areas of the mangrove forest because previously blocked zones have been cleaned, catches have improved, and crab populations have returned. Cleaner mangroves have also made new ecotourism activities possible, creating an indirect economic benefit linked to the recovery of the landscape. A cleaner mangrove is therefore not only an ecological result. It restores habitat, supports fishing activity, and creates direct and indirect economic benefits for the people who depend on this ecosystem.

The Indonesia project shows why recovery must happen before waste reaches the open sea. In the mangroves, plastic is still visible, reachable, and removable; once it enters the Ocean, it disperses and becomes harder to control. By clearing blocked channels and roots, Ogyre helps restore a living barrier that protects biodiversity and supports the fishers who depend on it. Cleaner mangroves mean more accessible fishing areas, healthier habitats, and stronger local livelihoods.