0 Tourists asked to participate in Amed conservation

Tourists visiting diving and snorkeling spots in Amed in Karangasem regency are being encouraged to contribute to conservation efforts in the area by paying into a fund. A recent survey held by Reef Check Indonesia Foundation and Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) indicated that most of the tourists would be willing to pay. The “Willingness to Pay” survey, involving 101 foreign tourists as respondents, suggested that the conservation efforts, such as cleaning up garbage and water pollution, were the two most urgent problems to address, in addition to the efforts to educate local people on marine conservation and to improve facilities at the tourist spot. 

“To help conservation in Amed, tourists — particularly foreign visitors, have the potential to be involved in fundraising. Our survey showed that some 55 percent of the respondents said they were willing to pay up to Rp 50,000 [US$5.15] per person,” said Derta Prabuning from Reef Check’s Program Development and Partnership. “With an estimated 29,000 tourists visiting Amed per year, we could collect around Rp 1.4 billion per year that we can use to preserve the area,” Prabuning said. 

He said the fund would be significant for conservation in an area that is facing challenges, like sea abrasion, sedimentation and coral reef damage, as well as to improve the livelihoods of local people, who rely heavily on tourism. According to Reef Check monitoring, coral reefs in Amed are in an alarming condition. Fragments of dead corals had been found dominating several spots. They presumed that the damage was due to human activities, such as destructive fishing, anchoring, stepping on corals and climate change. 

In 2009 and 2010, Reef Check’s coral monitoring found that Lipah, an area in Bunutan village, Amed, was one of the places in Bali and Lombok where coral reefs were experiencing the most severe bleaching as an impact of climate change. “Tackling garbage and air pollution — as suggested in the ‘Willingness to Pay’ survey, is aimed at protecting the coral reefs and making them more resilient when facing climate change impacts,” Derta said. In developing countries, conservation required a large amount of funding that could not be provided solely by the local government. 

Therefore, tourists could be a potential source of funds, he explained. “Most respondents in the survey suggested that they trusted the NGO and local people to collect and manage the conservation fund,” Naneng Setiasih from CORAL added. The concept of a conservation fund has been implemented in other underwater tourism destinations in Indonesia, such as Bunaken and Raja Ampat. As a popular diving spot in Bali, Amed is to be further developed as a marine tourism destination running harmoniously with coral reef conservation, a joint effort by an environmental foundation in cooperation with local people and dive operators. 

Located in the southeast corner of Bali, about two to three hours drive from Denpasar, Amed has a landscape consisting of a series of headlands overlooking bays lined with fishing boats. Farming cattle, growing corn, fishing and tourism, mainly snorkeling and diving, supports the local economy.

source : bali daily