Marine Protected Area
Leverage Sites
Achieving Impact at Scale
The Nature Conservancy’s Coral Triangle Center is focusing on its platform sites in Komodo,
Wakatobi and Raja Ampat. To leverage the experience and expertise
throughout the archipelago, the Center is also supporting conservation
efforts at other sites. It works with communities and the private sector
in Bali to help develop multi-use marine protected areas. Other examples
of bringing marine protection to other areas include the work at Banda,
Flores and Alor in the Eastern part of Indonesia, the Derawan Islands of
east Kalimantan, and several marine national parks.
In 2001 and 2002, the Conservancy led a Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) to the Sangihe-Talaud and Banda Archipelagoes to gather information about the area’s marine resources. Preliminary research showed that the coral reefs of Banda are remarkably diverse, hosting 310 reef-building corals, an estimated 871 fish species, and high populations of sharks and groupers. Exquisite coral gardens, flushed by deep, cool waters, show promising resistance to coral bleaching. The Banda Archipelago has been proposed as a World Heritage Site, and the Conservancy is working with UNESCO and local conservation groups to develop strategies to protect its marine resources. The Sangihe-Talaud Archipelago harbor some of the most diverse reefs on earth, though the impacts of over-fishing, blast fishing and sillation have dearly taken their toll.
The Conservancy also participated in REAs focusing on the marine corridors between Flores and Alor. These straits form deep, narrow passageways between the Indian Ocean and the Banda seascape, admitting nutrient-rich currents as well as migrating whales, dolphins, mantas, turtles, and sunfish. Under the leadership of WWF, the Conservancy is working towards the establishment of a marine protected area in the Alor straits. Furthermore, the Conservancy is coordinating with the national government on policies for marine mammal conservation.
The Derawan Islands of East Kalimantan are renowned by divers for their rich coral reefs and hundreds of manta rays. The islands host a large population of mating and nesting sea turtles, which emerge from the seas every night to lay their eggs on the white sand beaches. One of the islands in the Derawan chain, Kakaban, contains the largest and most diverse jellyfish lake in the world, with four unique species of stingless jellyfish. To protect the islands, which have also been proposed as a World Heritage Site, the Conservancy is working with local partners and communities on a fully integrated “ridges to reef” conservation approach where the health of watersheds, mangroves, and coral reefs are viewed as being interconnected.
The Conservancy has also developed a curriculum to help train national park staff to monitor vulnerable fish spawning aggregation sites. These techniques are now being used at Karimunjawa in Central Java, Bunaken in North Sulawesi, and Cendrawasih Bay in West Papua.