Following a hiatus in conducting joint suveillance patrols last year, the Nusa Penida MPA Management Unit has once again hit the waters on February 26, 2019 to check on the implementation and enforcement of the MPA zoning plan. The joint patrol was led by the head of Nusa Penida MPA Management Unit, Nyoman Karyawan, in collaboration with the Bali Province MPA Management Unit, Nusa Penida Navy, Marine Police, and CTC.

The joint patrol started with a coordination meeting at the MPA office, followed by distribution of tasks and authorities of the team in this patrol. The entire area of Nusa Penida MPA was monitored with the patrols starting from Batununggul. The team departed from the port Batununggul at 8:00 am and headed towards the east to circumnavigate the entire zoning areas in the Nusa Penida MPA. The patrol team collected data on all the activities found in Nusa Penida MPA area, and noted when there was a violation of zoning as well as marked all allowed and prohibited activities.

During the joint patrol, the team noted 67 activities, and out of these where four violations noted such as one tourism/fishing boat intruding in the core zone Batu Abah; 2 diving boats fishing in the tourism zone at Manta Point; and 1 snorkeling boat in the core zone in Tanjung Samuh. When a violation was observed, the patrol team informed the boats about the boundary of the core zone and asked the boat to move and stop prohibited activities in the core zone and tourism zone. The boat and captain name was recorded and if found again violating the zoning regulations then legal sanctions will be given.

Implementation of surveillance activities will be carried out periodically every month and joint patrols will be carried out every three months. The Nusa Penida MPA unit has created a database on patrol results for record keeping. Officers in the patrol will all take part in data entry, so that the entire team understands how to carry out the surveillance activities. The next steps will be to develop a warning mechanism for violations using email as a main contact for operators who have violated the zoning laws. The team also needs to learn how to input GPS data in Quantum GIS in order to generate maps. If possible, the Nusa Penida MPA zoning system should be installed on the GPS map.

CTC team, in collaboration with the Nusa Penida MPA Management Unit, has once again renewed its efforts to inform and engage local stakeholders about the Nusa Penida MPA. The information campaign aims to inform fishermen, tourism operators, schools and community groups that are directly located in the coastal areas about following the transfer of the Nusa Penida MPA’s jurisdiction to the Bali Provincial Government in the last quarter of 2018 as well as the management unit’s plans for this year.

Key messages about waste management and ocean plastic pollution were also included in the information sessions in collaboration with local group, Zero Waste Lembongan.  The information sessions were carried out on March 19, 2019 and were attended by close to 100 high school students from Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan.