BROK Mengikuti Proses Deploy Temperature Logger di Nusa Penida

Sebagai salah satu upaya dalam mendukung pembentukan Kawasan Konservasi Perairan (KKP) di Nusa Penida, di awal Pebruari 2010, Peneliti Marine Conservation BROK, E. Elvan Ampou, M.Sc., melaksanakan temperature logger deployment di Nusa Penida.Deployment dilaksanakan sebagai implementasi kerjasama BROK dengan The Nature Concervancy (TNC).

Anggota tim yang terlibat adalah: Marthen Welly (TNC Project Leader-Nusa Penida), Sanjaya (TNC), Andreas Mulyadi (TNC-Papua), dan Denny Yusuf (Dosen Universitas Udayana).Logger yang telah di-deploy berada di tiga lokasi: Pontoon-Bali Hai (Nusa Lembongan), Crystal Bay dan Toyapakeh (Nusa Penida). Diharapkan dengan dipasangnya temperature logger tersebut dapat lebih menambah database suhu terkait dengan observasi dampak perubahan iklim terhadap ekosistem laut.

Selanjutnya informasi yang diperoleh dapat dimanfaatkan oleh berbagai instansi, termasuk khususnya BROK sesuai dengan Letter of Intent (LoI) yang ditandatangani dengan pihak TNC-CTC di Kupang (Juni 2009).

sumber : http://www.brok.dkp.go.id/index.php?me=detail&id_berita=152

Bali’s Seas: Swimming Heads and Seaweed - By Bex Tyrer

The waves continued to rise towards the sky during what seemed to be an eternity, before crashing down to breaking and rolling towards shore. It seemed improbable that the army of speed boats wouldn’t be crushed and crumpled and tossed away. We piled in, with the dive gear apparently secured as the little speed boat began to bounce across the water. The captain was an expert, driving out to the Penida islands every day during the high season from June to December. He expertly negotiated the little boat towards an invisible break in the reef which created a channel from the six meter waves.

We were searching for Mola mola’s - the world’s heaviest and largest bony fish . Weighing in at a record 2500 kg and with an average width and length of two meters the fish use the currents as a system of public transport to allow them to effortlessly travel around the oceans. Mola mola is latin for ‘millet stone’ depicting the grey round flat shape which the fish embody. Their common names range from ‘sunfish’ (as they enjoy to float to the surface ‘thermally recharging’ in the sun), to ‘moonfish’ (in reference of their moon like shape and colour) to ‘swimming head’ (creating misleading images of monster fish heads swimming around the ocean). Without a true tail fin and with huge dorsal and anal fins which they flap from side to side, they are not the most aquadynamic of fish, which is why they tend to surrender to the currents, floating after their prey of jellyfish. Despite spreading across the oceans, and despite not being as tasty as other endangered marine life such as the severely threatened marlin and sharks, Mola mola sightings are uncommon. Their enormous size and bizarre shape are a huge attraction for recreational divers, and this is one of the reasons why I was bouncing around the back of a speed boat. The sea was a chilly 23 degrees Celcius, the current was strong and the Mola mola’s otherwise entertained. However, it is now officially Mola mola season in Bali and business is booming as divers fight the currents and the cold in search of an encounter.

The Penidas (which consists of three islands called Penida, Lembongan and Ceningan) is a major hotspot for diving, not just because of the ‘swimming heads’, but it also has at least 247 species of coral reefs and 562 species of reef fishes. This incredibly rich diversity is a hint of its proximity to ‘the amazon of the sea’. Extending north from the eastern tip of Bali up to the corner of Malaysia and the Philippines to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor, the ‘Coral Triangle’ covers a total area of 5.7 million square kilometers. Its sheer size and richness endows it as one of the world’s largest and most bio-diverse marine centres.

The headquarters for the The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Coral Triangle Centre is located in Nusa Penida, using the area as a base to run pilot projects, conduct marine studies and coastal community education. TNC reports that the Coral Triangle is home to over 600 reef-building coral species, which represents about 75 percent of all the species known to science. The area provides food to more than 3,000 species of reef fish which in turn has provided sustenance to hundreds of coastal communities for centuries. It serves as a vital spawning ground for economically important fish which then populate the surrounding waters. The archipelago acts as a migratory bottle neck as the strait between the Indian and Pacific Ocean brings together waters from the Lesser Sundas, Banda Sea and Papua marine eco-regions. The vigorous currents pump larvae through the waters circulating nutrient rich waters while providing an interconnecting link between the reefs. This is a clue to why Mola Molas are only a few of the rare large marine life which inhabit Indonesia’s seas.

