“Taint” Diminishes the Beauty of Togean

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

Foreign tourists arrive by boat on Thursday (8/8/2018) to Papane Island in Tojo Una-Una regency, Central Sulawesi. The island is a tourist icon with its white sandy beaches and coral reefs in shallow waters, but its beauty is under threat from domestic and fishing waste thrown into the sea.

Togean Islands is rich in maritime tourism potential, from white sandy beaches to colorful coral reefs. But, this beauty is tainted by garbage and reef damage caused by fish bombing.

At the end of the wooden dock on Papan Island, Togean islands, Tojo Una-Una regency, Central Sulawesi, Magali, 33, was chatting to some locals. Suddenly, the French tourist stood up and approached a man who was sitting on the edge of the dock.

“Do not throw that cigarette butt into the sea. I came here to enjoy the marine beauty but you are making it dirty,” Magali said in English, pointing to some cigarette butts floating in the water. Then, he asked the man to pick up the cigarette butts.

Instead of doing it, the man just stood and left. Magali’s face turned red, he did not talk and just picked up his bag.

Before he left, he told the locals, “I care for the environment, including this place. That’s why I came here. Please have fun but do not pollute the sea.”

They were stunned.

That day, the small dock on the southern tip of Papan Island, which is part of Kadoda village, was busy welcoming visitors and a committee from the Togean International Oceanic Festival. The event, held from Aug. 7 to 11, aimed to promote the Togean Islands National Park.

Togean Islands can be reached by speedboat or fisherman’s boat and is about four to six hours from Ampana, the capital of the Tojo Una-Una regency. There is a daily flight from Palu, the provincial capital of Central Sulawesi. It takes 10 hours from Palu to Ampana if you use land transportation.

The area is made up of 21 islands and has numerous marine attractions, from white sandy beaches to colorful coral reefs. Papan Island is one of the major tourist destinations in Togean Islands.

People can enjoy the beauty of the coral reefs from nearby houses, which are erected in shallow waters. The coral reefs spread out from the the stilt houses to the 1-kilometer long bridge. They are visible through the clear water, which contains various fish species.

It is also one of the favorite spots for snorkeling.

Full of garbage

However, the beauty of the area is tainted by garbage, something that made Magali mad. The cigarette butts thrown into the sea are only a small portion of the garbage found on Papan Island.

Around the houses of local people piles of garbage, mainly plastic bottles, instant noodle packages and snack packs, are visible.

Near the coral reef around the dock, which is south of the village, pieces of broken ceramic bowl and cuts of wood can be found. A lot of plastic bottles can also be seen floating in the water.

During the festival, people threw garbage from the stage into water. Cigarette butts and plastic cups were everywhere.

Kadoda village head Darwis Ambotang said there was no regulation in place that required Papan Island’s inhabitants to not throw their garbage into the sea. The regulation to remedy that is still in the pipeline.

Each house will be required to have a garbage bin. There will also be garbage management to separate organic waste from non-organic ones. “I cannot just ban residents from throwing garbage into the sea before the regulation is in place,” Darwis said.

The Tojo Una-Una regency administration and Togean Islands National Park office hope to make Papan Island a tourism icon.

Serious management

Recently, the garbage issue came to the attention of the Togean Islands National Park office. So far, it has organized joint activities with locals to collect it and clean the water near their houses.

National park head Bustang said his office would continue the joint activities, which needed long-term solutions. In collaboration with other organizations, he has placed garbage bins at the dock and on the boats to reduce litter.

The office will also place bins in the housing area and erect a container to collect the garbage.

“Starting this year, we will monitor the quality of the seawater around people’s houses to detect the level of pollution to counter it in the future,” Bustang said.

Garbage is a blight that threatens to spoil the beauty of Togean Islands. Another serious problem is rampant fish bombing. In March, the national park office arrested fishermen on three boats suspected of using explosive to harvest fish.

“There were several diving spots with beautiful colorful coral reefs. But, they have been destroyed in the past five years due to fish bombing,” said Daus, a local diving guide.

Bustang added that fish bombing was a big problem and it was hard to deal with. Coral reefs are also being damaged by anchors used on local fishing boats.

Many measures have been taken, including routine patrols, monitoring activities involving local people and law enforcement.

Hard work is needed to preserve the marine beauty of Togean Islands. If the environmentally unfriendly practices continue, the beauty of Togean will become just another memory.