NRM News Archive
Issue 19, October 2, 2002
NRM/EPIQ's Meity Mongdong to Receive 2002 Seacology Prize
The Prize is awarded annually to an indigenous islander for exceptional achievement in preserving the environment and culture of any of the world's 100,000-plus islands.
Ms. Mongdong will be awarded the $5,000 Prize on November 22, 2002 at a ceremony on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Ms. Mongdong has worked tirelessly to save the mangrove forests and coral reef resources of her native Bunaken National Marine Park while simultaneously improving park
villager livelihoods for the last 8 years. As both a founding member of the local marine conservation NGO Kelola and as community facilitation specialist for the NRM/EPIQ
program in North Sulawesi, she helped develop the 25-year management plan for the park, while also working closely to bring both park villagers and the private marine
tourism sector to the table to create an effective zonation system for the park that allows the peaceful coexistence of villagers and dive resorts while also ensuring
the conservation function of the park is maintained. Since 2000, she has worked closely with fishers and farmers from all 22 park villages to form and strengthen the
Bunaken National Park Concerned Citizen's Forum (FMPTNB) into an effective non-governmental institution that represents the voice of 30,000 villagers in management
decisions regarding park resources.
Bunaken National Park is a 90,000 hectare marine reserve off the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Encompassing 5 islands and an expansive Sulawesi
mainland section, Bunaken is located in the epicenter of global marine biodiversity and supports a wealth of endangered species such as green and hawksbill turtles,
dugongs, coelacanths, and sperm whales. Bunaken is world-renowned amongst scuba divers for its stunning drop-off coral reefs teeming with brightly-colored fishes.
Its mangrove forests are among the most diverse in the world and harbor some of the largest mangrove trees in the northern hemisphere, while providing natural
protection to the coastline and acting as important fish nurseries. Unfortunately, both Bunaken's reefs and mangrove forests have come under increasing threat over
the past decade as destructive fishing practices such as dynamite and cyanide fishing have become commonplace and mangrove cutting for charcoal production has increased.
In response to threats to Bunaken's rich marine resources, Ms. Mongdong has worked closely with the fisher-farmer communities that live within the park borders to educate
them on the importance of sustainable use practices and empower them to improve management policies and actually enforce the regulations governing the park. Through
the Concerned Citizen's Forum (FMPTNB), park villagers now have a strong voice with the government in conserving their resources, and continuous print and radio
media communications keep remote park villagers appraised of current management and enforcement issues. Ms. Mongdong helped forge a ground-breaking agreement
between the FMPTNB and park rangers and water police to operate a joint patrol system for the park that involves a number of villager deputies and makes use of
a new park-wide VHF radio system. This joint patrol system has virtually eliminated bomb and cyanide fishing in the park over the last 2 years.
With support from Seacology, Ms. Mongdong, NRM/EPIQ and the FMPTNB have also worked with villagers in the park to set aside no-take zones where fishing is not
allowed in order to provide overexploited fish stocks with an opportunity to recover and breed in special protected areas. A grant from Seacology to one of the
villages Ms. Mongdong works with on Bunaken Island is funding the construction of a much-needed community landing dock, which will greatly facilitate daily operations
of local fishers while removing intense pressure on the shallow reefs which have faced daily boat groundings and tramplings for the past 2 decades.
'I am honored to receive the 2002 Seacology Prize, which I see as an achievement for all of us who have worked very hard to conserve the marine environment of Bunaken
National Park while guaranteeing the sustainable livelihoods of the many people who depend upon the park', said Mongdong. 'I am very happy that Seacology has shown
support for our efforts and for marine conservation in North Sulawesi Island. This award increases my commitment to work even harder for wise multistakeholder
management of Bunaken National Park in order to ensure that our grandchildren can enjoy and derive their livelihoods from coral reefs and mangrove forests that
are even better than what we have today.'
In addition to her work with the FMPTNB, Mongdong has worked particularly closely with those village women who are directly involved in resource destructive
activities such as mangrove harvesting for charcoal production and coral and shell collection for the tourist curio trade. She has worked to educate these
women while also developing alternative livelihoods for them such as fish cracker and coconut charcoal production. Her passionate commitment to both the
island environment and the many villagers who depend upon it has helped to forge a growing sense of pride and ownership within the park village community
and has pushed Bunaken National Park to the forefront of Indonesia's national protected areas system.
The Seacology Prize is underwritten by Ken Murdock, president of Seacology, in honor of his mother, Lalovi Fish Murdock. Her family's century-long connection
with the Samoan Islands, and their love for its people, inspired Murdock's work to help indigenous peoples preserve their environment in the face of a changing
world. 'I saw the need to endorse indigenous peoples doing conservation work because they are the ones who can impact most dramatically what happens in their own
world', stated Murdock.
Past winners of the Seacology Prize include the late Chief Fuiono Senio for his work to preserve a 30,000 acre tropical rainforest near the village of Falealupo
in Samoa, and Saula Vodonaivalu for his discovery of 30 new species of plants in Fiji and working for the conservation of endangered ecosystems. In 1996 His Majesty
King Taufa ahau Tupou IV, Kingdom of Tonga, received the award for his role in protecting the flying foxes of Kolovai village, and for his efforts to conserve
rainforest and indigenous culture in his country. Madison Nena received the 1999 Seacology Prize for his pivotal role in the establishment of the Utwa-Walung
Conservation Area and his dedication to sustainability and conservation on his home island of Kosrae. In 2000, Doris and Take Matsuda of Hana, Maui, Hawaii,
received the Prize for their commitment and sacrifice associated with the restoration of the Pi ilanihale heiau. The most recent winner of the Prize was Anuradha
Wickramasinghe for his 25-year commitment to conserving and restoring Sri Lanka's mangrove ecosystems.
