The Kalpataru Award is an annual recognition bestowed by the Indonesian government to individuals or groups who have pioneered conservation and environmental preservation efforts. Wayan Patut received his award at a special ceremony held at the National Palace in Jakarta on June 7, 2001, held only two days after World Environment Day on June 5th.

Beritabali.com cited Patut’s hard work dating from 2003 to re-grow coral reefs near the reclaimed beaches of Serangan that began after he saw the massive destruction coral reefs caused by reckless development of his island home.

“Before 2003, the fishermen and coral miners at Serangan, including myself, actively destroyed the surrounding reef. We cut and picked away at the coral to sell as building materials at a pretty high price,” explained Patut.

A transformed man and now a devout conservationist, Wayan Patut now dedicates himself to rebuilding the coral he once destroyed and exploited with his fellow villagers. Over the past seven years, Wayan Patut’s days have been filled with acquiring the know-how and skills to plant and encourage new coral growth off the shores of Serangan island.

At a shore-based workshop, Wayan Patut and fellow villagers build the frames with nicknames such as “reef ball” and “pyramid” on which new coral reef will be planted, take hold and grow. The group, calling itself “Karya Segara,” also make the “base rock” that is attached to the frames, acting as the catalyst for the reef that will eventually cover the frames.

The man who once destroyed coral reef is now a tireless campaigner, reminding everyone he can of the key roles played by coral in the ocean’s food chain. In this way, he warns the coming generation that the destruction of the natural environment can’t be tolerated for any reason.

Wayan Patut warns: “The coral reef is very important for the life of the sea. In addition to be the place where a variety of fish live, the coral reef also absorbs carbon, helping to clean pollution from the atmosphere.”

The marine survey, part of CI’s 20-year-long Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) was conducted at the request of Bali’s government to assess the health of the reefs. The survey, in addition to one previously conducted by CI in 2008, documented 953 species of fish and 397 species of coral, according to a press release from CI.

Full press release below:

(Bali, Indonesia / Arlington, Virginia, U.S.) – A two-week marine survey conducted by scientists with Conservation International (CI) in Indonesia, along with local partners, led to the discovery of eight potentially new species of fish and a potentially new species of coral in the waters surrounding Bali island.

The survey, part of CI’s 20-year long Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), was undertaken by CI at the request of the Bali provincial government and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Affairs to assess reef health and provide management recommendations for 25 areas proposed to be developed into a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Bali, which will be designed to be ecologically-connected and resilient.

Among the potentially new species documented were two types of cardinalfish, two varieties of dottybacks, a garden eel, a sand perch, a fang blenny, a new species of goby and a previously unknown Euphyllia bubble coral. Further study will need to be done to confirm the taxonomy of each species.

This RAP survey, along with a previous survey conducted by CI and partners for the Bali government in November of 2008, documented 953 species of reef fish and 397 species of coral in the waters off the coast of Bali.

“We carried out this present survey in 33 sites around Bali, nearly completing a circle around it, and were impressed by much of what we saw” said Dr. Mark Erdmann, senior advisor for the CI Indonesia marine program. “There was a tremendous variety of habitats, surprisingly high levels of diversity and the coral reefs appeared to be in an active stage of recovery from bleaching, destructive fishing and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks in the 1990’s.”

Acting Executive Director for CI-Indonesia Ketut Sarjana Putra added, “Compared to twelve years ago, we observed an increase in healthy coral reef cover in the area surveyed, indicating a recovery phase. That is why it needs serious protection and management, to complete the revitalization.”

Though the survey found the reefs to be recovering well, with a seven-to-one ratio of live to dead coral, the RAP survey team observed that commercially important reef fish were severely depleted. In over 350 man-hours of diving, the team only observed a total of 3 reef sharks and 3 Napoleon wrasse – a stark contrast to a healthy reef system where a diver would readily encounter this number of large reef predators in a single dive. The team also saw that plastic pollution was omnipresent and noted the encroachment of fishers on no-take areas in the West Bali National Park.

“This RAP survey highlights how important these Marine Protected Areas are to improving economic returns from marine tourism while also providing food security and ensuring the sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries,” Erdmann said.

Among the recommendations made by the CI team are a prioritization of which areas need immediate protection, the need for spatial planning to reduce the clash between marine tourism and many unsustainable fishing practices, the need to commit to enforcement and public funding to manage the MPAs and the need for strict measures to be put in place to manage pollution from plastics, sewage and agricultural runoff.

