NRM News Archive
Issue 14, July 24, 2002
Bunaken Village Receives Seacology Grant for Community Dock Construction
Sunday is typically a very stressful day in the life of the corals that fringe the reef in front of Bunaken Village. As the tide falls
and the corals and seagrass are exposed to the punishing heat of the day, they experience an added insult: boats carrying hundreds of
churchgoers, fisherfolk and beach tourists are forced to drop anchor at the reef edge and trample the reefs on their way in to the village.
The experience is seldom pleasant for the humans involved either; scorpionfish punctures and coral cuts are a common outcome of these beach treks.
Fortunately, relief is in sight for both the marine plants and animals of Bunaken and the people who depend on them. The Seacology Foundation
(
www.seacology.org), an organization which focuses on preserving the environments and
cultures of islands throughout the world, has awarded a $20,000 grant to Bunaken Village for the construction of a community landing dock.
The grant is made in recognition of the cooperation and foresight of the villagers in formulating a zonation system for their island that
includes a number of no-take zones (totaling approximately 30% of the island's reef area) where fishing is absolutely prohibited.
These strict marine reserve areas on Bunaken Island have now been closed to fishing for almost two years, and many villagers and divers
claim to see a noticeable difference in the number of larger fish (including sharks, grouper and Napoleon wrasse) present. Seacology's one
prerequisite for releasing the funds for the dock is for Bunaken village to upgrade the zonation system's legal basis to that of village
law (the zones are currently part of an MOU between the village and the Bunaken National Park office). The villagers are eagerly wrapping
up the legal procedures necessary to ratify this law, and hope to start construction on the dock by September.
Duane Silverstein, the Executive Director of Seacology, praised the Bunaken villagers for their strong commitment to conservation of their
marine resources: "Seacology is pleased to recognize the foresight and sacrifice of Bunaken village in establishing marine reserves to
protect their coral reefs and sea grass for generations to come. In exchange for this sacrifice Seacology is pleased to provide funding for
a much needed community landing dock."
It seems likely that Bunaken's reefs are pleased as well!
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
erdmann@nrm.or.id
Issue 11, June 12, 2002
Bunaken Entrance Fee System Surpasses 2001 Receipts in just 5 months
The Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board (DPTNB) passed an important benchmark on the road to financial self-reliance by collecting over US$47,000
in entrance fee receipts in the first 5 months of 2002 (surpassing the total 2001 receipts of approximately $42,000). The rapid buildup of entrance fee monies
in 2002 is due to a combination of better compliance with the system (through socialization and enforcement) and the implementation of North Sulawesi's Provincial
Law No. 9/2002, which effectively doubled the entrance fee from its 2001 level.
As a comparison, 2001 entrance fees were collected from a total of 5194 foreign guests and 9872 local guests, while 2002 entrance fees (1 January-31 May) have been
collected from a total of 3751 foreign guests and 6948 local guests. With the tourism high season just beginning, these numbers augur well for the Management Board's
conservation programs. The official target for entrance fee receipts for 2002 is US$100,000, and, barring another world-shaking event, this should be readily
achievable.
Actually, many of the local marine tourism operators (comprising the North Sulawesi Watersports Association) are concerned that business may be going just a little
too well in Bunaken National Park this year. Over the past half-year, at least ten new dive operations have sprung up in and around the park, and the established
operators are concerned about exceeding the park's environmental carrying capacity. The NSWA has begun a coordinated lobby to the North Sulawesi government to
regulate the marine tourism industry in a more transparent and accountable fashion, including the implementation of strict safety and environmental standards
as requirements for the license for running a dive operation. These ideas are just being introduced to the local tourism departments, and it is hoped that
legislation can be passed in time for the 2003 tourism season.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
erdmann@nrm.or.id
Issue 10, May 30, 2002
Manado Tua Island Finalizes a New Zonation Plan
After 8 months of discussion, debate and compromise (totaling 28 community meetings), village representatives from Manado Tua Island in Bunaken National Park
formalized a new zonation plan for the island's marine habitats by signing an MOU with the head of the Bunaken National Park. The gala signing of the MOU took
place on 26 April 2002 in the office of the Camat Bunaken, after which poster calendars depicting the new zonation map and all associated rules were presented
to the village representatives for distribution to each individual family on Manado Tua Island.
