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.