The wonderfully fertile water provides food for large marine life also including whales dolphins, dugongs, manta rays, sharks and turtles, as they travel to their breeding areas with new species still being identified. For example, a new species of whale known to science, named a pygmy Bryde’s whale, was recently found in Komodo National Park. While, in March 2009, the world’s smallest ever whale shark was rescued in the Philippine province of Sorsogon. According to the WWF, its tiny size of 38 centimeters suggests that it was probably born in Philippine waters, at the apex of the Coral Triangle. Ironically, as new methods including DNA sampling are being developed to discover what lives beneath the seas, the numbers of marine mammals, fish and corals are being depleted at rapidly alarming rates. One potential way to reduce the pressure on the coral reefs and its fish populations is to reduce the fishing industry by finding alternative sources of income for the coastal communities.

During the illusive search for the Mola molas, it would have been far more rewarding to hunt for Eucheuma cottonni: A huge area between the shore and reef was covered in this species of farmed seaweed. The total production in the Nusa Penida sub-district is around 30 tons per 35 day (the period of the harvest) selling at a price of between IDR 2800/kilogram and IDR 5000/kilogram , and with large international markets in China, Japan and Taiwan, this makes it an incredibly profitable industry. Seaweed farming has been well established in Bali since the 1980s but it is only in recent years that the industry has boomed. The lucrative potential of seaweed farming suggested that it could be effective in reducing the pressure of over-saturation of the local fisheries, helping to alleviate overfishing and the subsequent low economic returns. However subsequent research showed the diversification of employment to include women and children in seaweed planting and harvesting rather than a shift in employment away from the fisheries. The benefits for the coral reef are not so clear. The reef acts as a natural protection for the seaweed farms from strong waves, but many times seaweed farms have been set up on top of the coral reefs or adjacent to reefs which can have ecological impacts due to shading of corals. Seaweed farms can also cause changes in patterns of sedimentation and water movement, erosion, depletion of nutrients and alteration of natural habitat prior to planting. Traditionally, the reefs belong to the village, making it difficult for farms to be owned by those from outside. Any disputes would be handled by the village chief. Consequently, many of the seaweed farms are owned by village cooperatives, but the question now is how these cooperatives can be used to protect the coral reefs?

TNC is currently working with the residents of Nusa Penida, Klungkung District Government, NGOs, universities and private sectors to create an effective Marine Protected Area (MPA) with the aim to be effective by June 2010. Complementary to the provision of community education on how to most effectively protect the reef, the MPA will also outline restrictions on fishing and regulations on fishing methods. The aim is that this will help to address imminent threats to coastal and marine ecosystems while supporting the sustainable use of marine resources stressing the importance of conservation. In the past dynamite blasting and trawling were common fishing methods which not only killed fish indiscriminately, with a large by-catch, but are incredibly destructive to the reef. The hope is that healthy fish stocks in a new MPA will replenish surrounding fishing grounds with eggs, larvae, and adult fish, while supporting a recent push for a more environmentally friendly tourism. This is particularly important during a time when tourists are flocking underwater. The challenge is how to use recreational sports such as snorkelling and scuba diving to decrease the pressure on the coral reefs, increasing the economic value of ‘live’ wild fish, keeping marine life in the ocean and out of the hotel buffets. The construction of mooring buoys has already been effective at addressing the problem of diving and snorkelling boats from dropping their anchors on the corals. Solid waste such as plastic bottles are perceived as one of the most serious environmental concerns threatening the Penidas. Coastal clean-ups are one way to start to try and reverse the damage of discarded rubbish but there is also a real need for a more sustainable and eco-logically friendly tourism.

Effective management of coastal resources and properly planned coastal development is absolutely essential to ensure that the coastal communities can remain reasonably intact and the coral reefs as resilient and healthy as possible. The importance of coral reefs in the global eco-system is often understated. “Out of sight – out of mind”; for those who don’t scuba dive, or live next to a reef, it is easier to view the reefs as a resource rather than protectors of the shores, nursery and feeding ground for fish and a vital part of the habitat for large and increasingly rare marine life, including Bali’s underwater star - the Mola mola.Many thanks to the scientists and conservationists at The Nature Conservancy for their assistance.

