Coral Reefs: A Reef Resilience Toolkit Module

Wakatobi, Indonesia

Location

Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Description

Four main islands of Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko, together with several small islands comprise the Tukang Besi Archipelago at the southeastern tip of Sulawesi, Indonesia—this area is known as Wakatobi. The islands of Wakatobi are all coral islands with a maximum elevation of 300m. Located within one of the world’s most recognized centers of biological diversity, the area is known for its coral reef diversity. Throughout Sulawesi, marine and coastal ecosystems are of high ecological and economic importance, particularly for fisheries and commercial use. For these reasons, in 1996, 3.4 million acres of islands and waters were declared as the Wakatobi National Park.

In 2003, a Rapid Ecological Assessment of Wakatobi was conducted which revealed widespread coral damage, primarily from fishing pressures, and minimal coral bleaching. The reefs in the area have suffered little from the impacts of coral bleaching, and no mass bleaching events have been documented. The immediate threats to Wakatobi National Park result from destructive fishing practices (i.e., blast fishing and cyanide) and overfishing. In addition, costal development threatens the coral reef and coastal environment of the area.

The goal of the management plan in Wakatobi is to support the establishment of effectively managed MPA sites as foundations for resilient networks of functionally connected MPAs. The objectives of this goal are as follows:

To address overfishing 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.

MPA network management, planning and design have occurred through the alignment of district spatial planning (District Management Plan) and national Park zoning (Wakatobi National Park Management Plan). Extensive technical team trainings and meetings with partners enabled zoning revisions of the MPA network and management planning. Resilience principles (in particular, representation, replication, and critical areas) have been incorporated into the initial rezoning and spatial planning for Wakatobi, through use of the MARXAN decision support tool. MARXAN can provide MPA network scenarios that meet the conservation targets with minimal socioeconomic impacts.

In the design of the MPA network, both coarse and fine filter features have been used to adequately represent the habitats of the area. To prepare the data for MARXAN analysis, features of the area were categorized as either ‘coarse filter’ or ‘fine filter’ features. Coarse filter features are features that cover large areas, such as habitats (e.g., coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass, etc.). Fine filter features are features that are small (e.g., spawning aggregation sites, bird nesting areas and turtle nesting beaches). The MARXAN software was programmed to include 30% of the coarse filter features and 100% of the fine filter features. To ensure their inclusion in the design, existing Local Marine Management areas (tuba dikatutuang) were ‘locked in’ to the MARXAN program. Additionally, socioeconomic features (i.e., artisanal fishing grounds, pelagic fishing grounds, resource use patterns, etc.) of the area were incorporated into the MARXAN scenario, known as ‘cost features’.

The MARXAN planning process developed scenarios for the zoning design of Wakatobi, based upon biological, ecological, and socioeconomic features of the area. Communication and local community input and perspectives were also incorporated into the final MPA planning and design. In 2007, the Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry and the Head of the Wakatobi District formally signed the Wakatobi National Park’s Zoning System. The Wakatobi zoning systems comprises: a core zone of no-take and no-entry, marine zone of no-take, a tourism zone of no-take, allowed only for tourism activities, and a traditional use zone dedicated for pelagic fisheries. As a result of the planning process, Wakatobi National Park can more effectively manage the area, in alignment with the district spatial planning.

The surveillance program of Wakatobi includes three components:

1. Surveillance: Wakatobi National Park rangers, local police, local community, local district fisheries and Wakatobi Marine & Fisheries Agency perform surveillance 10 days/month, using Floating Ranger Stations (FRS) around Wakatobi.
2. Incidental Patrol: Wakatobi National Park rangers and police perform incidental patrols at least twice a month.
3. Integrated Patrol: Integrated patrols by Wakatobi National Park rangers, Indonesian NAVI, police, and the Wakatobi Marine & Fisheries Agency Integrated occur at least 6 times monthly.

The monitoring program of Wakatobi monitors 4 main characteristics of the area:

1. Resource Use Monitoring: Wakatobi National Park Rangers and Wakatobi Marine & Fisheries Agency monitors monthly, for 6 days. Monitoring teams survey resource use patterns, users, frequency, and method of fishing activity.
2. SPAGs Monitoring: During the full moon each month, Wakatobi National Park monitoring teams measure fish length, fish aggregations, and fish spawning activity around the SPAGs.
3. Reefhealth Monitoring: Every 2 years, Wakatobi National Park rangers monitor reef health.
4. Occasional Observation: Occasional observation occurs every time the monitoring team goes to the field (embedded on major monitoring).

A communication campaign for Wakatobi has also been developed. The campaign occurs at the village level (meetings every month), at the subdistrict level (3 times per month) and at the district level (6 times per month). Additionally, media messages are distributed through cable TV to support environmental issues, in general. Although challenging, through the communication campaign, the local communities in Wakatobi have become more experienced and knowledgeable about the benefits of MPAs.

Lessons Learned

• Stakeholder input from forums with the local community, prior to work in the field, ensures that the work is supported by local community and government.
• Extensive work with the local community has enhanced local understanding of MPA benefits, and their need for involvement with Park management.
• Extensive work with the local government was essential to encourage and advance the shared management regime between the local government and the National Park.
• Having a solid team, structured work, clear budget allocations, clear tasks and responsibilities among all team members is necessary for an effective project.
• Extensive monitoring is needed to incorporate comprehensive data analysis with MARXAN, to make sure MPA design and planning align with the biological and ecological characteristics of the area.

Funding Summary

USAID

WWF

The Nature Conservancy

Lead Organization

TNC-WWF Joint Program
Project Leader
Veda Santiadji
Jalan Mandati 2,
Wangi-wangi Selatan,
Wakatobi, Sulawesi Tenggara

Wakatobi National Park
Ir Wahju Rudianto
Head of National Park
Jalan Dayanu Iksanuddin No. 71,
Bau-Bau, Buton, Sulawesi Tenggara

Partners

• Ministry of Forestry, Directorate General of Forest Protection & Nature Conservation
• Ministry Fisheries & Marine Affairs
• Wakatobi District
• TNC-CTC
• WWF Indonesia Marine Program
• Bogor Agricultural University
• Haluoleo University
• Indonesian Research Agency

Documents

Wakatobi National Park: Partnerships for Marine Protected Area Management

 

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