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  1. #1
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    Rehabilitating Coral Reefs in Indo plus some dolphins and deserted islands...

    Apparently the 1000 islands area in Indonesia an hour or two north of Jakarta by boat used to be in the top ten healthiest coral reefs in the world, well that certainly aint the case anymore....

    Quote Originally Posted by UNESCO report
    In response to the problem in 1995, UNESCO, with scientists from P30-LIPI and ITI, conducted a review of what has been happening to the Bay's coral reefs. The review repeated a similar survey which had been conducted 10 years earlier, allowing scientists from the three organisations to see how much the islands and reefs had been transformed during that period of rapid economic and industrial growth in Jakarta.


    The results of the second survey indicated that the condition of the coral reefs in Pulau Seribu is continuing to decline, to the point that some islands have totally disappeared (see Fig. 1). Part of the problem of coral reef degradation is beyond our direct control, in that global warming and the El Nino effect have led to changed rainfall and runoff patterns and longer "dry-seasons" in Indonesia.


    Another part of the problem, however, is not beyond our control. Many of the causes of erosion and reef degradation are related directly to human behaviour. These are the so-called ‘anthropogenic perturbations’ that affect the structure and health of the coral reef ‘community’. They include archaic waste disposal systems and unsustainable resource management practices which lead to:
    • deposition of rubbish and sedimentation on the reefs,
    • physical destruction of reefs by fish bombing, cyanide fishing, coral mining, and dredging, and
    • decreasing water quality through industrial pollution and nutrient enrichment.
    The worsening condition of coral reefs thus goes hand in hand with the unsustainable utilisation of resources by local fishermen and and specimen collectors, and by the developers of private resorts, as well as the improper or inadequate disposal of waste by industry and local government authorities.
    Pulau Seribu

    Anyway, it was heartening to see some groups of locals are trying to rectify the situation by rehabilitating the reefs and transplanting corals.

    *keeping my rose glasses on, cos they did say that they only sell 20% of the coral that they grow and place the other 80% back into the sea, and the wouldnt lie to me, would they?*

    So you start with some broken coral to use as a substrate base to glue the small corals onto...



    Then you take some coral that you have been growing elsewhere and chop it into small (2 inch) pieces... notice the yellow garden shears in his hand top right.



    Some quick drying cement, and decorate your dead rock....



    course this being Indo one also includes a plastic name tag for each coral......



    soon it will look like this...



    or this



    lots of other small corals that they were growing... they normally grow them in the ocean. but dragged them out to make a display for us...




    Ah well, I hope it does some good, but the cynic in me thinks that perhaps a whole lot more commercial transactions occur than they admit to, and possibly exaggerate how much rehabilitation that they do....

    and the World Bank did recognize that the locals gotta make money if they are going to protect the environment....

  2. #2
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    Palau Semak Daun (means island of trees and leaves, cos there aint much else on it, thankfully, except a single damn cat! )





    another island, idylic life aint it, romantic watching someone else unloading bags of concrete...



    course, a man's gotta eat...



    lets get a closer look at that food,

    fresh prawn, squid and fish, yummy yummy.



    I think this fella might have made the meal as well, we saw him in the morning under the pier, later that afternoon, the local shop had obviously seen him too......




    and, of course, the damage afterwards, i didnt bother to rotate this pic, cos i'm sure you get the idea...


  3. #3
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    some boats and workers and stuff....





    this is one big arse fishing boat.,,...


  4. #4
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    fixing that damn fish net...




  5. #5
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    its nice to see that they still find Sea turtle nests on some of the islands. the turtles have already hatched from this one.



    we released a few more of the slightly older population, the turtle centre here, does not really keep any decent records of survival rates, body size, egg size vs survival... hmmm, could be a thesis here for someone with more time than me...



    Freedom! I didnt see the plastic cup until after I took the pic, but quite poetic really....


  6. #6
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    Just in case anyone forgets that Indonesia is the world most populous Muslim nation, just about every island here has a mosque of sorts.



    and some locals playing, who needs expensive toys!


