Jakarta, May 16 (Antara) - Indonesia, one of the six Coral Triangle
Initiative (CTI) countries, has to preserve its coral reefs as millions
of fishermen living in the coastal areas depend on resources garnered
from the reefs for their livelihoods.
However, fishermen have to face the fact that about 30 percent of
Indonesia's coral reefs, which are more than 25 thousand square
kilometers or about 25 percent of the world's, are reportedly damaged.
The CTI countries are host to the world's largest coral reef resources,
which sustain the lives of over 120 million coastal people in
Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and
the Solomon Islands.
In Indonesia alone, according to Vice President Boediono on Friday,
about 60 million people of Indonesia live alongside the coastline and
entirely depend on the coral reefs for their livelihoods.
"With such a condition, it is understood that Indonesia is vulnerable
to the degradation of the coral reefs on which it is highly dependent,"
the vice president said.
Therefore, he said that as part of Indonesia's commitment to the coral
triangle initiative, the country in 2010 declared a part of its
territorial waters as marine resources conservation areas.
As part of its concrete steps in its efforts with other five CTI
countries to preserve the marine resources, Indonesia has set a target
of designating up to 20 million hectares as conservation areas by 2020.
Indonesia has 13 million hectares of conservation areas. As part of its
efforts, the minister of marine affairs and fisheries in late 2010
inaugurated a marine conservation area in Nusa Penida, Bali, in a bid to
protect marine and coastal life as well as to encourage sustainable
marine tourism.
Even though efforts have been made to conserve the resources, illegal
activities detrimental to coral reefs still continue to take place.
These activities are disadvantageous for fishermen.
The People's Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara) highlighted that
there are three key issues causing coral reef damage in Indonesia. They
are illegal fish catching equipment, coastal reclamation and mining
activities.
"The problems faced in preserving the coral reefs in Indonesia are due
to these three issues. The government has to effectively handle the
problem," Kiara Secretary General Abdul Halim reiterated here on Friday.
He pointed out the widespread use of trawlers and explosives, which
played a significant role in destroying life in the coral reefs. Coral
reefs are living habitats of highly profitable coral and ornamental
fishes.
When the coral reefs are not healthy, it will affect the number of fish
species. "The use of destructive trawlers still often takes place,
while in fact polices issued to ban them are already adequate," Abdul
Halim said.
Abdul
Halim also emphasized that illegal coastal land reclamation was also
rampant in coastal areas. It had occurred in 22 districts and can damage
the ecosystem.
Illegal or unlicensed coastal area reclamation, based on Kiara monitor,
still takes place in 17 Indonesian coastal areas.
Among these areas are Manado in North Sulawesi, Bali, the Palu Bay in
Central Sulawesi, the Losari beach in Makassar, South Sulawesi and
Balikpapan in East Kalimantan.
The impact a coastal reclamation can cause is damage to the sea
ecosystem. It can cause a change in the hydrological sedimentation.
Meanwhile, illegal sand mining in the sea is believed to produce
materials that affect the respiratory and photosynthetic capabilities of
the coral reef life.
Besides human factor, environmental circumstances and climate change also pose a threat to the life of coral reefs.
To increase and expand global awareness of the preservation of
ecosystem and coastal resources, including coral reefs, the Indonesian
government is hosting a World Coral Reef Conference in Manado, North
Sulawesi, on May 13-17, 2014.
The conference, in which representatives from about 100 countries are
attending, is expected to produce a Manado Communiqué.
On Thursday, six countries grouped in the Coral Triangle Initiative on
Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) signed an agreement
declaring the Indonesian city of Manado as the headquarters of the
group's permanent regional secretariat.
"CTI-CFF is a multilateral partnership, comprising Indonesia, Malaysia,
Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Salomon Islands and Timor Leste. It
was formed in 2009 to address the concrete threat of marine biodiversity
in the area known as the coral reef triangle," Indonesian Minister of
Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Sharif C Sutardjo said following the
fifth meeting of the CTI-CFF Ministerial Council in Manado, North
Sulawesi, on Thursday.
The CTI-CFF Ministerial Council led by Malaysian Minister of Science,
Technology and Innovation Dato' Dr Ewon Ebin stated that the six
countries had signed an agreement declaring the establishment of the
CTI-CFF secretariat.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Vice President Boediono officially opened the
World Coral Reef Conference (WCRC) in Manado on Friday, with a call for
coral reef preservation.
Coral reefs can support food security and curb the impacts of global
warming, the vice president said at the conference attended by officials
and experts from various countries, such as Australia, Japan, South
Korea, China, Britain and the United States.
He said coral reefs, which are home to various species of flora and
fauna, must be preserved. Indonesia has abundant coral species, such as
fringing reefs, barrier reefs and patch reefs.***3***
(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
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(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 16-05-2014 23:04: |
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