For more information on TNC and their continued work to protect Bali’s seas visit
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/asiapacific/indonesia/ and http://www.coraltrianglecenter.org/Be Active! TNC’s 10 easy things you can do to protect Bali’s Seas: http://www.nature.org/joinanddonate/rescuereef/explore/help.html

Copyright © 2010 Bali AdvertiserYou can read all past articles ofBA Feature Article at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz

Nusa Gede conserves the sea through "Nyepi Segara"

The people of Nusa Gede which consists of Nusa Penida, lembongan, and ceningan Island will hold “Nyepi Segara” or nyepi at the sea on the fouth full moon. The ritual is conducted in order to conserve the sea.

The ritual was held in Dalem Ped temple in Nusa Penida on Sunday, October 4th 2009. “Nyepi Segara” is similar with the regular nyepi day where no one allowed to conduct any activities in the sea for one whole day.I Wayan Sukasta, the vice of the committee of the ritual, said “all ships transportation from and to Nusa Gede was stopped.

All activities at sea were not allowed so there was no fishermen or sea weed farmers went to the sea on that day, but the activities on the land can be carried out as usual.”He explained that “Nyepi Segara” is the form of gratitude towards God in his manifestation as Baruna God, the protector of the sea. During “Nyepi Segara”, Baruna God is conducting yoga in order to produce “tirta amertha” or the holy water.“All activities including touching the sea water is prohibited during the nyepi day,” Sukasta said.

“Nyepi Segara” is also an offort by the people of Nusa Gede to conserve the environment. It was the tradition that already existed since 1600’s during the time of King Waturenggong.The ritual was held in two different places, Dalem Ped temple and Batu Medau temple because both of the temples are the biggest temples in Nsa Gede area.

Sukasta explained that the ritual started by Mepepade ceremony where all offerings being purified. Then followed by Mapekelem ceremony where the Hindus put the offerings on the sea.The ceremony is the symbol of gratitude toward God. The people of Nusa Gede know two kind of Nyepi. The first one is the regular Nyepi like the Hindus throughout Bali and the other is the Nyepi Segara.

I Made Sudiarkajaya, the head of Nusa Penida village, said that “Nyepi Segara” could become a tourism attraction for the tourists visited Nusa Penida. The ritual will be developed so it can support in making Nusa penida as the marine tourism area.He said that the Nyepi Segara had been acknowledged by the government. The Klungkung Government had donated fund to support the ritual. The government wanted to conserve the local decency by preserving the nature and environment especially the sea.

Marthen Willy, the manager of The Nature of Conservation (TNC) program in Nusa Penida, said that the ritual was suitable with the TNC program. Willy hopes that the government develops and promotes “Nyepi Segara” activities in order to attract the local to conserve the sea and tourists to visit the island.

News by International Bali Post

source : http://balivillasrentals.com/balinews/2009/10/nusa-gede-conserves-the-sea-through-%E2%80%9Cnyepi-segara%E2%80%9D/

Nusa Penida on National Geographic Video

Nusa Penida, merupakan pulau-pulau kecil yang terletak di bagian tenggara Bali, Indonesia. Kecamatan yang terdiri dari 3 pulau utama ini yaitu Penida, Ceningan dan Lembongan merupakan bagian dari kawasan segitiga karang dunia (coral triangle). Nusa Penida memiliki ekosistem pesisir dan laut yang lengkap seperti terumbu karang, hutan bakau dan padang lamun. Ahli ikan dunia - Dr.Gerry Allen dan ahli karang dunia - Dr.Emre Turak menemukan sekitar 247 jenis karang dan 562 jenis ikan di perairan Nusa Penida.

Nusa Penida juga merupakan rumah, tempat berkembang-biak dan mencari makan bagi binatang laut eksotis dan langka seperti mola mola (sunfish), pari manta (manta ray), penyu (sea turtle), dan hiu (shark). Nusa Penida juga merupakan jalur migrasi bagi paus (whale) dan lumba-lumba (dolphin).

