A report is recommending that nine areas in Bali be prioritized for the development of a marine protected area (MPA) network.
The nine areas are the peninsula (Bukit Uluwatu to Nusa Dua), Nusa Penida, Padang Bai-Candidasa, Tulamben-Amed, Tejakula, Lovina, Pemuteran, Perancak and West Bali National Park (Menjangan Island and Secret Bay).
It is important that all of these regions be prioritized within the Bali MPA network, said Ketut Sarjana Putra, executive director of Conservation International Indonesia (CII), the organization that issued the report on Marine Rapid Assessment.
The areas are prioritized based on the assessment of several aspects, including reef fish biodiversity and the condition of coral reefs.
Bali hosts a diverse reef coral fauna, with a confirmed total of 406 reef-building coral species.
The island’s rich marine resources have long been an important economic asset to the island, both as a source of food security for local communities and as a focus of marine tourism.
Unfortunately, rapid and largely uncoordinated development in Bali’s watersheds and coastal areas, along with a lack of clear marine spatial planning for the island, has led to significant deterioration of many marine environments around the island, the marine report stated.
This has resulted in a combination of overfishing and destructive fishing, sedimentation from coastal development, sewage and garbage disposal at sea and dredging channel development. This may affect long-term sustainability of many important economic activities occurring in Bali’s coastal zone.
Realizing these threats, Bali’s administration is now developing a comprehensive long-term development strategy for the island, including designing the MPAs around the island that prioritize sustainable and compatible economic activities.
A team led by CII in 2011 conducted a survey to decide candidate sites to be included in the MPA network.
The survey began at the southern tip of Bali and proceeded counter-clockwise around the island until the northwest corner was reached.
With over 350 hours of diving conducted in 33 sites, the team were very impressed with the surprisingly high biodiversity and the ability of coral reefs to recover after incidents of coral bleaching, destructive fishing and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks that were thought to have decimated these reefs in the late 1990s and into 2001, the report noted.
Ketut said Bali should take decisive action to set up an MPA network designed to protect the long-term sustainability of
local community fish-related livelihoods, as well as the burgeoning marine tourism industry.
The MPA network must be designed, gazetted and managed with the strong participation of local coastal communities, tourism operators and civil society groups.
The network should also be embedded within a coastal or marine spatial planning framework that seeks to minimize resource user conflict, as well as prioritizing economic activities that are sustainable and beneficial, he added.
By using the survey results compiled in the report as guidance, the Bali administration is now targeting completion of the draft.
Recently, all heads of Marine and Fisheries agencies in Bali agreed to develop a fully functioning network of marine conservation areas throughout Bali, starting by drafting a blueprint to be completed by this year.
As a province, Bali currently has one established MPA at the West Bali National Park in Buleleng, and one declared marine protected area in Nusa Penida, Klungkung. Several village-level MPA have also been initiated along the coasts of Bali, among others in Tejakula district in Buleleng. However, an MPA network needs to be established for effective management.
PT. Bina Media Tenggara © 2012