Divers, villagers join forces to rebuild reefs

Marnix Beugel, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Sunda Strait, West Java

Experienced volunteer divers, along with the assistance of local villagers, have constructed an artificial reef in the Sunda Strait under the Build Your Own Reef project organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia. These "man-made" reefs will accelerate the restoration of the area's marine life and ecosystem while supporting the local fishing communities.

The WWF organized the first Build Your Own Reef weekend over May 19-20 in the strait, the waterway between the islands of Java and Sumatra famed for being the site of the very active Krakatau volcano group, as well as the vast Ujung Kulon National Park.

Pulau Badul, located in the bay of the park on the southwestern tip of Java, was chosen as the site for this project.

The reef surrounding the tiny island, tipping just above sea level at high tide, had almost been completely destroyed by fish bombing five years ago. It has been protected since, but the recovery of the reef has been slow, due to its near state of total devastation.

Fish bombing is a common practice in Indonesia, as well as other parts of the world. Fishermen use explosives to kill fish, which then come floating to the surface, and the fishermen make their pick.

However, the bombs kill everything: smaller fish and other marine life, soft corals and hard corals -- sadly, none of it of any commercial interest. When the fishermen collect their catch, they leave behind anything other than the bigger edible fish, together with the reef, now a graveyard.

The devastation hits all non-targeted marine life in much greater numbers than the few targeted fish. Even worse, it destroys an entire system, leaving nothing but lifeless ruins for years to come.

The practice is being increasingly monitored by authorities, but is very difficult to eliminate, all the more so in a country as poorly policed and difficult to govern as Indonesia.

Thus, the sustainability of this project depends on the local community taking ownership.

With a purely correctional method not a viable option, the WWF has been working tirelessly on involving locals as much as possible and ensuring that the villagers profit from the projects economically.

This alternative income for local villagers would come from a variety of sources, such as coral farming, which produces the colonies used for reef building. In the case of this particular trip, 40 percent of the weekend's proceeds were used to pay the coastal villagers for their "products" -- coral -- and associated costs.

As yet, a coral farmer cannot generate enough income from the farming alone to sustain himself, so it should be supplemented by other means, such as fishing. But with villagers now actively involved in the farming, which provides at least some of their income, this is hoped to lessen their need for fish bombing.

A second source of income is tourism, but this is a longer-term goal. Tourism is always a double-edged sword because it can cause destruction on its own, but it can also improve the sustainability of marine life, as in the case of the Maledives.

The WWF projects in Ujung Kulon have already drawn the attention of some avid divers, who sometimes stay in the villages, rent local boats and explore other parts of the area. If the total area could be developed in a sustainable way, the benefits of tourism would most likely far outweigh any destruction it could bring.

Without these alternative income sources, the fishermen tend to encroach not only marine but also terrestrial areas of the park. The ecological benefits thus reach much further than the sea.

The organization also sought a commercial partner who would invest in this project by attracting others to contribute, and received generous support from several companies.

Live-aboard organizer Java Sea Charters provided the luxury Cecelia Ann charter boat, operating the weekend at a loss; the Blue Bird transportation group provided buses for the 4-hour return trip to and from Tanjung Lesung.

In addition, Unilever's latest Calbee Minori snacks were the answer to divers' munchies, Kristal Klear Divers provided extra tanks, and local beer brewer Bintang opened the taps for liquid sustenance for the hard-working reef builders.

The reef-building group's first dive at Pulau Badul was to demonstrate what can be done when humans interfere subtly to give nature a little help.

In one part of the island, the WWF had constructed several artificial reefs made from concrete hollow cubes. Their pyramidal shapes provide an optimal surface area for coral to grow while providing fish with a shielded area.

Only one year after construction, these artificial reefs showed a remarkably rich marine life, including colorful, young hard and soft corals, plenty of lionfish, schools of catfish and shrimp.

The reef the divers were to build was slightly different: Small hard and soft coral colonies were attached to bricks, which were in turn attached to concrete bed-shaped structures. Aside from the pyramidal reefs already in place, these colonies should give the corals' development a jump start.

Within one day of promoting the reef-building weekend among leisure divers, the trip was overbooked. Scuba divers apparently did not want only to "consume" marine life as passive viewers, but also wanted a chance for an active role in maintaining marine biodiversity.

In evaluating the weekend afterwards, all divers agreed that they were greatly concerned about the devastation of marine life around the globe. Many also admitted that their efforts might be for "selfish" reasons -- they wanted to be able to keep on diving with turtles, tuna and trevally, and gliding weightlessly by beautiful corals.

They also agreed that, for a change, working during a dive to do their part toward marine conservation gave them as much satisfaction as the more well-known divers' kicks like large shark encounters or the joy of lounging with gentle, giant manta rays.

The raving feedback from the weekend's participants -- and the overbooking prior to the trip -- have prompted a decision to organize the event on a more regular basis. Logically, these repeat trips will include monitoring the development of the recently built reefs.

WWF Indonesia has set up a page on their general website dedicated to the reef-building project at www.wwf.or.id/BuildReef.

The site also provides information on other WWF projects, as well as what individuals can do for the oceans, such as the Sea Food Guide on which species to eat and not to eat.

It is the small steps taken by many that will go a long way in sustaining marine life -- and the environment.

For more information on the project and the next reef-building weekend, contact Adhi of WWF Indonesia at ahariyadi@wwf.or.id.