Northern Java’s coasts suffer from severe erosion. In one decade, some coastal areas have retreated by three kilometres. Developmnet of coastal infrastructure and aquaculture went hand in hand with the removal of protective mangrove forests and the disturbance of sediment flows towards the coast and floodplains. Replanting of mangroves has not been successful, as the sediment balance is too disturbed to enable mangroves to survive. To counter this destructive erosion, a “Building with Nature” approach was tested in Timbul Sloko village in Central Java. The approach entails the placement of permeable dams that break the waves and trap sediment thus reclaiming land. This animation shows this technique which was piloted successfully over the past three years. The waves are now much lower inside the grid of pemeable dams than outside. Pioneering mangrove trees are already testing the ground. In direct response to these initial tests, the village signed a decree in 2014 to protect 100 hectares of angrove belt as protected area and the Indonesian government implemented several pilots based on our design.