The Multistakeholder Workshop and Establishment of National Hub Governance – GEF 7 Coral Reefs Rescue (CRR) Project organized by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, WWF, and the Reef Check Indonesia Foundation at Aone and Oria Hotel Jakarta on February 6 – 7, 2024. The workshop aims to develop a national vision for establishing a national hub for conserving resilient coral reefs in Indonesia. 

In his opening remarks, the Director General of Marine and Ocean Space Management, Dr. Victor Gustaav Manoppo, emphasized the importance of protecting the coral reefs ecosystem. He mentioned that coral reef ecosystems play an essential role in the lives of Indonesian people both ecologically and economically. The coral reef area in Indonesia covers 2.5 million hectares, with 569 species found in the area. Based on expert research, Indonesia’s coral reefs provide marine tourism benefits worth USD 3.1 billion per annum, fisheries worth USD 2.9 billion per year, and coastal protection worth USD 639 million per year. The Director General also stated that the national action plan for protecting coral reefs in Indonesia has been formulated to secure approximately 40 percent of coral reefs in Indonesia through establishing  marine protected areas (MPAs) in Indonesia. To date, there are 29.27 million hectares  covered by a marine protected area in Indonesia. The MMAF targeted extending the coverage of MPAs by 200,000 hectares in 2024 and managing the 17.8 million hectares of enacted MPA. 

To protect marine biodiversity ecosystems, species, and genetics, the Indonesian president issued regulation No. 34 Year 2022 on the Marine Policy Action Plan for 2021- 2025, which stated the need to rehabilitate coral reefs in the 280 priority locations. As part of this regulation implementation, the MMAF initiated the development of nine (9) Coral Stock Centers (CSC) in North Sulawesi, West Sumatra, East Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, West Papua, West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta, and Aceh Province. Coral Triangle Center (CTC) staff Ms. Leilani Gallardo and Dr. Hesti Widodo were involved in the workshop to share experiences in the CTI CFF Women Leaders Forum and Dr. Hesti Widodo acted as moderator of the session on the learning network.

Dr. Firdaus Agung, the MMAF Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Director, stated the importance of aligning various coral reef domains initiatives running in Indonesia, such as Karang Lestari, Lautra, Kolektif, Coral Bond, Coral Insurance, and Coral Rescue. There were items that Dr. Firdaus expected to produce in the meeting, including a model of institutional arrangement, coordination mechanism, capacity building for the network, publication mechanism, secretariat role, and post-project implementation plan.

Coral Reef Rescue Initiative (CRRI) is a global partnership working to safeguard coral reefs and address the needs of communities that depend on them for survival. The partnership includes WWF, The University of Queensland, Wildlife Conservation Society, Care, Blue Ventures, Rare, and Arizona State University. CRRI addresses vulnerable ecosystems, vital ecosystems, and growing threats of global climate change. The selection of priority locations in Indonesia was based on Beyer et al. 2018 on Risk-sensitive planning for conserving coral reefs under rapid climate change and Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2018 on Securing a Long-term Future for Coral Reefs. 

The proposed CRR Hub Structure can be seen below. CTC was identified as a Capacity Building Bio Climatic Unit (BCU) but also opened as a Knowledge Unit BCU at the national level. As a follow-up plan from the workshop, there will be a small group stakeholders meeting to discuss the mechanism, coordination, and communications flow of the network, including detailed activities of the project.

Writer: Hesti Widodo
Photos: Naufal Priananda/Reef Check Indonesia