Masyarakat di Nusa Penida sangat menggantungkan hidupnya dari laut seperti rumput laut (seaweed farming), pariwisata bahari (marine tourism) dan perikanan (fisheries). Untuk lebih lengkap mengetahui mengenai Nusa Penida dan program The Nature Conservancy (TNC) mengenai pembentukan kawasan konservasi laut (Marine Protected Area - MPA), silahkan melihat liputan Associate Press (AP) TV yang dimuat dalam National Geographic Video :
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/environment-news/coral-triangle-apvin.html

Kematian Mola Mola, Peringatan Dini Kerusakan Terumbu Karang

JAKARTA – Pada akhir Maret 2009 lalu, beberapa penyelam di Pulau Air di Kepulauan Seribu, dikagetkan dengan kehadiran seekor ikan mola-mola kecil. Kaget, karena tak pernah ikan mola-mola ditemukan di wilayah itu. Lebih terkejut lagi ketika si kecil Mola kemudian mati, beberapa saat setelah ditemukan para penyelam tersebut.

Apen Sukmawijaya, salah seorang staf di Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu (TNKS) menceritakan kejadian tersebut, baru-baru ini. “Ikan itu tiba-tiba saja muncul,” katanya. Ukurannya yang masih kecil, menunjukkan bahwa ikan ini masih bayi, bila dibandingkan dengan induknya yang bisa bertubuh tiga kali lebih besar daripada manusia dewasa. Sayangnya, beberapa saat kemudian ikan tersebut mati.

Dari beberapa penelitian, mola-mola pernah ditemukan di beberapa tempat di Indonesia. Di Nusa Penida Bali, kehadirannya kerap dijadikan promosi wisata. Selain itu, di Taman Nasional Komodo di Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), Taman Nasional Wakatobi di Sulawesi Tenggara (Sultra), dan Kepulauan Raja Ampat di Papua Barat, kadang ditemukan spesies mola-mola.

Sepanjang tahun 2008, kehadiran ikan mola-mola teridentifikasi di Molas dan Talise di Sulawesi Utara. Di Molas ditemukan karena terkena jaring nelayan, kemudian mati dan dipotong-potong warga. Sementara yang ditemukan di Talise, sempat diberi perlakuan khusus agar tetap hidup, tapi sayangnya tetap menemui ajal juga. Sementara kehadiran ikan mola-mola di Kepulauan Seribu baru pertama kali ini terjadi. Kemunculan mola-mola itu tak bisa dianggap biasa.

“Ikan mola-mola adalah ikan laut dalam (ditemukan hingga kedalaman 600 meter, rata-rata 200 meter), maka ada kemungkinan yang di Nusa Penida berasal dari Samudra Hindia. Mereka “mampir” ke perairan Nusa Penida untuk membersihkan parasit di tubuhnya dengan bantuan ikan karang dan “berjemur” untuk mendapatkan sinar matahari,” urai Marthen Welly, Pimpinan Proyek The Nature Conservancy (TNC) untuk Nusa Penida, melalui surat elektronik, awal bulan ini.

Pada waktu-waktu tertentu, ikan mola-mola naik ke permukaan, sebagai penyesuaian suhu tubuhnya akibat terlalu lama berada di laut dalam, yang memiliki suhu rendah. Itu sebabnya ikan ini kadang disebut sebagai oceanic sunfish, karena kerap dijumpai sedang “berjemur” di perairan dangkal sekitar samudra. Selain berjemur ikan yang bisa memiliki tubuh hingga 3,2 meter ini suka berada di daerah terumbu karang. Lantaran dengan bantuan ikan karang seperti ikan bidadari (angle fish) dan ikan bendera (banner fish), ikan mola-mola bisa membersihkan dirinya.

Dari perilaku itu, maka wajar bila mola-mola juga terlihat di daerah Manado yang merupakan salah satu daerah dengan terumbu karang terbaik di Indonesia. Ditemukannya mola-mola di Taman Nasional Komodo, Wakatobi dan Kepulauan Raja Ampat juga masuk akal. Namun akan menjadi pertanyaan besar, ketika ikan itu juga terlihat di Kepulauan Seribu.

