Prana dedicates award to fishermen

Prana dedicates award to fishermen

Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

Agung Prana was very happy when he accepted the 2005 ASEAN
Tourist Association Excellence Award for the Best ASEAN
Conservation Effort, on behalf of the Karang Lestari Pemuteran
Coral Preservation Foundation of North Bali.

The award was presented by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister
Dato Sri Hj Mohd Najib on Jan. 25 in Lankawi, Malaysia, during
the opening ceremony for the ASEAN tourism forum.

"This award belongs to the entire fishing community in
Pemuteran who have been successfully and patiently involved in
projects to preserve their valuable marine resources," said Agung
proudly at his Sanur cottage recently.

The award was also dedicated to committed individuals,
scientists and businesspeople who have been supporting the
project.

The Best ASEAN Conservation Effort Award was given to an
environmental project based on the preservation of national or
natural environment/ecology in the interests of tourism
development. This year's 37 nominees came from ASEAN countries
plus Japan, China and Korea.

"The award recognizes that small-scale, community-based
conservation efforts can contribute to the well-being of nature
and the entire community that lives in the area. It is public
encouragement for other communities to do the same," Agung added.

This success story started 16 years ago when Agung made a
pilgrimage to Pura Pulaki temple on the north coast of Bali. He
found himself sitting and meditating in the temple for hours to
put his weary mind at ease.

"The business world has always been so demanding -- demanding
your time and energy, and often it keeps you away from spiritual
life," recalled Agung, a devout Hindu and one of the island's
accomplished businesspeople in the tourism-related industry.

After praying at Pulaki, Agung not only gained spiritual
enlightenment but also found an amazing place -- Pemuteran. He
established a hotel there in the early 1990s when nobody wanted
to invest any money in the barren area.

Pemuteran, around 100 kilometers north of Denpasar, lies
between mountains to the south and Menjangan island to the north.

With low rainfall all year long, Pemuteran is less fertile
than southern Bali. However, it was once known as the home of
some of the island's richest coral reefs and marine resources.

The population consists predominately of poor fishermen. There
are a few hotels, diving or snorkeling centers operating in the
area.

Due to poverty and lack of knowledge on sustainable fishing
techniques, local fishermen excessively exploited and netted fish
using cyanide and other destructive materials, which ultimately
destroyed their habitat -- coral reefs.

"When I first visited the place and opened a hotel here, the
coral reefs were already depleted. It was almost a total natural
disaster," he recalled.

Pemuteran, like other coastal areas in Indonesia was
previously home to abundant coral reefs. Indonesia possesses the
richest assortment of coral species in the world of about 450
species from fringe and barrier reefs to atolls and patch reefs.

Estimates are that Indonesia's reefs cover around 85,700
square kilometers, constituting 14 percent of the world's coral
reefs.

However, today, only 6 percent of these reefs are in a healthy
condition. Destruction has come from human activities such as
dynamite and cyanide fishing, pollution, global warming,
increased turbidity, overexploitation and environmentally
unfriendly tourism.

"Something must immediately be done to restore the damaged
coral reefs and the surrounding environment," Agung said.

In Oct. 2002, Agung joined the Karang Lestari Project, which
was initiated by Yos Amerta, owner of Yos Diving, in 2000. The
project applied artificial reef construction technology,
introduced by Professor Wolf Hilbertz and Dr. TomGoreau, which
uses electricity to "grow" limestone rock on artificial reef
frames and increase the growth rates of coral and other reef
organisms.

The technology accelerates coral growth three to five times
faster than normal and increases coral survival by 16 to 50
times.

One of the benefits of the reef restoration project is that
reef fish, schools of fish and many other forms of marine life
gravitate to the area. It is a fish nursery as well as a coral
nursery and thus is becoming an excellent snorkeling and diving
site.

All of these efforts and magnificent technology, however,
seemed too complicated for the Pemuteran fishermen to understand.
After all, they had only wanted to catch as many fish as possible
to feed their families.

"Communicating the benefits of the project to the people here
was critically important. They had to be involved in the project
and in the protection of the marine ecosystem," Agung said.

Agung, who fully understands both traditional Balinese Hindu
society and the busy modern world, had a challenging task to
convey the purpose of the project in terms that were readily
comprehensible to the locals.

Beforehand, the Pemuteran fishermen were suspicious and
worried that the project would prevent or ban them from fishing.

"We were dealing with poor people who had to think of what
should be eaten that day. An arrogant or ignorant approach would
certainly not work well."

Later Agung Prana built a worship place where they could pray
in peace.

"As human beings, we badly needed divine help. By praying
together with the locals, we felt spiritually connected to each
other," Agung said.

Born to an affluent Balinese family in Mengwi, Badung regency,
Agung easily fitted in with the local community. The owner of
Taman Sari hotel and other business establishments became a
father figure in the community.

Through religious and traditional entry points, Agung
gradually disseminated Hindu and Balinese ancient wisdom that
emphasized the need to balance spiritual and natural well-being.

After years of community education, the Pemuteran fishermen
grasped the meaning of the project, along with an understanding
of the importance of maintaining their resources as well as
economic opportunities.

The project has made it clear that restoring coral growth can
bring fish back, and therefore it secures their income-generating
process.

"Now, they feel they belong to the project and feel
responsible for protecting it and to make it work," Agung said
proudly.

The Pemuteran community sets its own rules as well as
sanctions to deal with those who violate them. "They stationed
pecalang laut (sea guards) in the area to ensure that no
fishermen engaged in irresponsible behavior such as bombing the
coral, stealing fish etc.," he said.

In addition to the improvement of fishing areas and coral
reefs, the project allows villagers to take the initiative to
start up ecotourism tours such as dolphin-watching activities.
Pemuteran village also retains rights to all snorkeling income.

Alternative income sources are now available to these
impoverished fishing villagers, who have become avid proponents
of conservation and ecotourism, for both economic and
environmental reasons.

Agung's role has been a major one. His tireless efforts in
educating the Pemuteran community and in consistently
implementing the Karang Lestari Project identified him as a
nominee for the prestigious UN Sasakawa Awards in 2002.

The Karang Lestari Project also received the SKAL Ecotourism
Award 2002 for the world's best ecotourism project. SKAL is the
world's largest tourism and travel organization.

The project also received the Kalpataru, Indonesia's most
prestigious environmental award.

"We contribute only a little toward the community's welfare,
but I'm very happy to see them smile. Life has been more
fulfilling and hopeful for the Pemuteran villagers," he said.