the project: collaborative management
Beads of sweat bud on the fisher’s forehead.
He looks down nervously at his hands as he sits in the patrol boat, under the steady look of Wayan, the Bali Barat National Park ranger.
Putu Tattoo, a local guide, and Iwan, the WWF Friends of the Reef project leader in Bali Barat, look on.
"I've warned you two times already not to come here. Right?" asks Wayan.
The fisher doesn't respond. What he really wants to do is get back in his jukung (sailing boat) and head back home to Java, 1 km away across the Bali Straits (see map).
"Don't you know that this area is part of the National Park's core zone? That it's off limits?"
"So you want the coral here in Bali to become just like around Java?" pitches in Putu.
Putu is firm, but kind. He is clearly aware that with the coral reef gone, his income prospects will take the same road. On this clear morning, he is making sure that the Bali Barat Code of Conduct - a document developed in collaboration with WWF that has been locally agreed - is being carefully implemented.
Today, the fisher is in chance. Wayan lets him off, after having confiscated his rudimentary fishing equipment, and dropped back into the sea two beautiful starfish that had been caught.
No choice?
Many fishers are looking for colourful and exotic specimens to sell for the booming aquarium trade. Only 1 kilometre across from Java lie the tantalizing corals of Bali – and it's hard to resist the temptation.
Despite treacherous currents, and the huge swirls – sometimes it feels like there's an underwater volcano bubbling to the surface – many fishers still come over. They argue they don't have much choice. To feed their family, they are ready to weather the risks despite netting tiny earnings – US$1-2 per day - a mere pittance even by local standards.
Curbing the plundering
Today's patrol is the direct prong of the WWF strategy in Bali Barat. When Friends of the Reef began operating in 2001, bomb fishing was at an all-time high. The free for all meant that within proximity of the National Park offices, fishers were blowing away reef, fish and everything in between and around. The result? A wasteland of rubble, and a lawless marine arena.
Bali Barat Code of Conduct
- Do not throw trash, waste or in any way pollute
- No touching the reef, or walking on it
- Do not destroy or take living or dead animals/plants
- No fish feeding
- Remind the boatman not to anchor, but to use mooring or live boat only
- Make sure that diving equipment is securely attached to your body
- Respect these rules wherever you go diving
WWF invested in a speedboat, covered some stipends for Park staff and got the buy-in from locals and the marine police to join forces. At that time, the patrols were fully supported by WWF, and were taking place twice a week. And things would get harsh, with intercepted fish bombers occasionally lobbing dynamite towards the patrol boat.
The catalytic effect of patrols
Despite the animosity, the effects of the patrol were soon felt. Fish bombing slowly waned. The community and the National Park started working together. A year after it had started funding, WWF judged it safe to stop financing the patrols - and the locals continued scouting the Park's coastline with the National Park.
For WWF, a delicate balance
Ensuring protection of the reef while allowing people a decent lifestyle is a tricky balance. And sometimes, poverty drives to desperate acts. One day, the boat patrol intercepted an old man, well in his 70s, who had come to fish from Java with a plastic pail as a paddle.
This is why the community empowerment component of Friends of the Reef is seen as being so critical. If corals are to grow, prosper and play their critical functions, then people have to get off the reef and find other sources of livelihood.
"If you stop us again, we will bomb you"
While the patrol has been critical in curbing big scale coral destruction, there has been some collateral damage. Fishers from across the strait in Java resent being kept off the reef, and are channeling their anger on FKMPP, the Bali Barat community forum - once, with a bomb threat. Meanwhile, the arms race is on. Some cunning fishers have perfected a bomb, which explodes underwater - unnoticed, but just as destructive.
Now, the burden on WWF is to ensure that the patrols become a routine habit for the Park and FKMPP, the same way it once was for mass destructive fishing.
In perspective: Collaborative Management in Bali Barat
Collaborative management also involves lobbying for policy support towards better protected area management, at both local and national levels.
At the national level, the advocacy work focuses on the promotion of collaborative management (or co-management), while the local regulation addresses ways to incorporate co-management in the local context, and identifies solutions for sustainable financing.Once the regulations are formed, it is hoped that a comprehensive, sustainable mechanism will be in place to support efforts for adaptation to climate change.
To these ends, WWF is raising awareness among government officials, politicians and journalists about the importance of Bali Barat, and facilitating agreements with the Bali Barat National Park authority on enforcement.
Simultaneously, the organization has also helped establish a Code of Conduct (CoC) and an associated monitoring system among the dive sector and hotel business, and is lobbying and providing input for integrated coastal zone management.