Tak Wajar
Augy Syahilatua dari Pusat Penelitian Oseanografi-Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (P2O-LIPI), memperkirakan kematian mola-mola tak wajar. Mengingat biasanya ikan ini hidup pada kedalaman 30-480 meter, menurut teori Fishbase, tahun 2009. Marthen Welly mengemukakan asumsi serupa. Menurutnya, perairan TN Kepulauan Seribu kerap tercemar oleh tumpahan minyak.

Terlepas dari berbagai teori kematian itu, kerusakan lingkungan hidup juga dapat menjadi penyebabnya. Seperti berkurangnya sumber makanan mola-mola seperti ubur-ubur, udang, zooplankton, cumi dan ikan-ikan kecil. “Bahkan ikan mola-mola kerap dijumpai mati akibat memakan sampah plastik di laut yang mereka kira ubur-ubur,” lanjut.

Sementara penyebab ikan tersebut ada di Kepulauan Seribu, dianalisis karena semakin berbedanya kondisi suhu lautan akibat pemanasan global. Seperti di Nusa Penida, beberapa penyelam pernah menjumpai mola-mola pada Desember-Januari, padahal biasanya antara Juli–September. Diperkirakan perubahan iklim akibat kerusakan lingkungan turut memengaruhi perilaku mola-mola, karena suhu air laut juga berubah. Ketersediaan makanan yang semakin berkurang dan semakin sedikitnya ikan bidadari dan ikan bendera akibat kerusakan terumbu karang juga kian memperlihatkan perilaku mola-mola yang menyimpang.

Kematian mola-mola kecil di Kepulauan Seribu, bisa jadi lantaran terpisah dari kelompok besar atau induknya, sementara panas laut kemudian mengantarnya ke perairan utara Jakarta yang hangat. Namun karena kondisi lingkungan yang buruk di sana serta buruknya kualitas makanan, ikan tersebut akhirnya menemui ajal. Sayangnya, belum ada studi yang mendalam tentang hal ini. Seperti jalur ruaya (imigrasi) ikan mola-mola dan beberapa perilaku yang belum diketahui.

Kini ikan mola-mola yang ditemukan di Talise dan Kepulauan Seribu telah diawetkan. Khusus yang ditemukan di Talise, akan dipamerkan dalam Konferensi Kelautan Internasional (WOC) di Manado, bulan Mei nanti, sebagai pertanda peringatan dini mengenai buruknya wilayah terumbu karang. (sulung prasetyo)

sumber : http://www.sinarharapan.co.id/berita/0904/30/kesra03.html

Underwater Earth Day for Students

Ni Made Pande received a standing ovation from the audience after delivering an inspiring and eloquent speech on the importance of preserving coral reefs at a speech contest held to commemorate Earth Day.

Pande spoke about the coral reefs in Nusa Penida waters, in Klungkung regency, some 25 kilometers east of Denpasar or an hour of boat ride.

"If we throw rubbish into the sea and fish destructively, our underwater lives will be in danger," she told the audience with an emotional tone.

"Will we let our future generation become parasites, begging people for jobs?"
Pande was one of the participants in a speech contest for senior high school students jointly organized by The Nature Conservancy-Coral Triangle Center (TNC-CTC) and Satya Posana Nusa (SPN).

The event was held in conjunction with the commemoration of Earth Day in Nusa Lembongan islet on Wednesday.

A heaven for divers, the 1,800 hectare Nusa Penida area encompasses three islets - Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida.

It is home to nearly 250 rare species of coral and more than 550 species of reef fish.
The TNC is currently working on a project aimed at conserving the marine area around the islets.

Kasriyati, a participant from SMA 1 Nusa Penida High School emphasized the need to establish a marine conservation area and criticized the poor management of marine and underwater tourism around the three islets of Nusa Penida.

"We need to improve inefficient management of the current marine tourism activities," she said.
"There are too many boats operating in the islets. Their anchors often knock the coral reefs and seriously damaged them."

The speech indeed worked well to arouse the awareness of school students of the importance of marine conservation efforts in an attempt to maintain the marine ecosystem of Nusa Penida.
The teenage audience looked attentive as they listened to the participants.

Some 100 students from elementary to high schools gathered in the Nusa Lembongan in the morning to participate in a beach cleaning campaign, as part the Earth Day commemorative program.

