Campaign pulls in the public to save endangered coral reefs

By I Wayan Juniartha

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): It was not a usual Saturday night rock and roll concert, although the venue was none other than the spacious Center Stage of Hard Rock Beach Hotel in Kuta.

It was different in the first place because it was free. No wonder the concert venue last Saturday was packed with people from all walks of life.

A successful young entrepreneur, dressed sharply in designer clothes, sat comfortably in the corner, having a good time, sipping an expensive liquor from his small glass. A young, long- haired environmental activist, a rugged knapsack on his back, dressed in worn-out jeans, leaned against the wall, his right hand holding a small bottle of Indonesia's most popular beer. The concert had pushed down the segregation walls of social class.

Second, it was a concert with a mission. The focus of the night, grabbing everybody's attention, of course, Nugie, was not singing songs about the endlessly exploited subject of teen first love, but about a different kind of love, the platonic love between Man and Mother Nature. He sung about the beautiful beaches, serene mountains and the majestic colors of coral reefs. Sometimes he closed his eyes, faced upwards in gestures of reverence and awe. He wasn't faking it; he did really love his Mother Nature.

To make the circle perfect, Indy Barends, the well-known entertainment presenter, kept the audience interested with her charm, jokes and her raise-your-environmental-awareness messages.

There wasn't any doubt that the audience was entertained; they applauded, they cheered, no brawls exploded during the concert and, as it ended, they looked happier than when they arrived at the venue.

But, did the concert really raise their environmental awareness to a higher plane?

"Well, we couldn't convert everybody even if we wanted to do that, could we? But, the main point of this concert was to present the idea of conserving nature to a wider audience. Hopefully, it will attract their attention to learn more, or, God willing, to do more," Friends of the Reef (FoR) program coordinator Dewi Satriani said.

The concert was the highlight of various events held under the umbrella of the Friends of the Reef, a strategic new program initiated by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Wallacea Bioregion- Bali.

Collaborating with other environmental non-governmental organizations, concerned members of the private sector and individuals, WWF launched the program with one final objective; the conservation of Bali's precious coral reefs.

The West Bali National Park, Waka Shorea, Reef Seen Aquatic, Matahari Dive Center, Bali Hai Diving Adventure and Dunia Selam Lembonga were the stakeholders in the program.

The program is employing aggressive campaign methods to reach a wider and bigger audience. In April there was a photo, video, poster and comic competition. In May the activists visited several schools, which are located near diving sites in Denpasar, Gilimanuk, Sumber Klampok, Pemuteran and Nusa Lembongan island.

The activists tried to draw the students' attention to the issue of preserving coral reefs through games, quizzes and slide show presentations.

Meanwhile, an "If I Were a Fish" themed children drawing competition, replete with a quiz, games and child singers, was held in early June. Hundreds of children swarmed the venue of the competition.

And, in cooperation with Hard Rock Beach Hotel's management, the activists not only succeeded in staging a concert, but also organizing a two-day exhibition on coral reefs at the hotel. A simple newsletter, FoR Post, is also published on a regular basis to communicate the program's idea to a wider audience.

A two-day Reef Check and Underwater Clean Up was held in May at Bali's nine prime diving sites, including Menjangan island, Amed, Pemuteran, Nusa Lembongan island, Nusa Penida island and Sanur, and involved 34 experienced divers and three marine scientists. The results showed that illegal fishing, either by poisoning or bombing, land-based pollution, sea-based pollution and the global warming phenomenon had inflicted heavy damage on a large portion of the once pristine coral reefs. Only one dive site, Pakeh beach, is still in relatively good condition, with a hard coral population percentage ranging from 46.3 percent to 53.8 percent.

The rest had an average 28.1 percent hard coral population.

"Indonesia once had the richest and the most diverse coral reefs in the world. Currently, only 29 percent of it is still in good condition," Satriani said.

Put it simply, she added, they had no choice but to work fast and aggressively, otherwise Bali would lose its coral reefs forever.