The Karang Lestari Foundation has worked with local communities for 20 years to protect the waters and build biorock installations.
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Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko
A diver swims past one of the many statues used as part of the Bio Rock project’s coral reef conservation efforts off Pemuteran village beach in Gerokgak district, Buleleng, Bali, on Saturday (28/10). The site is also a marine tourist attraction.
Waves crashed onto the shore as day turned into dusk and I Gede Wahyu Sena Wisesa walked toward the sea on Nusa Penida, Bali, on Wednesday (25/10/2017).
Together with five French volunteers, Gede Wahyu swam with his snorkeling equipment away from the shore. The volunteers from non-governmental organization Coral Guardian brought along pieces of broken coral, knives and rope for coral transplantation.
The broken pieces of Acropora sp coral were around 5 centimeters long and were attached to the rope. A volunteer attached the rope to a concrete peg at a depth of around 1.5 meters. They used an iron frame as a substrate as a transplantation medium. They used a location near a former seaweed cultivation area.
Gede Wahyu said that "Coral Guardian" members had been transplanting coral in Nusa Penida since July 2017. Besides coral reef conservation, volunteers also help locals with economic empowerment activities.
French volunteer Julie Drasse said she was interested in taking part in Coral Guardian activities in Nusa Penida because of her concern for the coral. “Coral reef recovery is important to the marine ecosystem. If coral reefs are damaged, the fish will be gone, too,” said Drasse, a coastal area management expert.
The Coral Triangle Center is building a coral reef art installation called the Coral Wall.
Besides the Coral Guardian, the Coral Triangle Center (CTC) also takes part in coral reef conservation work. The CTC’s work includes biophysical and local socioeconomic monitoring, facilitating joint patrols with the Nusa Penida marine conservation zone management unit, providing technical input on regulations and policies and encouraging local involvement.
The CTC is building a coral reef art installation called the Coral Wall. The goal is to improve awareness on coral reefs. The shape resembles a terracotta coral ecosystem designed by Courtney Mattison.
It will be 25 meters long and 3 meters high with some 3,000 pieces of ceramic coral. Two young craftspeople and Bandung Institute of Technology graduates, Alfie Rahdini and Ricko Gabriel, are working on half of the coral reef to be installed in the art installation.
On Thursday (26/10) at the Bali Ceramic Creative Industry Technology Center, Ricko was working on the shape of the coral reef while Alfie was providing more detail due to its intricate texture. “I use various tools, including the tips of chopsticks and any other tool I can find to create the textures that I want,” Alfie said.
Clay is shaped, fired once and then glazed. The process is not always smooth. The clay sometimes cracks when being fired and needs to be patched. Sometimes, the process needs to be repeated all over again.
The plan is to put together all of the ceramic pieces into one art installation by March 2018.
Ricko said the team would gather pieces of coral one by one until the end of the year. The plan is to put together all of the ceramic pieces into one art installation by March 2018.
CTC senior operations and business manager Siti Syahwali said the Coral Wall could be used to educate people on the importance of coral reefs and their role in ensuring a sustainable marine ecosystem and people’s livelihood. Once put on display at Sanur Beach, the Coral Wall is hoped to attract 300 people a day.
The CTC also held a shadow puppet performance in which all the characters were marine creatures, including turtles, tiger groupers and jellyfish. They held the shadow puppet performance at Nusa Penida for local audiences. “We hope that such cultural shows can spread the message of [the importance of] coral reef protection to locals,” CTC office and outreach manager Elizabeth Prawitasari said.
In Pemuteran, Buleleng, the Karang Lestari Foundation has worked with local communities for 20 years to protect the waters and build biorock coral reef installations. This has made Pemuteran, along with Menjangan Island in West Bali National Park, a unique undersea tourism area.
Non-governmental agencies actively campaign coral reef conservation efforts to improve local awareness. This is because local involvement is key to successful conservation efforts as they deal with the sea every day. They are also the ones directly impacted by environmental destruction or the benefit of recovery efforts at sea.