They were later divided into two groups to enjoy underwater scenery aboard a submarine boat and a from a wide pontoon with glass sides, courtesy of Bali Hai Cruises.

After looking patiently, the elementary school students happily clapped and whistled upon seeing a group of small fish with yellow and black strips swim gracefully across the glass window.
It did not take long before they hurriedly jumped from one window to the other every time someone shouted about seeing an interesting species, such as Porites coral.

"This is my first experience *looking underwater* and I am so happy!" nine-year-old student Nur Jaya Ardiana said.

Although the students live on Nusa Penida, they are rarely exposed to the beauty of its underwater life. The trip was a luxury for many of them, who cannot afford the price of a retail ticket.

Ayu Kusuma, 16, said she was lucky she could join the trip because her father never let her dive to see the area's coral reef or famous Mola-mola fish.

Renata Chandler, the wife of the owner of Bali Hai Cruises, said she was so glad being part of the Earth Day program.

"It was part of the company's platform to give back to the community," she said buoyantly.

source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/04/23/underwater-earth-day-students.html

Community moves to protect reefs

oleh Indah Setiawati/JP
“If our diving equipment breaks, we can always buy new equipment in shops. But if the precious coral reef is damaged, where do we buy a new one?”

That remark was not made by a political party targeting voters who support the vulnerable marine treasury protection in Bali in the upcoming general election.

Marthen Welly, a professional diver and project leader of a worldwide organization concerned with natural resources conservation, reiterates that message to everyone he meets when he talks about coral reefs and species living in reefs.

He works for the Nature Conservancy-Coral Triangle Center (TNC-CTC), which is working on a project aimed at conserving the marine area in the Nusa Penida islets, which comprise Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida islands.

Known as a paradise destination for tourists who love scuba diving and snorkeling, the islets feature 1,800 hectares of pristine coral reefs made up of 247 protected coral species. The coral reef beds are home to 562 species of reef fishes.

The islands, however, are ill-equipped with regulations to protect the marine resources, and there is a limited budget to preserve the underwater treasury, as tourists only have to pay entrance fees of as little as Rp 1,000.

Marthen said the TNC-CTC proposed the inclusion of three zones, namely the central, the utilization and the marine tourism zones, in the marine conservation area plan.

The central zone will cover areas that have the most breathtaking underwater view and are often visited by the world-famous Mola-mola fish and other types of marine life, including the manta ray and sperm whale.

The utilization zone comprises offshore areas that can be utilized for seaweed farming and fishing; while the marine tourism zone, which also includes the central zone, can be used for water sports activities.

“Separating the zones is important because the activities in the islets are not well-managed now. People can plant seaweed anywhere, or fish in the snorkeling and diving spots,” Marthen said.
He added if such practices continued, they could trigger a horizontal conflict among seaweed farmers, tourism-related businesspeople and fishermen, as each sought out the best locations for their activities.

“We need to conserve the Nusa Penida islets immediately to prevent damage to the coral reefs, but it can’t been done instantly,” he said, adding the program required local residents, the Klungkung administration and the tourism industry to share the same vision the conservation activists proposed.

He said the idea of a marine conservation area itself could somehow give a wrong impression to local residents because they could mistakenly think they would be prohibited from conducting activities in the conserved area.

Marthen said that once the marine conservation area was approved by the local administration in the form of a regent’s decree, it would be run by a collaborative management body.
“The body will consist of representatives from the local residents, the administration, a local NGO and businesspeople. They will run some programs and determine the dos and don’ts in the conservation area,” he said.

“Currently, there are no rules on the maximum number of people who can dive at the same time. Once I saw 20 boats anchored in the same spot.”

Marthen also said the TNC-CTC would run a study to see how much money overseas tourists were prepared to pay to help conserve the marine area each time they visited the islands.
“I’m sure they would be willing to pay, because most divers understand that the coral reef is priceless,” he said.

He added his organization expected it would take five years to set up the project, and said he hoped that by the end of 2012, the collaborative management body would be able to be an independent and financially sustainable institution.

The project aims to endorse the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), a program proposed by several countries to halt the degradation of vulnerable coral colonies and conserve threatened marine species in the coral triangle area, which comprised Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The six countries will sign the initiative at the first ever World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, North Sulawesi, in May this year.

source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/26/community-moves-protect-reefs.html