Indonesia, US Sign Up to Preserve Nusa Penida’s Marine Environment

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana | November 21, 2010

Nusa Penida, Bali. The Indonesian and US governments have announced a new initiative to establish a marine conservation area in the waters around Nusa Penida Island, to the southeast of Bali.

The conservation area will cover 200 square kilometers of waters around the island, and become part of the larger national conservation area totalling 200,000 square kilometers across the archipelago by 2020.

The Nusa Penida initiative has already received Rp 100 billion ($11.2 million) in funding from USAID, through the Coral Triangle Support Partnership, according to Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad.

Of the fund, Rp 960 million will go toward helping seaweed farmers improve productivity, as part of the government’s target to boost seaweed production in Nusa Penida from 117,000 tons a year to 500,000 tons a year.

Fadel said the richness of the marine diversity around Nusa Penida deserved to be studied in greater depth.

“We’ll manage this conservation area in the same way that Brazil successfully manages the Amazon,” he said at a ceremony to inaugurate the area on Sunday.

The biodiversity around the island, he added, was apparent in a 2009 marine survey performed by scientists Emre Turak and Gerry Allen, which uncovered 296 coral species and 576 fish species, five of which were previously undiscovered.

Fadel also noted that a study by the Nature Conservancy’s Indonesian Marine Program had found 1,419 hectares of coral reef, 230 hectares of mangrove forest with 13 species of mangroves, and 108 seaweed patches with eight types of seaweed.

“We’ll also build a seaweed cultivation center here as well as a seaweed processing plant,” the minister said.

“In addition, we’ll build fish processing plants so that the fish caught in these waters will be ready and packed for shipment.

“We’ll also enlist the local community’s assistance in helping safeguard the waters.”

He added other aims of establishing the conservation area included to encourage fishermen to adopt sustainable fishing practices, and to boost tourism in the area.

US Ambassador Scot Marciel, who also attended Sunday’s event, said Indonesia was well-placed to support global conservation efforts, which made it an important partner for the United States, including in efforts to preserve marine ecosystems.

“We see the marine environment as key to the sustainability of humans,” Marciel said.