INDONESIAN FISHERMEN CONCERNED ABOUT DAMAGED CORAL REEFS

By Andi Abdussalam
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.