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.