Considering how most of the diverse and rich marine life from Indonesia can be found in the eastern region, the idea of issuing protected areas is more than just important. The coral triangle area in West Papua is one of the highlights of its importance of conservation. Marine protected areas and local conservation should be running to protect the rich biodiversity.
The Importance of Marine Protected Areas (MPA)
1. To Secure Protein Source
According to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Indonesia has around 70% of its country’s protein sources from fish. It shows how important marine biodiversity and resources are for locals. It is also linked with how almost 270 million people in Indonesia will have a connection to marine and coastal resources.
2. To Maintain fishery and marine related 20 Percent Gross Domestic Product
Another good point of implementing MPA is to maintain the gross domestic product. In Indonesia, the product records are about 20% of the gross domestic product. It is mostly made out of marine-related industries and fisheries. It explains that the country cannot live without the help of marine biodiversity, ecosystem, and habitat.
3. Conserve The Marine Life
Other than the industry and economy point of view, it is also worth highlighting the globally significant biodiversity from Indonesia. The coral triangle in Raja Ampat West Papua is a vast tropical marine site that has nearly 600 coral reefs and more than 2,000 species of fish. It is true of a marine biodiversity hotspot.
That situation and rich nature turn the bird’s head seascape and the coral triangle as a favorite tourism destination. At the same time, it is also a local fishery source. To prevent any problem due to the exploitations, Indonesia has designated 7 marine protected areas in the area spanning across 1.500 small islands. It means minimizing the impact of tourism practice, fisheries, and development.
The Effort To Maximize The Legally Protected Conservation
1. Building MPAs In Eastern Indonesia
To show the critical condition and support the conservation movements, the US agency for international development sustainable ecosystems advanced issuing the MPAs from 2016. Along with the ministry and the organization, Indonesia has more than 200 MPAs programs that legally protect around 237,684 square km of marine area.
Some of them use the controlled use of fishing zone by giving a small percent of no extraction zones (NTZs). Raja Ampat West Papua and some other eastern parts of Indonesia are also included in the program. The program’s purpose itself is to address the local threat of habitat destruction, overfishing, protect biodiversity, while also enhancing fisheries productivity.
2. The Fight Of Blast Fishing
Talking about Raja Ampat as a center of the coral triangle, many commercial fisheries and poachers numbers are staggering high. Sadly enough, the practices area mostly lead to more destructive practices such as blast and cyanide fishing. The occurrence has turned Indonesia into one of the countries with the most destructive practices.
The two methods have a significant harmful effect on the environment, biodiversity, and natural habitat. Zoning In Raja Ampat and rules on the MPAs have been rolled out since then. However, due to the primitive and difficult areas, the location is barely monitored by the government. Thus, many problems still appear over time.
To help reach the main purpose of the MPAs, Raja Ampat has about seven different MPAs across the location. Based on the Map legends from the official west Papua Raja Ampat marine park, the map spread across water areas. It also comes in a different color that explains the rules and specific zone information.
According to the map legend, the red areas are the core MPA zones where all of the motorized watersport, fishing, anchoring, and scuba diving, are prohibited. The green zone is for the No Take zone areas which fall under the food and security and tourism zone. These areas banned the motorized sport, anchoring, and fishing.
The next zone is the light blue for Sasi and the traditional utilization zone. It focuses on supporting the local community to practice sustainable fishing activities and cultural practices. The last one is the dark blue area that is only limited to commercial-scale fishing and aquaculture zone.
4. Community Support
Since the challenging location and areas of MPA, local community support is the key to success. locals are mostly fishermen. But with proper eco-conscious tourism, fishery, and activities, the MPAs can gain more success. It also mentioned that the MPA has benefited local’s the economy and tourism in West Papua. That is why indigenous people have taken themselves to police and monitor the water.
Raja Ampat is one of the biggest marine conservation areas that have more than 20 MPA. It explains the diverse marine life in the area. However, to support the practice of the MPA government and the locals need to work together. The local community need to understand the idea of eco-conscious, thus it will help prevent harmful fishing method in the MPAs area.
