Some coastal villages in Indonesia’s Central Java Province have been largely abandoned in recent years, as rising seas, sinking land, and erosion have left communities and farms underwater.

A person works in chest-deep water, planting mangrove shoots.Dasril Roszandi / Anadolu / Getty54-year-old Pasijah plants mangrove seedlings around her house, which has been submerged by tidal floods for years, in Rejosari Senik, in Demak, Central Java, Indonesia, on May 4, 2024. She comes from one of the few families that have survived for 23 years in two submerged hamlets of Bedono Village, after more than 200 families were forced to move.A satellite view showing a cluster of houses surrounded by roads, paths, and farm fields© Google, Inc.A “before” satellite view from 2003, showing one of the hamlets in Bedono Village, surrounded by roads, paths, and farm fields.A satellite view showing the same cluster of houses from the previous photo, surrounded by shallow seawater© Google, Inc.An “after” satellite view from 2025, showing the same hamlet, surrounded by shallow seawater and connected by elevated walkways.An elevated view of a cluster of houses surrounded by seawater, connected by boardwalksBay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyThis picture, taken on June 20, 2023, shows a view of the villagers’ houses, with the surrounding area submerged by seawater, at Timbulsloko village, in Demak. The village is in one of Indonesia’s fastest-sinking areas, which has turned from a landscape of lush rice paddies into a network of boardwalks and canoes.A person paddles a makeshift canoe made out of a plastic barrel, carrying mangrove seedlings.Dasril Roszandi / Anadolu / GettyPasijah carries mangrove seedlings in a makeshift canoe, preparing to plant them around her flooded village, on May 4, 2024. She said she felt called to take care of her village by planting the mangroves, even though no one else remained in the village; the trees serve as a home for birds and help tame the waves.Two people carrying bags walk along a flooded road.Bay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyThis photo, taken on July 30, 2025, shows villagers walking along a flooded road in Bedono village, in Demak, Central Java. Indonesia wants to build an $80 billion, 700-kilometer-long seawall along Java’s coast to tackle land loss as climate change lifts tides and groundwater extraction prompts subsidence. But with a timeline of decades and uncertain financing, it looks unlikely to arrive quickly enough, and climate experts warn that it could even make matters worse by pushing erosion elsewhere and disrupting local ecosystems.A drone view of a damaged house surrounded by seawater, debris, and trees.Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana / ReutersA drone view of the house belonging to Pasijah, in the submerged hamlet of Rejosari Senik, seen on March 14, 2025. Over the past few years, most of Pasijah’s neighbors have abandoned their homes, vegetable plots, and rice fields to the advancing sea. “I’m no longer concerned about how I feel about the isolation here since I decided to stay, so we’ll take it one hurdle at a time,” she said.Several children play football on a raised boardwalk above seawater. The ball appears to have gotten away from them and is falling into the water.Bay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyChildren play football on wooden floors built after the streets and yards were submerged by seawater, in Timbulsloko village, in Demak, on June 20, 2023.A woman stands in ankle-deep water in the doorway of a house, being handed a package by a man who is crouched at the front of a boat that has pulled up right to the house.Dasril Roszandi / Anadolu / GettyPasijah receives a package at her doorstep, delivered by boat, on May 4, 2024.A person pushes a loaded motorcycle on a road submerged by seawater.Bay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyA villager pushes his motorcycle on a road submerged by seawater, in Timbulsloko village, on June 21, 2023.An aerial view of a small cemetery plot that has been surrounded by seawater. The cemetery is defended by a makeshift wooden seawall and piles of old tires.Bay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyAn aerial view of graves that have been raised and protected from rising sea levels by bamboo embankments and old tires, in a cemetery in Timbulsloko village, seen on June 20, 2023A view of some abandoned and partially-submerged houses, surrounded by seawater.Bay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyA view of some of the abandoned and partially submerged houses in Bedono village, seen on July 30, 2025An aerial view of partially-submerged housesBay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyAn aerial view of partially submerged houses in Bedono village, seen on July 30, 2025Damaged and abandoned houses stand among trees in a flooded area.Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana / ReutersDamaged houses stand partially submerged in the hamlet of Rejosari Senik, in Demak regency, on February 19, 2025.A woman prays on a platform in a mosque that has partially flooded.Aditya Irawan / Aditya Irawan / ReutersA woman prays in a mosque that has partially flooded, in Timbulsloko village, on June 7, 2023. Over the past decade, the villagers of Timbulsloko have lost sight of the land in their village, after the tidal waters have inundated the entire area.A man sweeps a boardwalk outside of a flooded house that has been surrounded by seawater.Bram Selo / Xinhua / GettyA man sweeps his boardwalk in Timbulsloko village on June 3, 2024.An aerial view of a cluster of flooded and abandoned housesBay Ismoyo / AFP / GettyThis aerial photo, taken on July 30, 2025, shows abandoned and partially submerged houses in Bedono village, in Demak.A woman floats in a small makeshift boat at sunset.Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana / ReutersPasijah sits in her makeshift boat as the sun rises in her submerged hamlet of Rejosari Senik, Demak regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia, on February 20, 2025.

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