Government ourged to take action for better reef management

Government ourged to take action for better reef management

By Edith Hartanto

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): A call for immediate action in management
and policy to prevent coral destruction was made at the closing
of the Ninth International Symposium on Coral Reefs on Friday,
demanding that governments and international agencies make a
strong commitment to saving the world's environmental heritage.

"In Indonesia, explosives and cyanide as well as massive sea
pollution are indisputably the biggest threat to coral reefs,"
Suharsono, an expert on coral reefs from the Indonesian Institute
of Science (LIPI) and one of the symposium organizers told The
Jakarta Post, after the closing of a one-week conference at
Sheraton Nusa Dua.

"All of this time we've only developed a local community
approach to saving coral reefs but actually the ones that have to
be approached are nomad fishermen such as those from Buton, Bugis
and Makassar," Suharsono explained.

"When I went diving, dynamite blasts could be heard a few
times in just one minute underwater. It's terrible," he said.

That is why, besides the management factor, the regulations
and enforcement must be conducted seriously.

"Police can never get solid evidence in the case of
environmental damage due to the fact that it is usually a
collective action," he added.

The existing data shows that Indonesia is home to some 85,000
square kilometers of coral reef, 40 percent of which are badly
damaged and only some 6.5 percent are in excellent condition.

In a bid to obtain accurate data of the country's sea
heritage, LIPI in cooperation with the Center for Sea and Geology
and the National Aviation and Aviation Institute (LAPAN) are
currently conducting coral reef mapping as well as measuring the
line of the country's sea zone and the exact number of islands.

"We are using more accurate technology and satellite data. So
far we have completed the mapping of five islands, namely
Sumatra, Java, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and
Sulawesi," Suharsono explained.

The remaining three are Kalimantan, Maluku and Irian Jaya,
which are expected to be completed in March next year. "By May
2001 we hope to present holistic data as national data," he said.

The other important factor regarding the destruction of the
coral is coral bleaching which results from global climate change
due to the impact of greenhouses emissions.

Therefore, the meeting urged governments and international
agencies to have the strong political will to enforce the
concrete actions suggested by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and to release funding to mitigate
the impacts and advance the understanding of bleaching.

Immediate critical management responses raised at the
symposium include the halting of activities that may damage the
remaining live coral, revising the location and boundaries of
marine reserves and parks to ensure remaining coral reefs are
strictly protected and facilitating the regeneration of affected
reefs by reducing over-fishing, pollution and other impacts of
land-based activities.