Togean oceanic park 'under serious threat'

Togean oceanic park 'under serious threat'

By Rustam Hapusa

PALU, Central Sulawesi (Antara): The ocean park in the Togean
Islands of Central Sulawesi, which boasts Indonesia's largest
coral reef, is teetering on the brink of oblivion.

The park, which has become increasingly popular with western
tourists, is facing a grave threat from uncontrolled fishing
using explosives and poisons.

Data acquired by the Joint Consortium to Develop Conservation
Areas shows that fishermen damage between 200 and 300 hectares of
the 98,000 hectares of coral reef in the area every year.

Anchors dropped from fishing boats and ferries, along with
effluent from their engines are highly damaging and unchecked
poaching of natural predators such as Napoleon wrasse has allowed
pests such as Acanthaster planci to multiply at an alarming rate.

According to the head of the consortium, Yani Subekti
Permana, increasing human encroachment into the Tomini straits is
accelerating the degradation of reefs around the 53 islands that
make up the Togean archipelago.

Yani, a graduate from Palu's Tadulako University, said that
coral reefs lying off the islands of Taipi and Malenge, which
became a popular diving haven among western tourists four years
ago, have been seriously damaged.

"The rate of destruction is also alarming. More than 20
percent of the coral reefs have been seriously damaged," she
said.

Yani urged the relevant government agencies and non-
governmental organizations to launch a concerted effort to save
the abundant biodiversity in the area. The 20,000 families who
live in the area would also benefit from the conservation
program if it succeeded in preserving the natural resources they
depend upon for a living.

The Togean islands boasts 30 dive sites and are the home to
rare species of animals such as the cuscus and the alo bird.

Potential

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has stated its intention
to develop the Togean islands' potential for tourism and already
the numbers of tourists arriving in the area has shown a marked
increase.

In 1994, ministry records show that 2,000 tourists visited the
area, a number which by 1997 had risen to 6,728. A total of 7,322
tourists had visited the area as of Oct. 20. this year.

"I estimate that the number could double by the year 2000 if
access to the area is improved," said the head of the local
office of culture and tourism, M. Said Siregar.

According to Siregar, tourism in the Togean islands is
hampered by the lack of direct access from the provincial capital
of Palu. It currently takes tourists at least two days to travel
the 480 kilometers from Palu to Wakai in the Togean islands.

There are no direct flights or ferries to the area, making it
necessary for tourists to stay one night in Ampana, a small
seaside town en route, and another night in Wakai waiting for a
motorboat to return to the mainland.

The Central Sulawesi development board has been trying to
solve this problem since 1994. They have asked the central
government to create a regular flight connecting areas popular
with tourists in Sulawesi.

But the proposed diagonal route connecting Tana Toraja in
South Sulawesi with Tentena and Wakai in Central Sulawesi, and
Manado in North Sulawesi is still awaited.

A proposal for a regular ferry service connecting Ampana and
Wakai has also been submitted but, like the proposed air service,
has yet to be acted on by the authorities.

"We do not know why our requests have not been met," commented
the head of the Central Sulawesi development board, Yahya
Ponulele.

Despite the problems, Yahya said he was optimistic that the
proposed flights and ferries would be running by mid 2000 because
Jakarta has promised greater development in eastern Indonesia
once the economic crisis is over.

To secure the oceanic resources in the 1.6 million hectare
area, a number of non-governmental organizations active in the
Togean islands have suggested designating the area as a national
park.

"We hope that our proposal to turn the Togean islands into a
national park will be approved soon so that what is left of the
oceanic resources there can still be saved," the director of the
Toloka Institution Jafar Amin said when commenting on a meeting
between Central Sulawesi Governor H.B. Paliudju and
representatives if the Togean islanders.

The government is expected to divide the area into zones with
different functions, including fishing and tourism.

"After the Togean islands have been turned into a national
park, any violations of the law could be dealt with firmly,"
Jafar said.

In response to the NGOs' proposal, Paliudju said that a
request to turn the area into a national park had been submitted
to the provincial government two years ago and was now under
consideration, adding that the Central Sulawesi development board
had asked him for more details on the proposal in 1997.

"If the central government doesn't make the Togean islands a
national park soon, I think it's resources will run out, leaving
it's current natural wealth as nothing more than a memory", said
the head of the Central Sulawesi office of the Ministry of
Forestry and Plantations.