Banda Islands the richest coral region on earth
Banda Islands the richest coral region on earth
By Prapti Widinugraheni
BANDA, Maluku (JP): Gather some of the world's finest marine
biologists, take them to the Banda Islands and listen to what
they have to say about the richest and most diverse coral
regions on earth.
This is a rough description of what was expected during a
five-day workshop on coral reef assessment and status evaluation
organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and co-sponsored by the Warisan
dan Budaya Banda Naira and Laut Lestari Indonesia foundations
and The Nature Conservancy.
The workshop, which ended on Dec. 2, brought together some 30
scientists from more than 10 countries and exposed them to a small
part of Indonesia's vast coral reefs which were just recently
classified as being in "critical condition".
J.R.E. Harger, Director ad interim of the Jakarta-based UNESCO
Regional Office for Science and Technology for Southeast Asia, told
The Jakarta Post that the Banda Islands were chosen for the
workshop because they represented the "upper end" point of coral
reef diversity.
"In any direction you go from here -- north, south, east, west --
the coral diversity, or the number of species on a reef, becomes
less," he pointed out.
For five successive days, participants of the workshop dived in
and around the reefs, observing the marine life, taking notes on
the little white slates which hung around their necks and later
convened to discuss the results.
The scientists, with many years of world-wide experience between
them, seemed impressed with what they saw in the Banda Sea.
The formal and informal discussions included a steady flow of
theories, stories of past tropical reef studies and Latin names of
almost everything they met; which was exactly the objective of the
workshop.
Upon returning to their countries and places of work, they were
expected to compare the reefs in Banda with the reefs in other
parts of the world.
"We'd like the overseas scientists to use this experience... so
that when they go home, they can see where their reefs fit in on a
scale that runs from Indonesia down to those areas with no coral
diversity," Harger said.
In this region, he said, there may be 250 to 300 species of
corals whereas in Hawaii, for instance, the number only reached 30
but then 150 in other adjacent regions.
Lava flow
A very specific aspect the scientists investigated in Banda was
the lava flow of Gunung Api, an island-volcano which erupted in
1988, pouring lava into the sea and destroying the coral reefs on
the northern side of the volcano.
According to Harger, between 1988 and 1990 hardly anything had
started to grow on the lava site. However, from 1990 to 1994, coral
coverage there had reached about 80 percent and the diversity was
very high -- exceeding 200 species of corals -- which included
several new-found species.
This was in fact an entirely new finding since it is now known
that coral grows at a very slow rate of barely 10 centimeters per
year.
On the lava flow, however, in just three or four years table
corals had grown to reach more than one meter in diameter.
"This situation represents a very rapid healing capacity in the
reef systems and it's something that hasn't been reported before,"
Harger pointed out, adding that the exact factors and conditions
which allowed such rapid growth were still unknown.
In the Jakarta Bay 20 kilometers from the city, for instance, the
reefs are practically dead from the pollutants that are discharged
everyday by the city's residents. Those that thrive can only grow
some two to four centimeters a year.
However, the picture in the Banda Sea was not all pretty.
During several diving and snorkeling observations around Run
Island, west of Banda, the scientists found several sites destroyed
by humans scattered amidst the rest of the untainted reefs.
These included patches of damaged corals of irregular shape,
living corals scattered on the bottom, lying on the sides, all of
which indicate that bomb-fishing had been recently taken place in
the area.
Although the method is illegal, a severe lack of authoritative
control has resulted in the widespread use of bomb-fishing. It is
also believed that some strong powers are still "backing" the
method, encouraging it to survive and flourish.
Most of the reefs in the neighboring area of Southeast Sulawesi
have also been wiped out this way not only by irresponsible locals
but also by outsiders.
Although Run Island is currently marked as a diving spot in the
region, it could easily and rapidly diminish if steps are not
immediately taken to put an end to the bomb-fishing.
In this respect, the findings of the scientists will also have a
significant role in the development of eco-tourism, a term gaining
much popularity around the world as of late.
Eco-tourism
"(The workshop) hopes to wake everybody up to the astounding
complexity and diversity of Indonesian coral reefs that can
strengthen eco-tourism potential," Harger said, citing that
thousands of tourists come all the way from their home countries
just to see the reefs.
Local communities, he said, would benefit and if they were to
help put an end to the damaging practices, the people would find
conservation as an alternative way to make a living.
"If this reef structure were to be destroyed or eliminated,
Indonesia would lose that potential economic stream," Harger
pointed out.
From an economic point of view, it would also be more profitable
if the reefs were not seen as a once-only capital windfall which
has to be exploited and converted into another income-generating
source before it finally brings in hard currency.
From a social point of view, a reef managed in a sustainable
manner would be able to constantly support, for example, 10 people,
which is far more than if it were turned into an export business
that could only profit one person.
"That one person generally speaking sure isn't one of the 10
people that could be maintained at a subsistence level," Harger
pointed out.
By the end of the week, the workshop came up with several
recommendations on how to sustain the use of reef systems.
These included traditional uses and opportunities of the marine
environment, preserving biodiversity, productivity and community
ownership.
The workshop also recommended that several legal regulations be
reinforced or changed if the coral reefs are expected to remain
intact.