Coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia ©Jones/Shimlock-Secret SeaSpanning eastern Indonesia, parts of Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands (see the map), the Coral Triangle is the global center of marine biodiversity and one of the world’s top priorities for marine conservation. This extraordinary expanse of ocean covers an area of 2.3 million square miles (5.7 million km2), the equivalent to half of the entire United States. It is home to over 600 reef-building coral species, or 75% of all species known to science, and more than 3,000 species of reef fish. Over 150 million people live within the Coral Triangle, of which an estimated 2.25 million fishers are dependant on marine resources for their livelihoods.
Coral reefs are productive and diverse ecosystems that cover a mere 0.2% of the ocean floor, yet support an estimated 25% of all marine life. The global asset value of coral reefs has been estimated at nearly US$800 billion over a 50-year timeframe. More than 500 million people depend upon reef resources, and one billion people worldwide are direct beneficiaries of coral reef goods and services.
In the landmark report ‘Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia’, the World Resources Institute estimates that 88% of Southeast Asia’s reefs are threatened. Among the various types of threats, over-fishing and destructive fishing are the most pervasive. Another key threat is the increased frequency of mass coral bleaching events.
Over-fishing means that fishers extract more fish than nature can produce over the long term. Besides decreasing the profitability and long-term prospects of the fisheries sector, over-fishing results in the extirpation of highly-valued species such as grouper and Napoleon wrasse. Fisheries experts from Indonesia find that the large majority of Indonesia’s fisheries are over- or fully exploited, which means that any expansion of the fishing fleet is ill-advised. Sadly, over-fishing is exacerbated by perverse subsidies that enable the fishing sector to continue fishing already over-exploited stocks.
Destructive fishing not only contributes to over-fishing, it also destroys the habitat on which exploited fish depend. Blast fishing, either with home-made or industrial explosives, is perhaps the best known example of destructive fishing. Other examples are bottom trawling, fishing with poisons, and fishing with certain kinds of fish traps. The loss of income due to blast fishing in Indonesia over the last 25 years is approximately US$3.8 billion. Global warming is already making a significant impact on marine biodiversity and the lives of those who depend on the reefs for income. A major threat to coral reefs comes from the periodic mass bleaching of corals caused by increased temperatures in the seas. In the 1998 El Nino weather event, 75% of reefs worldwide bleached and 16% died. Coral bleaching is predicted to become an annual event within 25-50 years.
MPAs are carefully selected areas where human development and exploitation of natural resources are regulated to protect species and habitats. By providing refugia for exploited fish stocks, MPAs provide benefits for commercial fisheries. Healthy fish stocks in MPAs replenish surrounding fishing grounds with eggs, larvae, and adult fish, and MPAs serve as basis for ecotourism and other livelihoods for local communities. MPAs work to protect functioning ecosystems, bringing benefits both inside and beyond their boundaries to countries, regions, businesses, and people.
The design networks of MPAs is based on the latest scientific principles of resilience, which means that we focus our efforts on reefs that are most likely to survive threats. Our approach to resilience is based on the following four components:
1) Protecting a representative range of habitat types, including critical habitats of target species, and replicating these at multiple locations to spread the risk of total loss of any one type of reef.
2) Protecting coral communities that resist bleaching. For example, coral reefs located where vertical mixing cools the heated surface waters may be less prone to thermal bleaching as sea temperatures rise. These refugia provide secure sources of larvae that replenish damaged areas –a rock-solid investment similar to blue-chip fixed income funds.
3) Understanding coral reef connectivity in order to create MPAs that are linked by ocean currents, larval dispersal patterns, and species movements.
4) Increasing the effectiveness of management to respond to direct threats, especially over-fishing and destructive fishing. Implementation of no-take areas is a critical component in this respect. The healthier the reefs, the more likely they will be to bounce back after a catastrophic event.
Indonesia focuses on three ecoregions in Indonesia (Papua, the Lesser Sundas, the Sulawesi Seas).
Derawan fishing village ©Donald Bason/The Nature Conservancy
Komodo National Park. The park is home to an amazing 1,000 species of fish, 260 species of reef-building corals, 70 species of sponges, 17 whale and dolphin species, two species of sea turtles, and the famous Komodo dragon.
Wakatobi National Park. Wakatobi is the largest marine national park in Indonesia and one of the country’s highest priorities for marine conservation. Furthermore, the partnership has strengthened the Park’s surveillance system, and the partnership has conducted surveys among local communities to solicit inputs for management and to explore opportunities for involvement of local communities in planning and implementation of Park management. Wakatobi’s conservation program further includes scientific surveys of the Park’s natural resources, raising awareness of the importance of MPAs, training park rangers and local NGOs in MPA management, conducting monitoring and surveillance, promoting sustainable resource use, and protecting fish spawning aggregations.
The Raja Ampat Islands. The Raja Ampat, or “Four Kings,” archipelago encompasses more than 9.8 million acres of land and sea and is the diversity epicenter of the Coral Triangle. Scientific surveys of Raja Ampat recorded the highest coral and fish diversities found on Earth, including 537 coral species— an incredible 75% of all known species —and 1,074 fish species.
The Derawan Islands. Renowned by divers for their rich coral reefs and hundreds of manta rays, the Derawan Islands feature some of the most significant green turtle nesting beaches in Southeast Asia and a unique saltwater lake with four endemic, stingless jellyfish species. The area’s reefs are extremely diverse because of the influence of the Berau River on the coastal waters.
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