In the final zonation plan, each of the two villages on the island have divided their respective reef areas into a core conservation zone (no fishing or tourism
activities), a community use zone (where traditional, non-destructive fishing and gleaning activities are allowed), and a tourism use zone (where diving and
snorkeling are allowed but no fishing activities). Zone boundaries are clearly demarcated with natural (village) landmarks, and explicit rules for each zone were
generated during the long participatory zonation revision process. In the end, approximately 20% of the reef crest area of the island has been included in the
no-take zones (core conservation zones and tourism use zones where no fishing is allowed), closely following the standard set by the US Coral Reef Initiative.
Current theory on the design of marine protected areas (MPAs) suggests that the 20% no-take standard is an achievable goal that should help ensure the sustainability
of reef fisheries in the area. Fishers from Manado Tua were persuaded to forego fishing privileges in these no-take zones in the hopes that these zones (and the
protected fishes inside them) will eventually provide the adjacent community use zones with a steady supply of new fish larvae and juvenile and adult immigrants
(the biomass spillover effect).
This is the second island in Bunaken National Park that NRM/EPIQ staff have assisted in a participatory zonation revision process (the first was Bunaken Island).
In both cases, the participatory process required 8 months and numerous meetings to reach eventual consensus amongst the stakeholders. Interestingly, while both
islands began the revision process at a rapid pace (achieving up to 90% consensus within the first 2-3 months), both processes eventually fell victim to the vocal
protests of small minority interest groups who did not agree with the concept of any restriction of fishing privileges. In this age of budding democracy in Indonesia,
there are some interesting lessons to be learned here. Although all village groups were strongly pre-socialized in democratic principles and agreed at the outset that
in this process of compromise, the voice of the majority would be honored - in the end it was very difficult to move forward against the small minority of protesters.
Many of Indonesia's varied cultures place a strong emphasis on consensus-building, and it seems that the strict democratic principle of majority rules is a difficult
concept to fully implement in these cultures. This situation certainly has important implications for participatory community planning of natural resources management.
As the zonation revision process continues in the other 18 villages within the park, further NRM Headline News articles will examine the generality of this preliminary
finding.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
erdmann@nrm.or.id
Issue 10, May 30, 2002
Authorities Crack Down on Illegal Fisherman in Bunaken National Park
Tempo Magazine
May 04 - 20, 2002
Authorities are cracking down on illegal fisherman in the waters of Bunaken National Park
Collecting reef fish through the use of homemade explosives and cyanide was once a quick and easy means for making a living in the shallow waters of North Sulawesi's Bunaken
National Park. That job has been made tougher these days, however, thanks to stepped up patrolling and a greater willingness by local marine police to arrest and imprison illegal
fishermen operating within park boundaries.
In the period December 2000 - December 2001, four people were arrested and convicted for fish bombing and the use of cyanide on Bunaken's reefs. But in the first three months
of 2002 alone, more than 15 were arrested and are currently awaiting conviction. If the trend continues, it could herald an important shift in dealing with some of the most
destructive threats to North Sulawesi's-and Indonesia's-marine resources.
Fish bombs-usually soda bottles stuffed with explosive potassium nitrate-detonate underwater, killing or stunning fish so that they are easy to net. For the fisherman,
the short-term gains from bombing may be impressive, with a US$1-US$2 investment returning up to US$15-US$40 in profit on the local market. Moreover, given the ease
with which fish bombs are assembled-potassium nitrate is a common component of fertilizer-fishermen seldom want to make the switch to more sustainable, but time-consuming,
technology like spears and hooks. As a result, in coastal areas like Manado, bombed reef fish often dominate local markets. But the practice has a devastating effect on coral
reefs, which may take more than 50 years to recover.
According to a new report, "Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia", published by the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI), destructive fishing practices are the single
largest threat to Indonesia's reefs. While the benefits to an individual fisherman may be high in the short-term, the costs to Indonesia as a whole are staggering. The WRI report
estimates that the cost from fish bombing alone over the next 20 years will be at least US$570 million. That sum is more than 10 percent of the debts recently rescheduled with
Indonesia's international lenders.
Cyanide use can be nearly as destructive, but its focus is often the international market. Prized reef fish like grouper (garoupa) and parrotfish are chased into corals, where
the diver uses cyanide-filled squirt bottles to stun the fish for capture and sale on the live reef fish market, often shipping their specimens aboard large cargo ships to
discerning diners in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, where the fish are picked out of aquariums just prior to cooking. The cyanide does more than stun the fish, though.
