benjamin brown is part of the mangrove action project a washington based ngo. >> in a pond they can'tgrow because it's under water all the time. so we want the tide to come in and out so that mangroves get watered but then they also, the soils are drained and they can grow. >> 500 hectares of mangroves were cleared here to make way for shrimp ponds, now abandoned. if they are to reclaim this sludge, the walls of the old shrimp ponds must first be destroyed. >> the community are also planting mangrove propagules in a controlled area. later, this plot will be compared another just over there, where hopefully mangroves will grow back naturally. >> we've travelled to other side of sulawesi. this place used to be devoid of wildlife. but this is what a decade's difference makes.. a thriving mangrove forest. >> ben has been invited back by the village of tiwoho to see how this restoration project has fared. >> so what did this once look like? >> in about 2000 when we came here this was all just mud and an old abandoned shrimp pond and we planted a little and we broke some dyke walls in 2002