Environmentalists launch campaign to save reefs
Environmentalists launch campaign to save reefs
JAKARTA (JP): Environmentalists have launched a year-long campaign to save Indonesia's endangered coral reefs.
The United States-based Nature Conservancy, the Pusaka Alam Foundation and the Wallacea Development Institute began the "Save Our Coral Reefs" campaign on Wednesday to raise public awareness about the ongoing degradation of coral reefs.
The Wallacea Institute asked the government to turn the Wakatobi Islands in Southeast Sulawesi, known for their rich marine resources, into a national park.
Chairman of the institute Ibnu Sutowo said that unless great efforts are taken, "the reefs in that area will disappear in the next several years".
He also proposed that a research center be set up on one of the islands with experts from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and other relevant agencies.
Harmful fishing practices have begun to damage the reefs in Wakatobi, but not as extensively as the damage done to the coral reefs in Taka Bonerate National Sea Park in South Sulawesi, he pointed out.
"We have to prevent further damage (by turning the islands into a national park)," he told the gathering.
Also present at the ceremony on Wednesday were State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, honorary chairman of the Wallace Institute Sudomo, and Japanese Ambassador Taizo Watanabe.
Sarwono said Indonesia used to be able to be proud of its pristine 60,000 square kilometers of coral reef, considered the largest and most beautiful in the world.
"We really should be concerned about the condition of our reef's ecosystem," he said, adding that efforts to salvage it should come from the government and all members of society.
A most recent study by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences revealed that only six percent of Indonesia's reefs are in pristine condition, Sarwono said.
He identified a number of causes behind coral reef degradation, include natural, physical and biological processes as well as wasteful and irresponsible human activities.
"Coral reefs are destroyed by mining for limestone and building materials, by fishing with explosives and chemical poisons, particularly potassium cyanide," he said.
He also said the reefs can be destroyed by a process of sedimentation from on-shore sources, by industrial and agricultural pollutants and by using the reefs as disposal sites for city and household garbage.
Further damage to Indonesia's coral reefs will degrade the quality of the marine and coastal ecosystems, he said, adding that damage to these larger ecosystems will limit social and economic development for Indonesia's coastal people.
Sarwono said more education for those who depend on the coral reefs for their livelihoods would enable them to manage the resources in a more sustainable manner. (31)