Coral is killed as well, particularly since the divers often have to tear apart the coral structure with crowbars to pull the fish out.
WRI's report puts the cost to Indonesia from cyanide use at US$46 million annually. By comparison, the report estimates the annual economic benefit to Indonesia from it's
reefs-which not only harbor valuable fish, but protect shorelines from erosion and facilitate the growth of coastal mangroves and seagrass beds-at US$1.6 billion.
But in Bunaken, under the new leadership of park head Arief Toengkagie, bombers have been arrested, their boats confiscated, and their cargo freed. In early March, authorities
discovered and destroyed six holding pens for illegally caught fish waiting export. More than 50 protected Napoleon wrasse-a prized species already fished out in many parts
of Indonesia-were released back into park waters. While many of those arrested in recent months are still awaiting trial, illegal fisherman captured in 2000 and 2001 are already
serving prison sentences of 6-20 months.
To compensate for a lack of financial resources, Pak Toengkagie has forged a cooperative relationship with the North Sulawesi Watersports Association and the Natural Resources
Management (NRM) program, an organization funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The two organizations have helped establish and support a joint-patrol
system made up of park rangers and local villagers, greatly increasing the number of "eyes" on the lookout for illegal activities. In addition, last month NRM began establishing a
radio network to facilitate communication and coordination between villagers on Bunaken and the roving marine patrols.
According to NRM, the increased enforcement has led to a virtual cessation of bomb fishing in the southern section of the park. That has allowed officials to concentrate their
efforts in other areas. The goal, according to Pak Toengkagie, is to put a complete halt to the illegal practices by the end of 2002, but he admitted that there are still problems
with enforcement.
"We've made a lot of progress within the park boundaries, but there are still major problems with fish bombing outside the park," he said, highlighting an increasingly
common problem throughout Indonesia. In addition, the nearest laboratory for analyzing bombing material is in Ujung Pandang, a lengthy drive from the marine patrol offices in Manado.
With limited staff, it is expensive for the police to send an officer to accompany the evidence, and the laboratory analysis is not always completed in time to keep suspects in custody.
There are other threats to the park as well. The head of the marine patrol's conservation department, Syihabuddin, shows visitors a closet stacked to the ceiling with confiscated
shells and corals taken from poachers and now used to educate school children and community members about conservation. Outside the park headquarters, a pile of confiscated mangrove
branches awaits burning. Fish-smoking factories based near the southern end of the park favor the scent of burned mangrove, while locals villagers view mangrove-cutting as a traditional
right. But this, too, ultimately threatens the region's prolific marine life.
Mangroves and coral reefs often have a symbiotic relationship. By reducing wave action, coral reefs provide the calm waters needed for mangroves to take root. With fewer mangroves on
shore, however, reefs can be choked by the increased siltation that mangroves normally help anchor. As the reefs die, they expose the coast to greater wave action. It's a vicious cycle,
and one that park officials admit they are having difficulty addressing.
Not surprisingly, the increased attention on Pak Toengkagie and his staff hasn't all been positive. Local businessmen involved in the live reef fish trade, upset at the heightened
enforcement, began lobbying to have him reassigned, but a concerted media campaign by Pak Toengkagie's supporters has stemmed those efforts for the time being. Asked if felt afraid,
he replied simply "Not at all," and pushed to talk about other issues the marine patrol confronts.
While Pak Toengkagie may be stemming a destructive tide in Bunaken, the picture around Indonesia is less promising. In areas like West Nusa Tenggara, marine police have been the
subject of death threats, and fish bombs have been thrown at police boats that dare to approach illegal fishermen. Moreover, the scale of Indonesia's territory, including over
9,500 kilometers of coastline, makes uniform enforcement and protection all but impossible.
In a sobering analysis, the WRI report estimates that up to 50 percent of Indonesia's nearly 51,000 square kilometers of reef have already been degraded. Eighty-five percent are
believed to be threatened by human activities, which includes coastal development, over-fishing, and marine-based pollution. Exact figures are difficult to gauge, however, because
of the paucity of long-term monitoring and data. Efforts to improve existing data are continuing, particularly in areas like Bunaken, but conservationists worry that the damage
being done outside national parks is far worse than that which occurs within view of park officials and police.
William Faries
