PROFILES and destructive fishing practices in Wakatobi, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been working with the Wakatobi National Park Authority and a broad range of stakeholders to redesign the Park’s management plan. By involving communities, focusing in collaborative management and building firm legal foundation for Park zoning and enforcement, conservation action at Wakatobi is intended to be environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. To address threats to fish spawning aggregations, the
TNC-WWF joint program, alongside local management agencies, conducted surveys to identify FSA locations and establish ecological baselines in WNP, which influenced the Wakatobi Park Authority’s decision to declare all FSAs in WNP as “no-take” zones in 2007. AS a result of this intervention, surveys conducted between 2005 and 2010 have shown that fish counts in two of the park’s FSAs—where local fishermen have been directly involved in management— have stabilized. At FSA sites where local communities have not been involved in management, the number of fish has continued to 58 ASEAN BIODIVERSITY
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decrease, likely due to continued fishing in these notake zones. As a result, TNC and WWF have facilitated regular training sessions to build the capacity of local fisher groups in community organizing, and to provide training on conservation, marine protected areas, and the importance of protecting the FSAs. In June 2006, members of one community forum called KOMUNTO (Komunitas Nelayan Tomiya), came to an agreement to halt fishing in locations they refer to as “fish banks” after hearing about the results of the FSA monitoring
studies. Since its formation, KOMUNTO has been able to mobilize and organize previously isolated and scattered fishermen groups, thereby promoting community participation in park management decisions and the local enforcement and monitoring of protected areas. In 2010, KOMUNTO won the United Nations Development Programme’s prestigious Equator Prize for outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and KOMUNTO’s “fish bank” model is being adopted by other local fishing
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communities. Other communities have followed KOMUNTO’s lead by implementing their own patrols of the no-take zone and regulating fishing effort of cooperative members in surrounding areas. The conservation group “Operation Wallacea” is very active in the marine park, conducting underwater research and conservation. It has done extensive work on the island of Kaledupa, one of the four main islands in Wakatobi National Park. Initial work by the Opwall Trust and Operation Wallacea indicated that there were significant problems of overfishing on the Kaledupa reefs from artisanal techniques. In 2004 a management plan for the Kaledupa fisheries was proposed and in 2005 the Trust funded an initial investigation into whether the concepts set out in the management plan would be effective. This work led to a Darwin Initiative application to establish the Kaledupa reef fisheries as a best practice example of reef management. Efforts to reduce fishing pressures in Kaledupa include the introduction of a monitoring programme, development of a database on fish stocks and abundance, conduct of a Kaledupa Fisheries Forum to discuss fisheries management bylaws, and others. These actions have resulted in community enforcement of fisheries management agreements, reduced fishing pressures, and the development of business opportunities to help residents diversify sources of income. These business opportunities include the development of a plant to process 3000 tonnes per year of seaweed, and the development of ecotourism using homestays.
Ecotourism Due to its magnificent underwater life, Wakatobi is fast gaining worldwide attention for its quality dives that can be made by beginners to professionals. Wakatobi National Park has many fringing reefs, atolls and barrier reefs and offer more than 50 spectacular dive sites easily accessible from the major islands. As a result, many liveaboards make this one of their main stopover points. Aside from its dive sites, Wakatobi has many superb beaches. Even without scuba diving, visitors can enjoy the natural beauty of the underwater marine life by snorkeling and swimming where they can wonder at the beautiful clusters of coral reefs and other marine species. Getting there The District capital of Wakatobi is Wanci on Wangi-Wangi. Since the opening of the Matohara Airport on Wangi-Wangi, these remote islands are now more accessible and can be reached by flights from Jakarta or Makassar. Wanci is the first gate into the Wakatobi National Park area. There is also another landing strip on Tomia island, which receives charters from Bali. References: Indonesia Travel (http:// www.indonesia.travel/en/ destination/630/wakatobinational-marine-park-theunderwater-nirwana) Opwall Trust (http://www. opwalltrust.org/index. php?option=com_content&vie w=article&id=60&Itemid=81) Reef Resilience (http://www. reefresilience.org/Toolkit_ Coral/C8_Wakatobi.html) World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/ publication/reefs-at-riskrevisited/stories/indonesiawakatobi)
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