Village Approach Advocated to Protect Coral Triangle

GOOD CATCH Healthy coral reefs in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea assure this
Photo by Barend Frielink

Enabling coastal villages to better look after their marine resources has been a tried and proven approach in Indonesia, the Philippines, and elsewhere—and is the core of a strategy to protect the Coral Triangle from overexploitation and destructive fishing practices.

“If we want to protect coral reefs and rehabilitate fisheries, it is not by planting new corals; it is by educating people and changing their mind-sets,” says Eko Rudianto, overall coordinator for the Coral Triangle Initiative in Jakarta. A strategy that has proven effective is to establish village-level marine-protected areas of 20–80 hectares each. “This is more sustainable because people have a sense of ownership,” he says. The second step, he notes, is to give people in coastal areas alternative sources of income.

The Coral Triangle is a 6 million square kilometer triangle in the Indo-Pacific Sea that contains over one third of known coral species; over half the world’s coral reefs; over 3,000 fish species; and the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region. It is also the spawning ground for the largest tuna fishery in the world. For its biodiversity importance, it has been dubbed the “Amazon of the Seas.”

A final draft plan of action to protect the area, developed under the initiative, was presented at a meeting in Manila in October. It is expected to be formally adopted during the World Oceans Conference in Manado, Sulawesi, in May 2009. •