Seacology is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization with the sole and unique purpose of preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the globe.
More information about Seacology and the Seacology Prize can be found at
www.seacology.org.
Arnaz Mehta
Seacology Southeast Asia Representative
flotsam@manado.wasantara.net.id
Issue 19, October 2, 2002
Perspective: the War on Destructive Fishing Practices
SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin#10 - June 2002
In a recent international magazine article, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Indonesia's Komodo National Park programme came under fire for its strong enforcement
programme, which purportedly clamps down on blast and cyanide fishers in the park without offering alternative livelihoods. While this accusation is clearly
misguided (TNC has arguably the most comprehensive and well-managed fisher alternative livelihood programme of any coastal management initiative in Indonesia),
it begs the question: Do governments, conservation NGOs and international development aid programmes have an obligation to provide alternative livelihoods
to fishers who engage in destructive fishing practices (DFP) such as cyanide and blast fishing? After all, these are illegal activities that imperil food
security for thousands of villagers in return for the short-term economic improvement of a select few. Moreover, it is been shown to be extremely difficult
to provide jobs that are as lucrative as those in the live reef food fish trade.
If one examines enforcement programmes around the world that are fighting other blatantly illegal (but economically enticing) activities that are deemed
harmful for the future of society (narcotics peddling, child pornography, and even hired murder come to mind), very few indeed seem to have alternative
livelihood programmes attached to them. Psychological counselling, perhaps, but not extensive and expensive efforts to retrain drug sellers to become
grocery store owners.
And yet, this perception of deep sympathy for blast and cyanide fishers seems to permeate the thinking of enforcement agencies, the court system, and much
of society at large in Southeast Asia. It is maddening to watch judges dismiss court cases of destructive fishers on the grounds that they were simply looking
for food. Yes, perhaps, but at the cost of multiple others (including future generations) right to fish sustainably on healthy reefs? In my experience throughout
Indonesia, the average village fisherman takes a rather dim view of this perspective, and would gladly support stronger enforcement efforts against these
livelihood wrecking activities. Unfortunately, the big businessmen who frequently are behind the little guy bombers and cyaniders know this weakness of the
system only too well and adeptly exploit the hesitation to punish DFP perpetrators.
I was recently invited, along with the head of Bunaken National Marine Park, to attend a workshop on illegal logging and endangered wildlife hunting in North Sulawesi's
protected forests, in order to provide a marine perspective on these enforcement issues. After listening patiently to NGOs and government officials complain
about the difficulty of finding other jobs for loggers/hunters in order to decrease the prevalence of these illegal activities, Mr Arief Toengkagie (Bunaken's head)
spoke up. The problem, he said, is that none of you are looking at these illegal activities as something serious enough to prosecute to the fullest. If you want
to stop these activities, it's time to declare WAR on them. No more mealy mouthed talk about decreasing the prevalence and finding economically-viable alternatives;
an all-out war must be declared, with the clear objective of eradicating these activities.
These are, of course, strong words for the normally conflict-avoiding, consensus-building Southeast Asian cultures. But Pak Arief is an Indonesian, and speaks from
experience. Beginning in late 2001, Pak Arief and others on the Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board publicly declared war on blast and cyanide fishing,
and set the definitive goal of completely eliminating these activities from the park by the end of 2002 (note that development of alternative livelihoods was NOT
an attached prerequisite). While enforcement in the park had been noticeably improving since mid-2000 (in part due to generous grants from WWF-Wallacea to the patrol
system), it was this strong and open resolution to end DFP in the park that was the catalyst needed to really bring things under control. Within weeks of the
declaration, joint patrols consisting of park rangers, water police and trained villagers began systematically confiscating and destroying every live fish cage
in the park. Villagers throughout the park (there are 30,000 of them!) put the newly-installed VHF village radio system to good use - cyanide and blast fishing
incidents were reported immediately to the patrols, who quickly arrested those involved and confiscated compressors, boat engines, and bombs and cyanide.
Bombing in the southern section of the park, previously rampant, was halted completely in a matter of months. Big businessmen behind the live fish cages tried
numerous ploys to stop the campaign (including lobbying hard to senior police force members and even the governor for the transfer of the newly-invigorated water
police chief), but an active media campaign to glorify the police, rangers and villagers involved in the war seems to have provided job security (at least for now)
for these key players. Just as importantly, several judges in the court system have taken note of the declaration of war, and have been actively cooperating in
sentencing the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.
And what of the average villager in Bunaken National Park? That's always a tough question to answer, but the general impression is that most are very satisfied
with the tough stance on DFP. To be sure, there are those complaining loudly (i.e. those with a direct economic stake in DFP), but the fact that villagers
from the more remote islands in the park are calling for an expansion of the patrol system to include posts in heir area is positive proof that most fishers
would prefer to make their own choices on how to use their reef resources rather than have DFP criminals unilaterally deciding to destroy them. Perhaps most
interestingly, there have been very few calls for alternative livelihoods. Folks in Bunaken seem to have the attitude that it is a person's own responsibility to
choose a legal livelihood. Governments, NGOs and aid programmes should give this perspective serious consideration.
Mark V. Erdmann
Marine Protected Areas Advisor
NRM/EPIQ SULUT
erdmann@nrm.or.id
