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Serangan environmental restoration gets more support
Jumat, 20 Januari 2012 00:00
Serangan environmental restoration gets more support
Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 01/20/2012 8:58 AM
Preserving the beauty: Serangan island has increasingly become a submarine-environment preservation center. Many local fishermen are involved in improving the condition of the coral in the waters around the island. JP/Agung Parameswara
Fishermen on Serangan Island are moving ahead with their efforts to restore the damaged environment around them, having received support from companies via their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
Next week, the fishermen will launch projects on coral reef transplantation and sea horse cultivation. For the coral reef, they intend to place 12 new artificial structures underwater on which more coral can grow, thanks to a Rp 100 million support fund from a private company to help improve the coral’s condition.
The structures will function as a submarine reef, a man-made construction submerged to serve as a platform for the transplanted coral. It is similar to a substrate, a biological surface where the transplanted coral can grow, along with algae.
Wayan Patut, leader of the fishermen’s group Karya Segara, which is responsible for carrying out this project, said the community aims to restore the ecosystem and ocean biodiversity in the area, which has been severely damaged due to land reclamation.
Since 2003, local people have initiated various environmental restoration projects, including coral transplantation, as a way to seek alternative livelihoods.
“In 2003, we launched an environmental effort with the aim of restoring the marine ecosystem in a five-hectare area within 15 years. So far, we have only managed to improve conditions in 1.8 hectares,” Patut said.
The results, however, are obvious, as coral coverage has begun to increase, reaching 80 percent growth levels in some areas. As the coral grew, fish were attracted to the area, as the coral provided an excellent habitat for the fish, he added.
Patut said the fishermen work together with a travel agency, which regularly bring groups of eco-tourists to participate in the coral planting. At least 400 tourists help with the coral planting every month. The local administration and environmental NGOs are also actively involved in the project to help the fishermen.
“If we can gather more support, hopefully we can reach our target within 15 years,” Patut said.
On sea horse breeding, the fishermen receive assistance from another company in building better facilities and gain more female sea horses.
“We are breeding the sea horses to restore their population, which began to decrease when people started killing them to keep them as ornaments,” Patut said.
All the sea horses born as a result of this breeding program would be released into the ocean, he added, and the local community would do their best thereafter to prevent more hunting.
“This sea horse program is also part of our efforts to restore submarine biodiversity. This animal is an attractive object for divers,” Patut said, adding that the fishermen also plan to breed clown fish.
They started breeding the sea horses in 2007 and now involve tourists to help release them into the sea. So far, they manage to release between 50 to 80 sea horses each month.
At next week’s event, in which Denpasar Mayor Rai Mantra will lead the launching ceremony, the fishermen will also introduce the “garbage bank” they recently started, to reuse plastic waste by using it to make handicrafts.
Pariama Hutasoit from the Nusa Dua Reef Foundation, which conducts supervision and provides capacity-building assistance for the fishermen on the coral transplantation project, said she expected more companies to donate their CSR funds to help conservation efforts.
“The consistent efforts by the Serangan fishermen is something worth supporting. They have shown a tremendous commitment to improving the undersea environment following the damage caused by reclamation. I hope there will be more companies that will join this project,” she said.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/01/20/serangan-environmental-restoration-gets-more-support.html
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