| In the past 50 years, the proportion of degraded coral reefs in Indonesia has increased from 10 to 50 percent. As a result, many of the small-scale coral reef fisheries in Indonesia have reached a level and mode of exploitation where the only way to increase future production and local incomes is to protect critical coral reef habitats and reduce destructive fishing efforts. However, coastal fishing communities need help to make these behavioral changes. Currently capacity at the District level to assist coastal fishing communities to sustainably manage this important resource is limited. The World Bank has been co-financing the largest coral reef rehabilitation and management program in the world in Indonesia for 15 years along with ADB and several big environmental NGOs. With 2008 designated the International Year of the Reef and the President of Indonesia recently calling for the Coral Triangle Initiative to be launched with APEC countries in Bali during the UNFCCC COP 13 meeting on December 6-13, the need to preserve reef ecosystems from the destruction by human and climate change factors is finally getting global attention. The Government of Indonesia identified coral reef ecosystem management as a national priority in the mid-1990s and as a result, requested the Bank’s assistance to finance the first phase of a proposed three phase Adaptable Program Loan program, called the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP) which aims to establish viable, operational, institutionalized coral reef management systems in priority coral reef sites in Indonesia. This was followed by a second program, US$ 56 million COREMAP Phase II which focused on establishing viable reef management systems in at least six priority Districts, through a financially sustainable program. It seeks to support coastal communities to sustainably co-manage the use of coral reefs and associated ecosystem resources, revive damaged or preserve intact coral reef ecosystems. The program is being implemented through three components:
1) Institutional Strengthening: to improve government institutional support for collaborative management of marine reserves and other marine protected areas with coastal communities.
2) Community Based & Collaborative Management : to increase incomes of all coastal communities and institutions in the program districts by sustainably co-managing coral reefs and associated ecosystems.
3) Public Awareness, Education and Extension: To promote social awareness of the benefits of coral reef ecosystem conservation and sustainable use that leads to changes in destructive practices.
To read more about the impact of the COREMAP program visit: http://www.coremap.or.id | | |
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