SORCE is located within the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Gita Nada. This area was designated a Marine Park in 2018 and covers over 18,000 Ha. The majority of this area is classified as commercial fishing space, where vessels are allowed to fish for commercial purposes and use commercial-scale equipment. However, around some of the islands and on certain high-priority reefs are two other zone classifications – Sustenance-only fishing, and No take. Based on preliminary assessments of the reef it has been ascertained that the zones could be updated to more accurately reflect the health, biodiversity, and protection needs of the coral reefs, and marine species present within Gita Nada MPA.
- More emotive content…. Local people, depleting fishing stocks, desire for tourism but need for conservation to protect potential attractions, lack of knowledge of local people of regulations, struggle to comply without information, etc.
With support and collaboration from several of our partners, including the Ignite Foundation, Shark Stewards, Yayasan SORCE Conservation Indonesia, the University of Mataram, Yayasan Deep Blue Sea, and Pokmaswas Elak Elak, we have undertaken a 12-month mission to assess the health and biodiversity across the Gita Nada MPA and surrounding areas. There are two primary aims of this initiative:
- To assess existing zones within the MPA and propose any changes necessary as indicated by the data being collected.
- To assess the need for protection of surrounding areas with the intent to propose an expansion of the existing MPA’s perimeter.
In order to quantitively assess the health, biodiversity, and protection needs of the reefs in and around Gita Nada MPA three survey methodologies are being employed:
- Underwater Photo Transects (UPT)
- Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV)
- Diver Operated Video (DOV)
The UPTs are done to determine the biodiversity of fish, megabenthic species, and corals. Due to the survey method requirements, this can not be employed at reef sights with strong currents, or depths of over 20m. For these, more challenging, sites the DOV method is used instead, allowing divers to swim and record everything they pass so that data can be extracted from the video footage later. Additionally, for all sights where BRUV deployment is possible, a BRUV methodology is used to assess the megafauna present when divers are not in the water, since some species will avoid diver presence.
Once stage one of the project is complete the second stage will commence, during which we will collate and analyse all data in order to provide a detailed report to the government with recommendations regarding the rezoning and expansion of the MPA, where appropriate.
Once the government implements any changes, they intend to make stage 3 can begin. At this time, we are inviting support for stage 3 which will involve a wide-scale community outreach and education initiative with the purpose of informing the local community of the existence of the MPA, the zones of the MPA, and regulations associated with each one. It is vitally important that the local community is supported and understands the benefits of a healthy marine environment for their own well-being and future sustainability as a community.