CI’s partners in the Marine RAP survey include the Bali Government’s Office of Marine Affairs and theBali Department of Fisheries, as well as the Marine Research and Observation Office and Warmadewa University.

Funding for the scientific survey was provided by USAID Indonesia as part of Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP). The Coral Triangle Support Partnership-Indonesia (CTSP-I) is a collaborative five-year project to bring about the protection of marine systems and their myriad habitats for the benefit and sustainable livelihoods of communities across the Coral Triangle Region of Indonesia, which is the global center of marine biodiversity – with the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, and more than 500 species of coral, at least 3,000 species of fish and the greatest remaining mangrove forests on Earth.

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PHOTOS available for media download and use: http://smu.gs/iRXuRW
**note that photos may only be used in editorial stories about Conservation International’s recent survey in Bali, and provided photographer credit must be included with publication

For more information, contact:

Kim McCabe, Media Director, Conservation International
Office + 1 703-341-2546; mobile + 1 202-203-9927
email: k.mccabe@conservation.org

Fachruddin Mangunjaya
Conservation International Indonesia (Indonesian Bahasa)
Email: f.mangunjaya@conservation.org

Note to editors:
Conservation International (CI) — Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987, CI has headquarters in the Washington, DC area, and nearly 900 employees working in more than 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world. For more information, visit www.conservation.org and follow us on Twitter: @ConservationOrg or Facebook: www.facebook.com/conservation.intl

Nusa Dua marks progress in coral restoration

Image via Wikipedia

Monitoring conducted at a depth of between 6 to 9 meters, particularly in the Samuh area in Nusa Dua, showed new coral growth on the submarine reef, man-made constructions submerged to serve as platform for transplanted coral.

“We found many young corals growing on 76 submarine reefs we placed in 2009 and 2010,” said Pariama Hutasoit, the director of Nusa Dua Reef Foundation, which organized the “Beach Clean Up and Coral Caring” event at Samuh Beach on Friday.

“The growth of coral indicates the submarine reef, or the biological substrate [a surface on which an organism grows or is attached], is in stable condition. The substrate is able to provide a healthy environment for the coral to grow,” she said.

Hundreds of coral pieces have been transplanted since 2009, some a result of a breeding program at Serangan Island and others pieces of coral that broke off naturally and were taken from surrounding submarine areas.

A cursory inspection of area showed that much of the coral grew at a rate of 1 to 2 centimeters per year.

However, some coral had died off due to various reasons, including environmental stress.

“Some of the coral was also damaged through human activity. They can recover from natural disturbances but it takes time, and destructive human activity hampers the recovery,” Pariama said.

At the same event, 50 divers from NGOs and dive operators joined the clean up. Underwater, they collected garbage in net-like bags. Most of the garbage consisted of plastic bags and clothes.

“The garbage can damage the coral since it inhibits light, which is needed for photosynthesis. If this happens over an extended period the coral dies,” Pariama said.

Coral contains the single-cell protozoa zooxanthellae in its tissue. Through photosynthesis, the zooxanthellae produces sugars to feed the coral. Sugars make up 98 percent of the coral’s food.

With their brilliant reds, oranges and browns, zooxanthellae give corals their color. Without zooxanthellae, the coral would lose its color and slowly starve to death.


The event, supported by the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), Coral Triangle Center and Badung regency’s Association of Water Tourism Businesses (Gahawisri), was themed “Pledge an Act, Save Our Coral”.

“This is a perfect moment to raise public awareness that coral reefs are crucial for the marine ecosystem, to protect seashores from abrasion and to bring local communities more benefits from fishery and tourism,” Pariama said, adding that between the 1950s and 1970s, large-scale coral mining by locals destroyed most reefs in the Nusa Dua area.

“This happened before the tourism boom. People mined coral for construction. But now we are seeing a growing awareness from corporations, dive operators and local communities to conserve the reefs.”

BTDC director for development Edwin Darmasetiawan said tourism industry brought benefits to the local community, but could also damage the marine ecosystem if it was managed irresponsibly. He called on tourism industry stakeholders in Nusa Dua to contribute to the preservation of marine species.

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post

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The coral triangle, which includes areas of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, has the highest marine biodiversity in the world, according to the ADB.

The region also covers 22 million hectares that are home to orangutans, Asian elephants and Sumatran rhinos.

The grant will fund the World Wildlife Fund for Nature to carry out research in the four countries to develop strategies to manage the area’s natural resources.

The four governments will each contribute $50,000 to the project.

Environmental degradation in the area “threatens millions of people who rely on the natural resources for their livelihoods,” said Urooj Malik, an ADB regional director.