  7. #7
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    and what made this trip particularly special was this pod of dolphins (includign a juvenile one) just snuck up on us when we were out surveying one of the coral reefs, they swam within 10 metres of us, leaping and playing and then swam away,
    of course by the time I got to my camera and started to take some pics, they were quite a distance away.... hence the quality is pretty dicey, but it was good at the time.






  8. #8
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    It rained heavily in jakarta one day, the next day the entire ocean was filled with rubbish (mostly plastics and stuff) - the people living on the island told me it was jakarta rubbish not local rubbish....

    I must admit I was not convinced at first, but mainland waste plants in the rubbish helped convince me...






  9. #9
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    some nice pics kw, but all the rubbish, thats terrible, anyone clean it up?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunsetter
    but all the rubbish, thats terrible, anyone clean it up?
    bit of a Herculean task, previous week we removed 20 rubbish bags of crap from the small island in the 8th pic, last week we removed another 15 bags. and that bladdy thing is less than an acre in size

    we try and educate the locals, but if its coming from Jakarta.... 20 million people to educate....

    in fact the more I learn about this area (1000 islands) the more depressed I get...

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    such a shame, surely they must realize what a beautiful part of the world they are doing in? id say hurculean task mate but fairplay for having a go, id love to come and help when i get time

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    Thought the dolphins were on the bbq.....

    Some flat islands...no wonder tsunami wiped a few out.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunsetter
    surely they must realize what a beautiful part of the world they are doing in?
    1. if you earn $2 a day you dont really give a stuff about some pretty corals.

    2. most of that rubbish comes from Jakarta. most jakartans wouldnt bother visiting the 1000 islands, they are either workign 7 day weeks for their $100 a month or they are visiting bali/maldives for their holidays...

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    Very interesting. Those look like they are prepared for sale. I have seen many like this in shops. Of course with the accompanying cites papers.


    Used to run a marine aquarium but have stopped years ago.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers
    Very interesting. Those look like they are prepared for sale. I have seen many like this in shops. Of course with the accompanying cites papers.
    I would say they are.

    Apparently they sell 10-20% of stock (new stock?) each year and return the rest.....

    I'm suspicious.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwilly
    Apparently they sell 10-20% of stock (new stock?) each year and return the rest.....
    That would make a nice argument in favor of owners of marine aquariums. We are often blamed for plundering natural resources. Now one can claim we support the rehabilitation of destroyed reefs.

    I once took a small leather coral out of the Philppines I collected at a nice beach and brought it back alive into my aquarium, where it lived many years.
    Had to smuggle it out of the Philippines because it is prohibited to take any marine life, even dried starfish, out of the country. But they sell dried Starfish and even Banjos made of Turtleshells at the souvenir shops in the airport.

    I announced the coral to customs in Germany, telling truthfully that the international ban applies to stone corals, but not to leather corals. He looked at me suspiciously but then said, ok I believe you.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers
    Now one can claim we support the rehabilitation of destroyed reefs.
    correct.

    provided the sellers are doing the right thing.

    mind you perhaps they mean they only plunder 20% of the coral reef each year....

    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers
    Had to smuggle it out of the Philippines because it is prohibited to take any marine life, even dried starfish, out of the country.
    There is a reason that they have this law....

    and this is to stop this sort of stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers
    But they sell dried Starfish and even Banjos made of Turtleshells at the souvenir shops in the airport.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwilly
    and this is to stop this sort of stuff....

    [Quote:= Originally Posted by Takeovers ]
    But they sell dried Starfish and even Banjos made of Turtleshells at the souvenir shops in the airport.
    Those laws should be a little more selective. Nothing wrong with dried starfish, except that I don't want one. The leather coral I took out was endemic. Many thousands of them at this small beach and they are not on any cites list.

    And if there is such a law, there shouldn't be souvenir shops at the airport selling the stuff openly.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingwilly
    There is a reason that they have this law...
    I should add that you are right. Such laws are necessary.

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